Billy Sherwood
William " Billy" Wyman Sherwood ( born March 14, 1965 in Las Vegas, Nevada ) is an American musician, record producer and sound engineer. He was best known as a member of the British progressive rock band Yes. Billy Sherwood plays, among others, drums, percussion, keyboards, bass guitar, various a- and electric guitars and other stringed instruments such as steel guitar, mandolin and banjo.
Career
Family background
Sherwood comes from a very musical family. His father Bobby was the head of a big band, his mother Phyllis vocalist and drummer and his brother Michael Sherwood, a keyboard player and singer, was a member of a number of rock bands. His godfather was the late American actor, entertainer and comedian Milton Berle.
In Lodgic
Billy Sherwood's career as a musician began at Lodgic, the volume of his brother Michael, where Billy Sherwood played bass and sang. His brother played keyboards and sang also. Other members were Guy Allison (keyboards), guitarist Jimmy Haun ( would the later be heard along with Billy on the Yes album Union) and Gary Starns (drums). The band started their career in Las Vegas in 1980 attracted the musicians but to Los Angeles. It was not until six years later published Lodgic their first album ( Nomadic Sands, 1986), Billy Sherwood also mixed and produced in.
World Trade
After Lodgic fell apart in the late eighties, Billy Sherwood and Guy Allison formed a new band, which they called "World Trade ". Other members were guitarist Bruce Gowdy and drummer Mark T. Williams. The band secured a record deal and was able to release their first album World Trade in 1989. Again Sherwood acted as a sound engineer and producer, he also can be heard on the album as a bassist and vocalist. The album contains an Americanized version of the music of Yes' eighties - years - albums 90125 and Big Generator, which Sherwood was a big fan since childhood.
Collaboration with Chris Squire
1989 were Yes ( Chris Squire, Trevor Rabin, Alan White and Tony Kaye ) approached Sherwood and Gowdy and invited them to band practice. When the progressive rock band Big Generator together was in 1989 in this line to the recordings of the follow-up album again, they faced the problem of having to find a singer for their new project: Jon Anderson had left the band frustrated because Rabin more and more the leadership of the group had drawn itself. In addition, the guitarist Trevor Rabin was not available at this time. When he came to later on the band, he took over Gowdys Part
A collaboration with Roger Hodgson (ex - Supertramp ) had proven to be problematic and Squire, who had become aware of Sherwood, hit upon the idea to hire him as a replacement for Anderson. The two wrote songs together first, including The more we live - let go, which should land on the next Yes album Union ( 1991). As but then the merger of Yes with the competition band Anderson, Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman, Howe became clear, it was no longer necessary to find a replacement for the singer. Nevertheless, Billy Sherwood and Jimmy Haun, his old colleagues from the Lodgic - days to hear as a guest musician on the Union album.
Squire and Sherwood stayed in touch. After the end of the Union tour, in August 1992, Squire gave some concerts in California with his new band "The Chris Squire Experiment". Among the members of this hobby band also included Billy Sherwood (guitar, vocals, keyboards) and Jimmy Haun and Toto keyboardist Steve Porcaro and Yes drummer Alan White. The "experiment" played songs of Union and some new pieces that were created in collaboration with Sherwood Squires. The set list for the concert of 25 August 1992 in San Jose, California about was: Open Your Eyes ( later on the same Yes album, 1997), The Lonesome Trail, You're the Reason, One World Going Round, Days of Wonder, Follow Our Dreams. Sometimes even the Yes Long Distance Runaround classic was played ( from the album Fragile ).
Solo and contract work
After the end of the " Chris Squire Experiment " took Sherwood with guitarist Marty Walsh released an album called The Key that, however, only appeared in 1997.
He also worked as a sound engineer and producer for Motorhead, Dangerous Toys, and Paul Rodgers (ex - Bad Company, currently at Queen). As a guest musician he played on Toto's Kingdom of Desire.
Since 1993, Sherwood produced repeatedly tribute albums, including Paul Rodgers Muddy Water Blues ( 1993) Crossfire - A Salute to Stevie Ray (1996 ), Dragon Attack - A Tribute to Queen ( 1997), Thunderbolt - A Tribute to AC / DC ( 1997), Pigs & Pyramids - An All Star lineup Performing the songs of Pink Floyd (2002), Todd Rundgren and His Friends (2002), Back Against the Wall (another Pink Floyd Tribute, 2005), Return to the Dark Side of the Moon ( a third Pink Floyd Tribute, 2006) and Jeffology, in honor of Jeff Beck.
Currently, Sherwood is working on a Led Zeppelin tribute album.
World Trade
1995 Sherwood reformed his old band World Trade. Jay clamps replaced Williams on drums. Together they released the album Euphoria and Sherwood began working on a third album. But the band broke up again, and he used the song material for his solo album The Big Peace, which was released in 1999, the same year as Michael Sherwood's solo album Tangletown, where his brother Billy was also involved.
Member of Yes
Cooperation with Squire had such a pleasant designed that Yes Sherwood as a guest musician for Yes ' Talk Tour (June 18, 1994 - October 11, 1994 (76 shows) ) committed. 1996 and 1997 produced Sherwood the studio tracks of the two Yes albums Keys to Ascension and Keys to Ascension 2 before it was from 1997 to 2000 permanent member: In the nineties, then a first album the duo Squire / Sherwood, entitled Chemistry was announced which, however, never appeared. Around this time wanted Yes go on tour, but her record company insisted that the band should first provide new material. However, since little was available, it was decided, similar to 90125, the remodel at this time, especially in emerging Squire / Sherwood album Chemistry to a Yes album. Squire, Sherwood and White then began to develop a presentable album as soon as possible, singer Jon Anderson and guitarist Steve Howe came only towards the end of the work on the project. It appeared in 1997 as a Yes album titled Open Your Eyes. On the album Sherwood played guitar and keyboards (the tribe keyboardist Rick Wakeman, the band had recently left ). As was hired for the tour keyboardist Igor Khoroshev, took over Sherwood the rhythm guitar and backing vocals. He played on the stage not matter what the concept of the band to tour to sixth, earning a lot of criticism.
Sherwood remained until 2001 Yes, with him, the band released the studio album still The Ladder (1999) and the live album House of Yes - Live from House of Blues ( 2000).
Conspiracy
While Yes their album The Ladder grossed, Squire and Sherwood worked on their first joint album, released in 2000 under the title Conspiracy. It is a compilation of pieces that were written in 1989 for Yes, the songs that were played by " Chris Squire Experiment" and pieces that had arisen in the supply of Open Your Eyes. It was only after the appearance of the debut, a stable occupation by Squire, Sherwood, Jay clamps ( drums) and Sherwood's brother Michael (keyboards, vocals) came together, which was sometimes augmented by guest musicians. With this lineup the band now called Conspiracy Sherwood recorded the album The Unknown (2003) and a live DVD (2006).
While working on a third studio album, Chris Squire left the band. Billy Sherwood Conspiracy leads but on alone; for a new album, which is expected to contain two pieces not used by World Trade, including guest appearances by the former Yes musician Tony Kaye and Peter Banks and guitarist Gary Green (ex Gentle Giant ) have been announced. This new project is now under the working title Psy - Op. Billy Sherwood has announced in an interview in late 2007, that there will be no further Conspiracy albums. Distance between England ( Squire ) and the U.S. ( Sherwood ) was too large to maintain long-term cooperation.
Solo
In 2003, Sherwood's second solo album was released. It is one of the few "real" solo albums, as Sherwood alone plays all the instruments (drums, percussion, keyboards, bass, a, and electric guitars, steel guitar, mandolin, banjo).
Sherwood also wrote the theme song to the online anime series Kung Fu Jimmy Chow.
Circa:
In 2006, several ( former ) Yes - musicians under the name Circa: come together to form a new band: Billy Sherwood (bass, vocals), Alan White (drums, vocals) and Tony Kaye ( Hammond, keyboards). It also Sherwood Lodgic colleague Jimmy Haun 's (guitar, vocals). The debut album CIRCA: 2007 has been published in August 2007 and a tour is announced. Moreover, Circa: headline the RoSfest on 3 May 2008 in Phoenixville, PA announced.
Style
As a fan of Trevor Rabin and the Yes albums that arose during his membership ( 90125, Big Generator, Union, talc), is Sherwood's style, which significantly by sounds on all the albums on which he has some share, dominated by West Coast AOR and melodic rock elements that are combined with a few easy - progressive elements. Mostly this involves how often in the Neo -Prog, the AOR - share, also in Sherwood longer, reaching beyond the single- format pieces. Outstanding are mainly to be more coherent and complex vocal arrangements.
Direct criticism especially its melody ideas at: You are too arbitrary, it was missing for an oriented such AOR music on the hooks. From the other, rather the classic progressive rock oriented side is criticized Sherwood's music was too little progressive ( in the sense of the style concept ).