a one man band was really kind of an accident.
After I took up the concertina, I noticed
that the bass came from the left side & the trebles
came from the right side. In my vivid imagination,
I naturally thought that was almost like playing
two instruments at the same time.
One night on television there was a Louisana
lady named Queen Ida who was playing a Louisana
button-box, & she had her right foot with a red-sparkle
high-heel stuck through a crescent-moon shaped
tambourine, tapping a back-beat on the floor.
So this inspired me to put a tambourine in
a foot peddle for my left foot, & a drum in a
foot peddle for my right foot, for a percussion
kit to accompany the concertina.
After that, it was natural to add the neck
brace & harmonicas. It is a lot like driving a
stick-shift car & tuning the radio & eating at
the same time.
In time, I saw it was also good to accompany
the mandolin as well.
Because of the utilitarian nature of the band,
it is compact, & takes up a small amount of stage
space, as, for instance, a stack of wood pallets.
Part of the magic is to come early to see the
band being set-up & also, the tear-down.
performances through most of the year, & need not be
amplified, which makes it suitable for picknics, camp
outs, reenacting, or other outdoor activities. Of course,
if there is electricity, I do have my own public address
system, which would enhance the performance.
Also, since the stage space for Antebellum Radio is
minimal, little space is required for set up & tear down.
Since Antebellum Radio is a one man band, all the
band shows up at the same time, there is telepathic
communication within the band, & the band never, ever
has an argument among the band.
Bookings for Antebellum Radio can be obtained by
emailing me at: billiejosawyer@aol.com
One hundred dollars for an hour of entertainment,
plus expences, is the standard fare, however, we are
always attuned to the special circumstances of each
individual case, such as benifits, so please feel
free to E-mail & say hello anyway. I look forward to
hearing from you. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Your Trooper,
Billie Jo Sawyer
Best
One Man Band: Billie Sawyer
One-man bands are a dying breed. When
was the last time you saw a guy playing a con-
certina and a percussion contraption at the same
time? But if you catch the Saturday-night
Working Stiff Jamborees, staged at Springwater
every six weeks or so, you might be lucky enough
to catch Billie Sawyer, who can take a perfectly
cheesy Billy Joel tune- or a Karla bonoff tune or
even a Dire Straits tune, for God's sake- and make
it sound, well, kind of interesting. If anything,
though, Sawyer knows how to close his sets:
When he launches into "Old Dan Tucker," the
whole room erupts with him. It's a sight you won't
see anywhere else in this town. (JMarx)
- the Nashville Scene, March 26th, 1996