CONTEST HAS ENDED…

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It’s hard to deny that there aren’t many, if any, folks out there who are more prolific than Louisville‘s Will Oldham.  Perhaps more commonly known by his current stage name, Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, Oldham released his first full-length LP under the moniker of Palace Brothers through legendary Chicago-based indie label, Drag City, nearly two decades ago.  Within 2 years, he released 2 LPs, a handful of 7-inches and began recording as Palace, Palace Songs, and Palace Music; names under which he would eventually release another 2 studio albums; EPs; a double-LP composed of B-sides, outtakes, demos, etc.; at least another half-dozen 7-inches, and more.  In 1997, Will Oldham released, Joya, his fifth full-length, but the first released under his own name.  The songwriter adopted his Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy pseudonym for the 1998 follow up, I See A Darkness, of which Johnny Cash later covered the title track.  For the most part, Oldham has continued on with the Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy title through today.  From the decade that stretched from 2001 until 2011, the songwriter has released at least one full-length every single year, whether by himself or through collaborative projects like Superwolf, with musician/producer Matt Sweeny (Chavez, Zwan, etc); The Brave and The Bold, with Tortoise; and The Cairo Gang, with Emmet Kelly.  Even more tremendous than his constant output is the fact that the work that he creates never seems rushed and is consistently great, typically containing a genuinely timeless quality.

In the time since Billy‘s most recent full-length of fresh tunes, Wolfroy Goes to Town (2011), he’s followed it up with a 7-inch EP of B-Sides and a another EP that features re-imaginings of some of his older material.  He then finished off 2012 by teaming up with Dawn McCarthy of Faun Fables to release a Holiday 7-inch and continuing to work with her on a full-length tribute to the Everly Brothers, which they promoted by touring together earlier this year.

Keep in mind that this doesn’t even include the special Wolfroy signature condom released for record store day last year, his own blend of Kona coffee, a designer fragrance, his acting work in film (Junebug, Matewan, Julian Donkey-boy),  television (Wonder Showzen), and music videos (“Can’t Tell Me Nothing,”, “Trapped in the Closet”), and various other achievements like taking the infamous cover photo for Slint‘s highly influential post-rock classic Spiderland (1991), and writing a revealing piece on R. Kelly for Interview magazine.

Most of what you’ve just read was siphoned directly from the introduction to a 3-part series of articles that I wrote about the free mini-tour that Oldham performed around the Northwest‘s Puget Sound area last year, which featured him doing a handful of in-stores, as well as a show at a Wolf Sanctuary in Tenino, Wa.  The video above, which was recorded at one such show and features Bonnie doing a variation on his song “I See A Darkness,” is a prime example of the level of intimacy presented at those performances, his penchant for continuously switching his approach up when performing renditions of his own material, and how engaging of a performer he can truly be.  During that show in particular, he explained that, during that tour, it was the first time that he had performed solo in many years, and, as an audience member, it was clear that we were witnesses something special.

Whether you’ve seen Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy live before or not, you’re definitely missing out on something, if you haven’t been able to catch him at his most stripped down–just Oldham and his guitar.  The good news is that solo is exactly the way that the performer will be embarking on his upcoming tour.  The even better news is that the Seattle Theatre Group has provided us with a pair of tickets for the September 7th performance at Neptune Theatre with opener Mt Eerie and we’re going to give them away to one of you jerks that enters this contest [details below].

[BUY TICKETS HERE]

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THE CONTEST / GIVEAWAY:

*One winner will receive a pair of tickets to see the following show:

Bonnie ‘Prince Billy (solo)
w/Mt Eerie
Live @ Neptune Theatre
Seattle, Washington
Sept. 7th, 2013

HOW TO ENTER:

This contest will focus around the lack of photo access for Bonni ‘Prince’ Billy’s current tour

#1

Although I got a number of really solid photographs the last time that Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy came through the Northwest (note the photo with Will and my son above), I was informed that, this time around, Oldham isn’t approving any photo access fro any of his shows.  My initail assumption was that it probably has something to do with the nature of the shows and how a bunch of goons snapping photos clearly do have the potential to fuck up the entire vibe.  So, that was understandable enough.  But then, as I thought about it more and more, it made me wonder….  No photos?  Hmmm…  Not only does he not want to be photographed, but he sure has switched up his name an awful lot.  If you combine these facts with his statements about restricting himself to fictional storytelling, as far as lyrical content in concerned, and never writing personal songs about his own life, we have the ingredients for a full-on, outlandish, and far-reaching conspiracy.  Which, in turn, become the makes for foundation of a ticket contest/giveaway.

Since it’s become fairly evident that Will Oldham is either on the lam, or in some form of witness protection program, your mission as the contest entrant is to speculate just exactly what he’s hiding from.

 

#2

Post your answer in the comment section below.

#3)

There is no part 3. That’s all there is to the contest. It’s pretty easy… but you should probably read the fine print.

The Fine Print:

All entries must be received by Wednesday, September 4th at 11:59pm to be eligible. You can enter as many times as you want, but use a valid email so that we can contact you. If you sign in with Facebook, make sure that your account can accept a message from us. Winner will be chosen arbitrarily, based on our personal “favorite.”

If you are not sure that you will be able to attend the show, do not enter!  You’d be surprised how often that shit happens and we don’t want these going to waste.

If we are unable to contact the winner in a reasonable amount of time, a new winner will be chosen.

Good luck!