Willie B (www.williebmusic.net)
Willie B (a.k.a. Brian Wilson) has performed and recorded with many great artists such as Sally Timms (The Mekons), Warren Zanes (Del Fuegos), NYC punk legend Jayne County, and Neko Case. He has toured Europe and the U.S. extensively with Johnny Dowd, and surf rockers the Mofos. From punk to jazz to country, Willie's versatility is his strength. He is best known for incorporating organ bass pedals into his drum setup, allowing him to play bass and drums simultaneously. This original sound has become his signature. He has also recorded his own solo album, 'A-frame session vol. 2' on which he plays all instruments.
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His latest collaboration with Jim White and Johnny Dowd is a group called HELLWOOD, The new album is called " the chainsaw of life" and is being released in Europe September 2006. It is also available here: www.williebmusic.net.
TZAR: Willie's power duo with organist Michael Stark. Check out www.tzarmusic.com for a sample!
Reviews
"Willie B. (Brian Wilson) sets his own odd course with his music as on 2002's fresh: A-Frame Sessions Vol. 2. It's a combination of electronica, jazz, and some alt country thrown in there somewhere. I'm putting Willie B. in the spectrum next to Johnny Dowd for their association, but truly, Willie B.'s drums, programming, and writing covers such a wide range of the map. However, the left end of the alt country category is where I started to stack up the surf rock sound, at least the surf rock that sounds like its also paying homage to country. As on Dowd's album, Willie B.'s own album features that spaghetti western, surf rock combo. Wilder Than the Wind '66 starts off with a huge wave riding drumroll. Snyths and guitars combine to make this like a western movie of cowboys fighting out on the surf. Tumble takes this spaghetti western down to the Mexican border, a parade-strut rhythm ready to cross and escape the long arm of the law. Finally, a stand out element is the marimba on Exotica #3. Even with many electronic elements, Willie B.'s live, acoustic percussion remains center stage as if there's a drummer in the room, smashing down those heads, with the lights all focused on him. Meanwhile, from the edges of the dark room, there's flashes of electronics, guitars, basses, and other odd sounds, but nothing, no, nothing, can stop that drummer from laying down his beat." -Music Spectrum.
"Willie B. is drummer Brian Wilson, who regularly plays with one of my heroes Johnny Dowd. His album, Fresh: A-Frame Sessions Vol II, updates Sandy Nelson's percussion chops for the indie-intelligentsia, and anyone else who digs a slightly off-kilter boogedy-beat. Spare, tasteful, guitar and keyboards augment this instrumental gem. Wilson also plays with The Mofos, another vox-free combo. Their mission is to remake surf/rock'n'roll finger-tanglers from the '50s and '60s in the image of Motorhead and Nine Inch Nails. They do so fluently, entertainingly and with a surprising sprinkling of melody."
- Blues Matters! Magazine
"Dowd builds upon his morbid strengths in the acute presence of percussionist Brian Wilson, a preternaturally talented kid who amplifies Dowd's increasingly romantic backwoods ballads with swoops and stomps of nightmare perfect drums and bass pedals."
-The Stranger
"Brian Wilson - the prodigiously dexterous musician who simultaneuosly plays drums and operates a keyboard bass pedal."
-Chris Morris, LA Weekly
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