The IMC Magazine
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“I had a 7 p.m. curfew,” Kay said. “Most musicians play at bars and it was difficult to get gigs where there was no alcohol and allowed me to be back at 7 p.m.”
And thus, Billy found a reason to hit the road again. He was one state away from Music City and couldn’t miss the opportunity to work in Nashville. “I was in Nashville for a little while and they offered me a home in Clifton, Tennessee, so I did that for a year,” Kay said.
Because Clifton was hours away from Nashville and not near any hotels, the VA allowed his son to come stay with him over Thanksgiving.
After a year in Clifton, Kay was feeling the itch to move on once again. “I left Clifton because it was too difficult to get gigs that were hours away,” he said. “So I moved on to Mississippi where I became friends with the person who ran The College Inn.”
They remain friends to this day.
Six months into his time in Mississippi, Kay received an email, offering him the unique opportunity to head to Seattle, Washington and record with some other musicians, in a proper studio. “It took me a month to get there,” he said. “And when I got there I realized I actually had talent.
In the South, everyone played. When I got to Seattle and began playing with other musicians I realized I was better than the average guy.”
Kay never planned to play live.
He was content making YouTube videos, which were quite popular. “People started stopping what they were doing to listen and that is when I realized I was doing something right.”
Finally, his time on the road caught up to him. “When you are a homeless vet you are never anywhere long enough to get a primary care physician,” Kay said. “I would just go to emergency rooms at VA hospitals wherever I was.” A phone call from the VA revealed Kay had prostate cancer and he needed to find somewhere he could stay for six months to receive the necessary treatment.
The long and expensive ferry rides to the studio coupled with the rainy Seattle weather made Kay long for someplace warm, and dry. “I had finished recording all of my parts while in Seattle. I just didn’t like Seattle. The clouds got stuck in our tiny valley on the lake and they never left.”
Kay got in the BMW and drove south to Eureka, California where they filmed the Star Wars movie scenes with the Ewoks. But the closest VA Hospital was in San Francisco, four hours away. “So I decided to head back to Nevada, where it was warm.”
Now Kay is back where it all started – in Las Vegas and playing live gigs as time and his health allow. He utilizes tips he got from other musicians, like Josh Damigo. “I got the idea of my tune up songs from him,” Kay said. “I play the Wizard of Oz.” Realizing his own worth and talent has been great for Kay.
“I have only been in Vegas a few weeks but I have gigs up until my surgery,” he said. “There were even three people from out of town who heard about me on Facebook. They left The Strip to see me play. No one leaves the strip.”
For now, Las Vegas is once again his home and he looks forward to the future. “They think they caught the cancer early enough,” he said. For now, he plans to just chill.
To listen to Billy Kay’s music, check out the music from his Abject Poverty Tour, which feature his original music and cover songs from his Unplugged & Naked tour.
RAMBLIN MAN
Kiva Johns-Adkins
Contributor