Live Alchemy: Billy Walton Band
The Latest Approach to Musical Spontaneous Combustion From a State that Pioneered It
Guitarist Billy Walton has a singular style, including occasional finger tapping and something approaching shred guitar in a style in which spirited blues is predominant. Formerly playing with Southside Johnny, Walton has assembled a band that shares the New Jersey legend’s integration of covers and originals, and the integration of his familiar, boisterous bar band singalongs with the unpredictable singularity of a unique artist.
The Billy Walton Band has all of that in common with Southside Johnny and The Asbury Jukes but differs in that it is more guitar-centric than horn-centric and it emphasizes the jam band aesthetic more. The band adroitly shifts from originals to diverse covers to long instrumental jams (which surely try the attention spans of the TikTok generation but reward the listener and viewer who watches and listens attentively).
The current lineup includes Walton on guitar and vocals; Destinee Monroe on guitar, vocals, and percussion; Eric Safka on keyboards; William Paris on bass guitar and vocals; and Tom Petracarro on saxophone. (I am unable to confirm the current drummer, who plays well.) They brought inimitable energy and personality to two recent performances I saw at Jamian’s Food and Drink in Red Bank on April 19 and The Break in Asbury Park last night, but they bring this energy and personality all over New Jersey and beyond. A tour of the United Kingdom will start on May 11.
Walton and Monroe are the frontman and frontwoman, respectively, complementing each other with call and response vocals as well as complementing each other’s colorful Fender Stratocasters while trading off licks. Monroe’s lead guitar style is more ambient and laid back than Walton’s masculine aggression, and it is an effective contrast. She is more aggressive as a rhythm guitarist, percussively attacking the strings. And she is also arresting without the guitar, jumping around the stage with a tambourine and an inimitable performance style. While Walton and Monroe are often the focal point (together or apart), all members take the spotlight at times. Paris sang their cover of “Foxy Lady” at The Break; Safka adds sound effects to his adept organ playing; Petracarro likes to walk around the venue while soloing (as does Walton, making effective use of wireless systems).
Original highlights include “Confusion”, “I Can’t Tell”, and “Hell or High Water”. A highlight of the cover repertoire in both Red Bank and Asbury Park was “Not Fade Away”. It was appropriate that the performance was reminiscent of the rhythmic quirkiness of Bob Seger and the Silver Band’s covers of Bo Diddley, as they segued into “Who Do You Love” in both venues. Interpolating ostensibly disparate covers into other covers is a trademark of theirs. I heard Walton play Metallica’s “Seek and Destroy” and the theme to The Twilight Zone during “Rhiannon”. During “Another Brick in the Wall Parts I and II” (played by request), they played part of Stevie Nicks’s “Edge of Seventeen”. The covers are fun, but the originals and psychedelia-infused jams are what distinguish this band from the stiff competition in one of the few states that still has a robust music scene.
In the twenty-first century, many arts are dying or long dead. Literature and feature films are dying, but a not-so-small, dedicated core of players are keeping something vital alive in New Jersey and beyond. If you have the opportunity, see this band. An evening with the Billy Walton Band is an evening well spent.