Billy Bucher

About me:

The Songs Go On!!!!:

The songs you are hearing are some of my favorite such as a wonderful artist named Cornell Kinderknecht and two songs are from his first CD "Returning Home." I had the pleasure of laying down eight tracks in it with 12 different percussion instruments on "My People. It was like being back in the North Texas Percussion Ensemble with Ron Fink conducting only I was the only drummer. Wow. What power. (Smile!!!) This song is "My People" with congas and cymbals and and toys and joy!!! On "Roundabout" I do congas and cymbals. Also there are songs of some of my favorite bands like Susie Warley, Sol Patch and ShAnnie with whom I am beginning to play. Good times. Also included are some of my favorite Argentina groups such as Polen with the fabulous Ivana Lapolla switching between drums and bass. Buenos Aires had so many great artist such as mi amigo Chaio and also mi amiga Senorita Carolina and, of course hard drum rocker, Caroblink!!! Some great music coming out of South America. And then there is the captivating Vanessa Peters who spends more time in Europe than Texas these days. On the left column are videos from the the incomparable Annie Benjamin whose performances are always filled with such sheer joy it is a wonder to behold. I have up two videos from performances with her and one performance with Cornell. I have just added 5 videos of playing at different places with Annie Benjamin videotaped by the wonderful Jennifer Walz. Please check them out.

..MUSIC:..

In Rod Kennedy's book "Music From The Heart" about the history of the Kerrville Folk Festival, he writes, "Supported by Billy Bucher's tasteful drumming, the music of Ewing Street Times filled the hall and propelled people out of their seats at the end of what seemed to be too short a set."

As a drummer, percussionist and pianist, Billy Bucher grew up in Atlantic, Iowa, before the lure of jazz pulled him to Denton, Texas. He has performed in a wide variety of music from jazz while in the Lab Band program at the University of North Texas from where he holds a degree, to rock and blues bands in Austin, Dallas, San Francisco, and Vermont. After moving to Austin, he branched into progressive country with Ewing Street Times which featured John Vandiver, Shake Russell and Michael Mashkes. They did much road work including appearances from Colorado and the East Coast to doing a Willie Nelson picnic and several appearances at the Kerrville Folk Festival.

After moving to Dallas he has appeared in numerous rhythm and blues and folk and rock bands.

As a percussionist during and since college, Bucher has performed classical mallet instruments including timpani, marimba and xylophone with the North Texas, Richardson, and Dallas Symphonies. Billy was once called upon to perform a piece where the only instruments given him were a broken cymbal, a glass jar of nuts and bolts and an electric sensor which diluted every object with which it came in contact.

One of Bucher's fondest memories is a four night jazz and blues festival jam with David Amram, Peter Jacobson and Peter Serkin in Marlboro, Vermont, where Serkin's father Rudolf was a resident pianist performer with cellist Pablo Casals.

Currently, Billy appears on three separate yet strangely interrelated Texas music CD projects. Two are newly released, including the intriguing CD by Shelly Niebuhr called "Believe" and Cornell Kinderknecht sensational first CD "Returning Home and his current CD "Stay", for which he is up yet again for "Musician of the Year". The fourth is the recent first CD re-release of the very popular Shake Russell and Dana Cooper' early venture, "Songs on the Radio."

Says Bucher, "I can honestly say that I love all types of music and we can find good and knowledge in all musical forms. With almost any given group, today's drummer is propelled into a number of styles. Yet, at the same time, many musical forms are very similar. Usually, a good country player, for instance, can also become a strong blues player due to the nature of the rhythms. I prefer to teach in such a way that a percussionist is exposed to as many styles and instruments as possible so that as he progresses he can be creative in a number of musical avenues."

Professionally, Bucher teaches private drums, percussion, and piano lessons in East Dallas and surrounding small towns. He is also currently doing many appearances with Texas artists such as the stunning Annie Benjamin who writes and performs a wide variety of music from jazz to rock to blues and ballads. She even plays classical flute with David Lee Schloss and has her own rock band called Rocket Girl which features the rawking April Samuels on drums. Bucher also appears in the Hill Country with the magical Susie Warley who has gotten a very large following in a fairly short period of time. He has also begun to play with other wonderful groups such at ShAnnie and Sol Patch and his old friend Graham Warwick who can lay down Johnny Vandiver songs and old blue songs like no one else. Occasionally, he will sit in with his old friend and former bandmate, veteran singer/songwriter Shake Russell and his truly exciting new trio with mandolin genius Doug Floyd and incredible bassist Mike Roberts. The three part hamonies they produce are beyond belief!!!



Writing:

He is also working on his second novel and his stories and articles have appeared in literary magazine such as "The Pawn Review" and "The Gar" to music articles for "Texas Jazz" and the "Dallas Observer". He once published a short story in the Dallas Morning News "Guide" section. To anyones memory this may be the one and only short story to have appeared in the Dallas Morning News. Or perhaps not.

Photography:

He is currently following a new passion in photography, some of which will appear on this picture albums.

Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) 2007 and 2008 at the Bath House Cultural Center, Oct. 13-Nov 10th, 2007. "High Road to Taos." Collage of 29 photos on a New Mexico map. Curated by Enrique Fernandez Cervantes...

Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) 2007 and 2008 at the Ice House Cultural Center, Nov 3.-Nov 17th, 2007. "Fallen Too Soon." Photo with mosaic frame by Betty Bucher. Curated by Jose Vargas... "Alter to John Vandiver" 2008. Curated by Jose Vargas.

'TIL WE MEET AGAIN. Curated by Enrique Fernandez Cervantes. A twist on the traditional “farewell” and “homecoming” evokes a multitude of emotions in this exhibition of postcard-size mixed media art. I have two works: "Plodding Home to Rancho Romance: and "Shoot Out at the O.K. Kitchen." Betty Bucher has an exhibit named "Ultimate Abandonment." See "My Art and My Friends Art" in Photo Albums. Thanks.

El Corazon. Curated by Jose Vargas. Betty Bucher has a piece called "The Abandoned Child" which is getting a lot of positive response. We have many good friends in the show. We are very blessed. Photos in the Photo Albums already being added.

Verse and Reverse. Beginning the Saturday, March 15th at the Bath House. Curated by Enrique Fernandez Cervantes. I had four short stories featured in this show.

10-4 Good Buddy Scotty Mankoff PHOTO EXHIBIT. I showed a photo called "Ally in Orbit" at the Kettle Art Gallery.

Day of the Dead at the Art Hotel 2008. I showed "Dancing with the Dead" with Valerie from the Hellblinki Sextet. Shayne W. Ridenour, curator. Johanna Roffino-Hulsey, director.

Additional Information: Two additional places where you may find information on Billy Bucher and music clips as well is at www.mytexasmusic.com/billybucher and at http://www.bloggard.com/hobnob The latter is a blog site about people who attended the University of North Texas (North Texas State) in the 60s and early 70s and hung out around the cafe called the Hob Nob. Many of the articles there, though, drift into the present time and guest artists often appear. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. travel layout powered by HOTFreeLayouts.com / MyHotComments..