Once upon a time there was a global pandemic that stranded the world’s touring musicians at home.
The mix of overwhelming existential dread and abundant free time gave birth to a musical subgenre known as ‘the pandemic song.’ Billy Ayers, frontman of the band Billy!, was never a fan.
“I get kind of cringed out by them,” he said. “I was never the biggest fan of those songs about how we’re all inside, and we’re all in this together, and we’ll somehow get through it. It was just kind of stupid.”
“I don’t mean to devalue those feelings because we all felt that way,” he was quick to add. In fact, his song Boats & Trains is a pandemic song. “I just wanted to put my own spin on those feelings so they weren’t so on the nose.”
The song isn’t literally about a virus or staying inside. Nor is there a stale metaphor involving masks or social distance. “Basically, it's just a song about how life goes through situations that aren’t necessarily in your control.”
The song has existed in various iterations. It appeared on the first Billy! EP in a stripped down, minimal way. But over the last couple of years he’s assembled a great band to put their own spin on it.
The band recorded their version of the song last October during a session with OurVinyl. That session has now been released on streaming platforms and to OurVinyl’s YouTube channel along with artists like Tyler Childers, Billy Strings, and Morgan Wade.
“It makes me happy that people enjoy that song,” he said. “That was one of the first songs I wrote that made me think I should start doing a solo act.”
Up until that point in his life, most of his projects had been irreverent punk bands with names Bobby Light and the Slag Muffins.
“We had a horn section, and we played Chicago’s ‘25 or 6 to 4’ at the 7th grade talent show,” he laughed. “I still have the video. It’s cute because we’re little kids, but it’s embarrassing.”
Billy! will perform two very different shows this week in Chattanooga. On Wednesday, Billy! the band will play a full band set at Yellow Racket Records along with McKay and Jaron Utt. Music starts at 8, and there is a $10 cover charge.
Then on Thursday the 16th, Billy the man will perform a stripped-down solo set at the Woodshop as part of their Woodshop Variety show series. Alex the Band and Kimi Carter will also perform. Music starts at 8, and there is no cover charge.