Photos by DeSousa Creative
Prescott Now: How long have you guys been playing together?
The Billy Reno Band: This configuration of the band it’s been 2½ years. I started out with a trio and have morphed into a six-piece goodtime, roadhouse, up tempo band that keeps the audience dancing and smiling!
Prescott Now: What genre or genres of music do you play?
The Billy Reno Band: We play music that makes us happy and we throw in a few originals too. We have Papa T and he’s a great blues harmonica player. We’ve got the Princess of Prescott Merri McKee and she belts out lots of great female tunes from Bonnie Raitt, Lucinda Williams to Aretha and Patsy Cline. I love playing with a twang so you’ll hear Billy play some Hank Sr., Hank III, Leftover Salmon, Jackson Brown, Randy Newman and Sam the Sham. Drummer Tom Galella is a rocker, so he keeps the place hopping. Our masterful bass player Cal Greer can play jazzy or country with either a stand-up bass or five-string electric.
What really inspires us and motivates us to be better are some of the other great musicians here. I’m talking about Don Cheek and the CheekTones. Then there’s Scandalous Hands with Troy Schilperoort on keys and Adam Haar on guitar/vocals. Sky Daddy is the master showman, can play anything and always has a smile on his face. And lastly, Andrew Deering because he’s twangy like me, plays multiple instruments and paid me $20 to mention him in this article.
Prescott Now: What is the key to being a successful musical act in Prescott and Northern Arizona?
The Billy Reno Band: From what I’ve observed, it helps if you are a kick-ass musician, singer and entertainer. This town is oozing with successful musical acts. They know how connect with their audience. And it helps if you are genuinely nice people (which all the people I’ve mentioned are!).
Prescott Now: What’s the smallest audience you’ve played for; the biggest?
The Billy Reno Band: Here in Prescott/Northern AZ the smallest audience is the people standing in line at The Up in Smoke BBQ in Chino Valley and the largest audience here locally is the TBD Show Skitmas at a sold out Elks theatre with 450 in attendance.
Prescott Now: Where do you find the inspiration for your songwriting or performances?
The Billy Reno Band: We live in Prescott — that is all the inspiration we need. Sometimes the inspiration comes easily, like my marketing person, Heather DeSousa, contacted me about a video shoot we were doing downtown on Whiskey Row and she needed me to write a song. All she gave me was a title — Frisky as a Whiskey. So I sat down and wrote the song in 15 minutes.
As far as inspiration for our performances, that’s an easy one — our audience.
Prescott Now: What brought you to Prescott?
The Billy Reno Band: I don’t really know, I was kind of in a haze in my life at the time, things were blurry, without direction, I was looking for something, although I don’t know what, and then I woke up out of my stupor and I was in Prescott, on Whiskey Row, Thumb Butte in the back ground, with a guitar case in my hand and a free pizza coupon for Limoncello in my pocket. And I heard live music coming from everywhere on the square. At that moment I knew I had found my place.
Or maybe my wife just told me we were moving to Prescott one day.
