Recently Brandon Wallin had an interview with Blackjack Billy’s Noll Billings. Brandon reached out with just a few questions to help himself and fans learn a little more about what they can expect at a live show, especially a festival like Ramble Jam where the will be be playing on September 13, 2014.
INTERVIEW: By Brandon G. Wallin
Noll, first and foremost thanks for taking your time to talk and answer a few questions for us! I’ll keep it short as I know you’re on a busy schedule.
Though I wasn’t there myself, fans throughout and around Minnesota loved your performances at WeFest this year! I’ve got to ask, what was it like for you guys to play such a large festival, not only once but numerous times in one trip.
“WeFest was a real blast. We’ve been amazed at how many fans have come out to support us at these type of festivals. Even if we play the early slot or the midnight shift, the fans have come out and really shared their love with us. WeFest in particular was one we really looked forward to with such a reputation and the great line up, we knew it was gonna be a riot. We definitely have been blessed but at the same time we all feel that we belong there.”
Though I personally missed you at WeFest, myself and many others can’t wait to see your live show at the two-day Ramble Jam Music Festival coming up in Farmington, MN on September 12 & 13 this year. For those like myself who haven’t seen a live show, how would you describe the show to a first timer?
“Honestly it’s different for us every time. The show really just stems from how much we love playing and how much fun we have making music. We never let a crowd have more energy than us, so some nights are crazier than others but for BJB it’s all about giving em something they can’t forget and songs that we love and wanna share and most importantly we really have a blast on stage. The stage is one place where we are completely free.”
Being that Ramble Jam is growing larger each year, they’re getting a lot more people camping out there as well. Are any of you the type to take a wonder out into the campground just to hang with country fans and maybe even have a drink or two, play some games, hang by the bonfire, play some music, etc?
“Oh Yeah, we commandeered Storme Warrens gold cart at WeFest and made some rounds. At Hodag we got ourselves in a late night corn hole game. Lee Brice and Rob pulled an all nighter in a Gator up in Canada last time we saw Lee.
The fans are the only reason we get to do this, and we want to see them anytime we can show some love back!”
As soon as your hilarious new lyric video for “Got A Feeling” featuring many talented country artists came out, your agent and my good friend Matt Rizor sent me the link. I had already loved the song, but once I saw the video, it was a perfect fit and one of the best lyric videos I’ve seen. How much fun was it out on the road all summer making the video, and including so many great friends and artists in it as well?
“It was a blast to do. One thing we wanted to try and show is how many of the stars in our business are really great people and cool as hell. We all tour together and share stages all over the globe and when time permits we try get to know each other a bit. Usually we find that the biggest stars are the most down to earth. A guy like Jake Owen who is on top of the biz, he’s one of the coolest cats on the planet. I was a fan of Jake before we met, now I’m a fan for life.”
Did anyone say no when asked to be included, or anyone left out of the video once it was sent to editing?
“We started grabbing shots on our iPhones at shows or the bus and didn’t really try and grab a scene with someone unless it came up naturally. We have great relationships with most those guys. Honestly every single time it came up it was like “hell yeah, what y’all wanna do”. We knew we had to get our boys in Love and Theft and Chase who we love and have got to know on the road, then we did kinda bug Jana to do it, but she is pretty all day every day and could make any video better. She was so much fun in that scene with Rob and is one of the coolest gals.
We get asked all the time “did Noll really just run up and drop that sign on Jake Owen or was he in on it?” Well… I Guess you will never know…haha.”
I know you’re all on a fairly tight schedule so I will wrap it up with this last question…
Is there anything you guys want to see or do that you haven’t yet while traveling through, or stopping in Minnesota? If so, what would those things be?
“I think the BJB crew does a solid job of chasing down every available opportunity for good times. I get to roll with the best crew of guys I’ve ever met, and we live it to the fullest every single day out here.”
“See you at Ramble Jam, gonna be a blast.”
For more details on Ramble Jam click here.
For more information regarding Blackjack Billy, click here.
We hope to see you all at the show wearing your MinesotaCountry.com gear! Get it now by clicking here!