Billy Billie’s electrified folk makes for a laid-back sound

Residents of the Flathead Valley might recognize Vinnie Rannazzisi and Sarah Williams from bands like Honey Bandit or 20 Grand, but their latest project Billy Billie focuses on a much more laid-back sound. 

With Rannazzisi on the cajon and Williams reciting poetry in between singing songs, the musicians say they are aiming for a stripped-back sound that could fit in at many different kinds of venues.

Rannazzisi and Williams had just returned from a small tour with their other band Honey Bandit when they sat down for an interview with the Daily Inter Lake. While Honey Bandit allows the musicians to play rock music, which Williams said is more suited for heavy drinking and late nights, they formed Billie Billy to get into something more folky. 

“I personally was looking to expand what I do musically, Vinnie already does a whole bunch. And we kind of decided to move towards a more singer songwriter, folk kind of vibe, because there's so many places we can't go as a rock band, right? … But, Billy Billie is something that we can take into all sorts of different venues and it's just a more stripped down versatile configuration of our instruments,” Williams said.

Billie Billy performs for the Daily Inter Lake’s Press Play lunch concert series on Friday, Nov. 3. 

The two officially started the band in February, playing breweries and restaurants, among other venues. Though they are leaning into a more folk music kind of sound, the band describes themselves as “electrified folk” with Williams playing the electric guitar. 

Rannazzisi said after Williams pitched him the idea for Billy Billie, he thought about a cajon drum: a percussive box instrument that is played with the hands. While typical cajon playing involves both hands, he found something that would work even better. 

“I found a cajon with a kick drum pedal and it has this wire and it goes inside the drum, so it replaces your need to use your right hand as the bass instrument. I can go back to using my four way independence that I have on the drum kit,” Rannazzisi said. “Which is the more dynamic stuff to accent her voice and guitar, and I can also play a high hat, using my left hand as a snare drum the whole time.”

Besides Honey Bandit, Rannazzisi plays in 20 Grand, Pedacter Project, Surfbat, Barrel Stove Combo, Hotdayum, Analog Armada and Moonshine Mountain. A mainstay of the region’s music scene for 20 years, he said aspiring musicians can make it here if they put in the work. 

“There's a rich scene, if you go to the mics and establish a name for yourself. Someone will talk to someone else … and something happens pretty quick if you want to work at it and make it happen,” Rannazzisi said. 

He doesn’t take it for granted. Rannazzisi said when he was growing up he always knew he wanted to be a musician. He got serious about the drums in college, but soon injured his wrist so badly that his doctors told him he would probably never be able to play again. So, the dream fizzled out for a few years in his early 20s. 

He eventually picked it back up, and though he still wears a wrist brace and manages the pain, to Rannazzisi, it’s all about perspective. 

“It's all a bonus round for me because I never thought I would play music again. And so I bought a drum kit to start playing beats again,” Rannazzisi said. 

Williams said she grew up in a very musical family, one that enjoyed rock and the blues. With both her parents in a band, she remembers waiting for bedtime stories while they finished up practice and sneaking in to watch them perform at local bars. Her first instrument was the violin, which she played through high school, when she also picked up the guitar. During that time she started writing songs and played with a small folk group. 

She didn’t start seriously getting into performing music until she moved to the Flathead Valley and began taking part in local open mic nights. 

The quieter sound of Billy Billie is somewhat of a return to her original intentions with playing music, Williams said. She had to brush up on her guitar skills for the new project. 

“I'm an OK guitar player. But it's effective enough for what we do, and hopefully I can continue to expand what I know and then expand the music I'm able to play,” Williams said. 

One thing she didn’t need to brush up on is her poetry. She recited poems at previous local slam poetry meetups and said it was a very cathartic experience. Compared to other kinds of poetry, Williams said spoken word offers something special. She said the poet has a short period of time to express a feeling and have the audience feel it back. 

“I suppose that's what draws me to it, and it offers something different in a live music kind of scene. I've noticed when we play, when I stop playing guitar and we're just doing some spoken word piece, which sometimes does have singing involved in it, it gets a lot more attention, just because it sort of cuts through the noise a little bit,” Williams said. 

The experienced collaborators both said when it comes to starting a new project with other musicians, everybody has to extend grace to allow mistakes and mess-ups. Whether it's learning new songs or adding covers to a set list, the group has to be comfortable not being good at something in front of each other. 

Rannazzisi said along with making sure the group has a shared vision, vulnerability is an important aspect.  

“You have to be patient with each other. Going back to what she's talking about, it's a job. So you have to figure out how you work as a team,” Rannazzisi said. 

Billy Billie plays many venues across the valley and can often be seen performing at the Gunsight Saloon in Columbia Falls. More information about the band can be found on social media, @billybilliemusic on Instagram. 

The Daily Inter Lake Press Play concert is Nov. 3 at noon in the newspaper’s warehouse, 727 East Idaho Street, Kalispell. The concert series is a subscriber-only benefit and tickets are available by making a donation to the newspaper’s Newspapers in Education initiative.

Tickets with an option to purchase lunch are available online at https://flatheadtickets.com/.

For more information, contact Melissa Wells at 406-758-4436.

Reporter Taylor Inman can be reached at 406-758-4433 or by emailing tinman@dailyinterlake.com.