Billy West Guitarist Maggie Valley Acoustic Guitarist from Maggie Valley, NC

Billy West began the musical odyssey in the Tampa Bay area at sixteen, singing and strumming folk, country and bluegrass on acoustic guitars. In his eighteenth year he began to dabble in electric guitar, and was forever changed! Billy headed North to the Berklee College of Music, got baptised in mainstream jazz, and survived to tell the tales. He spent the next sixteen years based in Boston, MA playing in numerous bands (so many at the same time!); performing general business music as well as original rock; occasional session work as a singer, guitarist and bassist; one particular sideline was a serious bluegrass band, where Bill developed some flatpickin' technique on the mandolin. West returned to the Tampa Bay area in 1997, and was a “weekend-warrior” rocker for the next ten years--again spicing the sounds of occasional recording projects. The most recent years have seen Billy return to performing acoustic guitar music full-time as a soloist here in Western North Carolina--during the day for seniors at assisted-living, rehab, etc.; evenings at intimate acoustic-oriented venues. The two different markets require different music, and Billy has developed a vast repertoire spanning centuries rather than decades! Billy says, “I've developed a 'Night and Day' personality(great Cole Porter song, btw!): the 'Day' me covers vocal and instrumental music from 1960's Sinatra-style back to eighteenth century Baroque pieces. The 'Night' me covers popular vocal and fingerstyle music from the 60's to now that inspires me, along with some of my own compositions.” Billy's numerous inspirations include Tommy Emmanuel, Chet Atkins, Richard Smith, Pat Donohue, Tony Rice, Steve Howe, traditional Delta and Piedmont blues, Stephen Stills, CSN, Hot Tuna, Grateful Dead, Little Feat, Bob Dylan, Dave Matthews, NRBQ, The Band, Beatles, Stones, The Who, Yes, Joe Jackson, Jethro Tull, Queen, ahhh too many more to list! He boils all those tunes into a spicy-singing-fingerpicking-flatpicking-gumbo that displays an original take on these time-honored artists, and reinforces his motto: Vocals & Guitar, Any Style, Any Occasion!

• Bye Bye Blackbird | Henderson/Dixon
• Chattanooga Choo-Choo | Warren/Gordon
• Alexander's Ragtime Band | Irving Berlin
• Butch Cassidy & Sundance medley | Burt Bacharach
• Do You Know What It Means.. | Louis Armstrong
• Dream A Little Dream | Louis Armstrong
• Frankie & Johnny | Lighten Brothers
• God Bless The Child | Billie Holliday
• Guitar Rag | Merle Travis
• Hard Times | Stephen Foster
• Hello Dolly | Louis Armstrong
• I Walk The Line | Johnny Cash
• My Blue Heaven | Gene Austin
• Swing On A Star/ Play Guitar | Pat Donohue
• Stealing From Chet | Pat Donohue
• Straighten Up And Fly Right | Nat King Cole
• Ramblin Rose | Nat King Cole
• For Everyman | Jackson Browne
• Mississippi | Bob Dylan
• New Kid In Town | Eagles
• Dark Star | Stephen Stills
• Mohammed's Radio | Warren Zevon
• Canadian Railroad Trilogy | Gordon Lightfoot
• Don Quixote | Gordon Lightfoot
• Cold On The Shoulder | Gordon Lightfoot
• If I Don't Have You | NRBQ
• Do What You Gotta Do | New Grass Revival
• Can We Still Be Friends | Todd Rundgren
• Ain't She Sweet | Ager/Yellen
• Sweet Georgia Brown | Ben Bernie
• She Caught The Katy | Taj Mahal
• Hot Tamales | Robert Johnson
• Roundabout | Yes
• What Would You Say | Dave Matthews
• You Can't Get What You Want | Joe Jackson
• Breaking Us In Two | Joe Jackson
• Is She Really Going Out With Him | Joe Jackson
• Under Pressure (instr.) | Queen
• A Bone Through Her Nose | Richard Thompson
• Valerie | Richard Thompson
• Scotland The Brave | Traditional
• 4+20 | Stephen Stills
• Age | Jim Croce
• All For You | Sister Hazel
• All The Time In The World | Subdudes
• America | Paul Simon
• Americana medley | Roy Zimmerman et.al.
• And Like That | BB King
• Angelina (instr.) | Tommy Emmanuel
• Ants Marching | Dave Matthews
• Behind Blue Eyes | The Who
• Bitch | Elton John
• Black Cow | Steely Dan
• Black Queen | Stephen Stills
• Blood Brother (instr.) | Tommy Emmanuel
• Bluebird | Stephen Stills
• Bohemian Rhapsody (instr.) | Queen
• Caprice (instr.) | Carcassi
• Clap (instr.) | Steve Howe
• Classical Gas (instr.) | Mason Williams
• Close To You (instr.) | Burt Bacharach
• Cowboy In The Jungle | Jimmy Buffett
• Crazy Fingers | Grateful Dead
• Crazy Little Thing Called Love | Queen
• Crosscut Saw | Albert King
• Dead Flowers | Rolling Stones
• Diary Of A Man Who Vanished | Steve Howe
• El Vaquero (instr.) | Chet Atkins
• Etude (instr.) | Carulli
• FM | Steely Dan
• For Lou's Blues (instr.) | West
• Franklin's Tower | Grateful Dead
• Genesis | Hot Tuna
• Geneva Tumbleweed (instr.) | West
• Hesitation Blues | Reverend Gary Davis
• Hope Street (instr.) | Tommy Emmanuel
• Hymn 43 | Jethro Tull
• I Am The Light Of This World | Reverend Gary Davis
• In My Life (instr.) | Lennon/McCartney
• In The Course of The Day (instr.) | Steve Howe
• It's My Job | Jimmy Buffett
• Just Like You | West
• Linus & Lucy (instr.) | Vince Guaraldi
• Look Of Love (instr.) | Burt Bacharach
• Lute Concerto, 2nd Movement | Vivaldi
• Maple Leaf Rag (instr.) | Scott Joplin
• Masquerade (instr.) | Steve Howe
• Mississippi Half Step Uptown Toodleoo | Grateful Dead
• Nine Pound Hammer | Traditional
• No Such Thing (instr.) | John Mayer
• Over The Rainbow (instr.) | Arlen/Harburg
• Pure And Easy | The Who
• Roads And Roads & | Hot Tuna
• Rock & Roll Woman | Stephen Stills
• Rubin's Jig (instr.) | West
• Saint Of Circumstance | Grateful Dead
• Save It For Later | The Beat
• Sergeant Pepper medley | Lennon/McCartney
• Shadow Captain | David Crosby
• Silver Belle Sonata (instr.) | West
• Since I've Been Loving You | Led Zeppelin
• Skating Away | Jethro Tull
• Solisbury Hill | Peter Gabriel
• Sonatina (instr.) | Clementi
• Terrapin Station | Grateful Dead
• The Endless Road (instr.) | Tommy Emmanuel
• The Entertainer (instr.) | Scott Joplin
• The Golden Mean (instr.) | Steve Howe
• The Longest Time (instr.) | Billy Joel
• The Music Never Stopped | Grateful Dead
• The Rain Song | Led Zeppelin
• The TE Ranch (instr.) | Tommy Emmanuel
• The Watkins Man (instr.) | Chet Atkins
• Those Who Wait (instr.) | Tommy Emmanuel
• Trambone (instr.) | Chet Atkins
• Traveling Clothes (instr.) | Tommy Emmanuel
• Uncle John's Band | Grateful Dead
• US Blues | Grateful Dead
• Wahoo! (instr.) | West
• Walkin' Cane | Traditional
• What's So Funny.. | Nick Lowe
• White Rhythm & Blues | JD Souther
• Why You Been Gone So Long | Traditional
• Windy & Warm (instr.) | Chet Atkins
• Won't Get Fooled Again | The Who