Speaking of Will Oldham … just when you thought ye olde world wide web had become, staid, predictable and boring, one happens upon something like this: The Will Oldham Live Show Archive. Made available via Bandcamp, and free to download, dig into various vintage Palace Brothers / Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy live gigs dating back to the ’90s.
Category: Will Oldham
Bonnie “Prince” Billy :: The Aquarium Drunkard Session
Will Oldham, aka Bonnie “Prince” Billy offers a three-song set of exclusive recordings for Aquarium Drunkard. Tune in to hear “Boise, Idaho” and “Guns Are For Cowards” from his great new album The Purple Bird and “Behold, Be Held!” from 2023’s Keeping Secrets Will Destroy You.
Transmissions :: Bonnie “Prince” Billy
Welcome back to Transmissions from Aquarium Drunkard, we’re kicking off our 10th season with host Jason Woodbury in conversation with Will Oldham, the man behind Bonnie “Prince” Billy, who appeared on the very first Transmissions interview back in 2016. He returns to Transmissions to unpack and discuss his new country album, The Purple Bird, uploading souls to the Metaverse, guns, and why he’d work with Phil Spector.
Bonnie “Prince” Billy :: The Purple Bird
The Purple Bird is more overtly country than the last few Bonnie “Prince” Billy albums, certainly more so than the droning, mesmeric Lungfish homage in Hear the Children Sing the Evidence from 2024 or even the campfire folk communal Keeping Secrets Will Destroy You from 2023. Of course, threads of rural traditions in country, bluegrass and shape not singing have always woven through Oldham’s work, so it’s not a dramatic departure. Still, this is an album made in Nashville with Nashville musicians and a celebrated Nashville producer, and the twang factor is high.
Bonnie “Prince” Billy :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
Will Oldham has known Daniel Higgs for decades, first in Baltimore in the late 1990s, later putting up the Lungfish auteur whenever he passed through Louisville. So when his friend, musical collaborator and Louisville neighbor Nathan Salsburg suggested covering a Lungfish song that he’d been singing to his infant daughter, it made perfect sense to Oldham.
Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy :: Once Again In The World (Selected Songs, 1998-2020)
Spanning 1998-2020, Once Again In The World is a collection of rare and unreleased tracks from Will Oldham as Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy. Released last year, via the Portland, OR based Antiquated Future Records, the set acts as a companion the label’s other Oldham offering, Time From Work To Go (Selected Songs, 1992-1998), gathering fifteen curios from the previous Palace era.
Goodtime John & Bonnie Prince Billy :: New Life
For the last 20+ years, Irish singer/songwriter J. Cowhie has released music under his own name and the Goodtime John banner. Now he’s back with the mighty Will Oldham aka Bonnie “Prince” Billy in the cut with him. On the recently released “New Life,” Cowie applies AOR textures to his minimal form, conjuring up a grand but sparse sense of atmosphere that wouldn’t feel out of place on a late-era Pink Floyd recording.
Bonnie “Prince” Billy & Matt Sweeney :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
Will Oldham and Matt Sweeney join us for an exploration into Superwolves, their long-awaited follow up the 2005 classic lp Superwolf.
Bonnie “Prince” Billy & Matt Sweeney :: The Hall of Death
Bonnie Prince Billy and Matt Sweeney return with a fiery new song featuring Tuareg guitarist Mdou Moctar and announce the long-awaited sequel to 2005’s Superwolf titled, naturally, Superwolves.
Matt Sweeney & Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy :: Make Worry For Me
An embarrassment of riches from the Will Oldham universe of late. In addition to the ad hoc Instagram performances that began as quarantine commenced, the artist has recently been dropping a bevy of covers in collaboration with friend and labelmate, Bill Callahan. Want a taste? Their take on Steely Dan is particularly choice.
But hold up, the year isn’t over yet. This week finds Oldham once again sliding into his Superwolf suit with running partner, and guitar guru, Matt Sweeney.
The Aquarium Drunkard Picture Show, Episode II
More ether-access basement broadcasts transmitting from the hills of Glassell Park, Calif. Welcome to episode two of the Aquarium Drunkard picture show: Liminal Shift.
Feat: Julien Gasc / Maston / Map of Africa / White Fence / Conspiracy of Owls / Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy / Ty Segall / Thee Oh Sees / John Andrews & The Yawns / Lou Reed & more …
Superwolf :: You’ll Get Eaten, Too
Global pandemic. Game show host leader of the free world. Massive unemployment. That Tiger King show. Lots to be confused about in March 2020 … but not this!! The return of Superwolf — the collaboration of Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy and Matt Sweeney.
Bonnie “Prince” Billy / Bryce Dessner / Eighth Blackbird :: When We Are Inhuman
When We Are Inhuman, the beguiling new album billed to Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Bryce Dessner, and Eighth Blackbird, begins with quarter note pulses from a single instrument. Alternating pulses from a second and then a third instrument join in before ultimately giving way to the melody of “Beast For Thee,” a song originally heard on Superwolf — the tremendous 2005 collaborative album by Bonnie “Prince” Billy and guitarist Matt Sweeney. […]
The Aquarium Drunkard Guide To Drag City Records: Volume One
Chicago’s venerable Drag City turns 30 years young in 2019. In perhaps typical fashion, the label doesn’t seem to be doing much in the way of commemoration — no star-studded festival, no limited edition boxed set, no self-congratulatory excess. Instead, Drag City is doing what it’s always done: releasing great records.
But those past glories deserve a little celebration, don’t they? That’s why the Aquarium Drunkard team has put together this eclectic guide to Drag City’s immense catalog: 30 masterpieces for 30 years.
Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy w/ Roots of Music :: The Curse (The Mekons)
Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy + The Roots of Music covering The Mekons . New Orleans, LA . . . Only the good shit. Aquarium Drunkard is powered by its patrons. Keep the servers humming and help us continue doing it […]