Reviews                                     home

 

 

    

                                                                                                                                          

Billie Joyce
One Willing Heart
G.I.G Records /Inbetweens


In the liner notes for One Willing Heart, Canadian singer/songwriter Billie Joyce describes the album as 'an honest glimpse into the past three years of my life'. She could have saved the ink because that sentiment is ingrained into every moment of a wonderful album.
In fact, the only thing you could take issue with is the use of the word 'glimpse' because One Willing Heart is an exercise in deep-cleansing, soul searching.
Far deeper and darker than its excellent, and as yet undervalued, predecessor Love Tone, Joyce has raised the bar both with her writing and in her multi-layered performance of her own songs. She takes the tales of her life to places that few would have the imagination or bravery to attempt.
Joyce is one of those singers who steadfastly resist categorization. Like Bonnie Raitt she is as much a blues singer as a country artist. The only thing that can be said with any certainty is that everything on One Willing Heart has been dug from the very depths of her soul.
As if to underscore their intimacy, Joyce's songs are an open book and she goes for the jugular right from the off, the all-consuming sadness surrounding Season For Being Alone could quite easily have seen it descend into self-pity but, while it's heartfelt, there is a tender but firm defiance running through it. It may well be the Season For Being Alone but it's not open season on Billie Joyce, she is not about to offer herself up as some helpless victim.
On Heart Of A Fool she uses her voice as an assassin would a stiletto, only in this case she turns the blade on herself. It is a harsh, unforgiving song, perhaps too unforgiving.
Like the very best of musicians she draws you into the web of the songs and then makes you feel slightly uncomfortable about being there. Musically Bring Him Back and Won't Hold On may be polar opposites, the former steamy and raging while the latter is vulnerable and delicate but they were hewn from the same rock of bitter experience that is the theme of One Willing Heart.
As if in need of the familiar, Billie Joyce hangs her songs on people and places that are obvioulsy dear to her but the sentiments of Thunder Bay are universal, scorned love is a feeling we have all felt.
And that is the key to One Willing Heart's huge appeal, it may well be an 'honest glimpse' but it's an honest glimpse into all our hearts.
 

Short Review on ONE WILLING HEART                                                          

"The sensual quality is there, still, but it's inside her voice(not in the pictures!). Billie's voice has a strength and an emotional depth that's hard to fathom, but I can really hear it and feel it and while the songs are not always particularly happy ones,they are beautiful--all of them. The whole album has a very earthy, rootsy, sometimes country and sometimes bluesy feel to it, and it is not "ethereal" or "airy-fairy" when the emotions surfaced--they have the real feelings of a real woman on them and some of them have dirt still clinging to the roots when pulled up. This album has guts and I like that! The instrumentation is absolutely perfect on every song and the use of slide guitar is really nice, while the electric guitars in this production are so well executed they, match the mood and "atmosphere" perfectly. It's very easy to tell how absolutely personally inspiring each tune was for Billie Joyce...she can bare her soul without getting maudlin or "over-the-top"...her lyrics are open and unafraid...Billie Joyce touches things and is IN touch with them...many of these songs really made me FEEL--deeply "

Les Reynolds

Independent Music Reviewer

 

DUTCH Reviews

Soulful americana. Smoky vocals, wrought with real life experience. One Willing heart is an honest glimpse, into the past three years of this womans life...

Onze voorliefde voor vrouwelijke singer-songwriters kost ons handenvol tijd, want ieder vrij uurtje wordt besteed aan het opsporen van nieuw talent. Dat is niet alleen een tijdrovende maar ook vaak een zeer frustrerende bezigheid, want meer dan eens horen we meer van hetzelfde en dat is nou net hetgeen waarnaar we niet op zoek zijn. Aan de andere kant is er niets prettiger dan het gevoel dat je krijgt bij het beluisteren van een cd die het predikaat "ontdekking" wel verdient. "One Willing Heart" van Billie Joyce is zo'n cd. Joyce was enkele jaren terug nog een gevangenisbewaakster in een mannen gevangenis en begeleidster in een blijf van mijn lijf huis in Thunder Bay Ontario Canada. Joyce groeide echter op ergens in de prairies van Kamsack Saskatchewan, Canada. De nu vanuit Nashville, Tennessee opererende singer-songwriter schrijft en zingt over het echte leven, haar leven. Joyce heeft de zelfkant van het leven van heel dichtbij meegemaakt en dat hoorden we reeds onherroepelijk terug op het met soul, swampy blues en roots rock doorspekte debuut "Love Tone". Ook op haar nieuwe cd "One Willing Heart" gaat ze haar persoonlijke problemen in songs verwoorden in haar typische rootsaanpak, want de soul zit deze pikante uitziende dame diep in de aderen. Muziek die diep is geworteld in de folk van Joni Mitchell's "Blue album", om maar een vergelijking te maken, maar ook aansluiting vind bij de bijzondere muziek van de door ons zeer bewonderde Bonnie Raitt. Net als Bonnie Raitt maakt Joyce behoorlijk rootsmuziek waarin de voornaamste ingrediënten, rock, pop, soul en blues zijn. Joyce weet zich bovendien te onderscheiden met haar opvallende teksten, de opvallende manier van zingen en boven alles de door haar elf zelfgepende, knappe rootsliedjes die prachtig gearrangeerd en geproduceerd zijn door ons aller bekende BJ Baartmans. In 'Léon’s Farm' in het Nederlandse Boekend zorgde Baartmans voor een geweldige begeleidingsband, die hij vond in het backing zingende collectief Songwriters United (je weet wel...Louis Van Empel, Eric van Dijsseldonk en Eric Devries), maar ook Stephan van der Meijden (drums, percussie), Gerald van Beuningen (elektrische en akoestische bas), Mike Roelofs (piano, Hammond) en Shelly Miller-Kerwin (vocals) halen alles uit de kast van de openende ballade "Season For Being Alone" tot het afsluitende "Goodbye Joeie". De andere nummers zitten bovendien vol onverwachte wendingen, maar ik laat het aan u voor deze te ontdekken. Ik geef me over en denk dat "One Willing Heart" zijn weg beslist zal vinden. Prachtplaat!

 

Billie Joyce - One Willing Heart

(Inbetweens)

Een internationale productie, zo mag het dan heten. Singer/songwriter Billie Joyce heeft zich omringd door een keur aan Nederlandse muzikanten en ook haar producer - BJ Baartmans - is in deze contreien geen onbekende. Maar even makkelijk wijkt deze geboren Canadese uit naar Nashville, Tennessee om een extra zangstem op te laten nemen (ze woont er ook, dus dat was makkelijk). De rest van de opnames van One Willing Heart vond plaats in Boekend, Limburg.

En wat heeft dat opgeleverd? Een poppy countryplaat met genoeg soul en blues en vooral genoeg kwaliteitsvolle liedjes. Het enige probleem - en dat is er eentje die aantikt - is haar stem: One Willing Heart klinkt vooral erg beschaafd. Nu zal niet iedereen daar over struikelen. Ook ik veerde op na de prima opener "Season For Being Alone", maar een plaat lang een - excusez le mot - dame te horen in plaats van een stem houdt deze recensent niet vol. En dan te bedenken dat Billie Joyce werkzaam was in het gevangeniswezen. Dan mag er iets meer Lucinda Williams of Mary Gauthier doorklinken. En nu we het toch over gevangenissen hebben: kan deze hoesontwerper achter slot en grendel?

 

German Review

JOYCE, BILLIE - One Willing Heart
Erschienen: Juni 2005
Label: Inbetweens Records
Titel: 1. Season for being alone 2. Heart of a Fool 3. Bring him Back 4. Won´t hold on 5. Thunder Bay 6. Easy Way 7. Real good Man 8. My Family 9. Fire 10. Romeo 11. Goodbye Joeie

Noch ein neues Gesicht mit dem Namen Billie Joyce. Die aus Kanada stammende Sängerin und Songschreiberin veröffentlich nun auf dem Label Inbetweens Records in den Niederlanden ihre neuste Produktion " One Willing Heart " nach ihrem Debüt im Jahre 2002 mit " Love Tone ". Billie hat schon im Alter von fünf Jahren mit dem Singen auf lokaler Ebene angefangen und gewann viel später im Jahre 2003 den " Indie Songwriter of the Year " Preis. Sie hat auf dieser in etwa 62 Minuten langen CD alle Lieder selbst geschrieben. Es hat ein sehr spärliches 4 Seiten Booklet in dem auch keine Songtexte enthalten sind. Es wurde von BJ Baartmans produziert, gemischt und aufgenommen und wurde im Studio Leon´s Farm in Boekend / NL als auch im Platinum Lab Studio in Nashville / TN eingespielt.
Kritiker sagen ihr nach, das sie mal mehr Blues, mal mehr Country spielt. Auf diesem sehr ruhig gehaltenen Album muß ich diesen Satz etwas ändern und sagen das hier wenig Countryelemente zu finden sind. Meine Favoriten halten sich daher hier etwas in Grenzen und belaufen sich auf folgende Lieder wie " Won´t hold on ", " Real good Man " und der Closer auf dieser Produkion " Goodbye Joeie " ( welches für eine Single bzw. einem Lied mit ca 9:30 Minuten ungewöhnLich lang geraten ist ).
Abschließend muß ich sagen, das dieses Album der hier nicht so bekannten Künstlerin Billie Joyce kein " Countryalbum " in dem Sinne ist und ich auch Trotz mehrfachem Abspielen im Player wenig damit anfangen kann. Letztlich denke ich das sie mit dieser Produktion mehr die Fans im Bereich Blues anspricht. Daher würde ich es auch für Anhänger des Countrygenres nicht weiterempfehlen.

(Dirk Berndt - dirk@allcountry.de ) November 2005

LIVE REVIEWS

Billie Joyce with BJ Baartmans - The Riverside, South Shields - 30th May 2006

Review by Helen Mitchell

One Willing Heart, to quote the title track of her current CD, is what Canadian native, 13 year Nashville resident demonstrated on this, her first visit to the North East, though by no means her first time in the UK.

Dutch label mate BJ Baartmans, who also produced Billie’s recent CD on In Betweens Records, opened proceedings with a collection of songs from his catalogue, mostly his current Cd, Where Lovers Go. Before BJ even began to sing, it became apparent that he is a storyteller, having worked for a while as a journalist, and in fact, Billie describes his work as ‘poetry.’ BJ interspersed songs such as Only Lovers Know, What Goes Around, Pretty When You’re Sick, and One Way Street, with stories of the songs origins, all told with a great sense of humour. Also immediately obvious is what a stunning guitar player BJ is.

After the break, in which they both mingled easily, Billie took to the stage with her guitar, accompanied on his guitar and background vocals, by BJ. Billie was immediately at ease as she thanked everyone for coming out ‘not only the day after bank Holiday, the day England are playing football!’ She launched straight into the stirring Season For Being Alone, which begins with some beautiful guitar work. At times the lyrics bring to mind The Byrds Turn Turn Turn, in the comforting idea that there is a time for everything; They say for everything there is a time/ Well if that’s true, this must be mine/ When all I’m holding are the memories of loves I’ve known/ Must be my season for being alone.

This was followed by songs such as Real Good Man, Bring Him Back, Original Sin from Billie’s first album, Love Tone (iwhich contains some very clever lyrics) Fire and a haunting new track, The Other Side inspired by Billie’s work as a counsellor at a domestic violence centre and her ensuing involvement with the annual Independents For Independence benefit concert for domestic violence. Artists such as Gretchen Peters, Jim Lauderdale and Jonell Mosser have also been involved. As Billie ended this song she told us "We all know the staggering statistics of domestic violence in our culture...one in every three homes, every six seconds. At this everyone in the audience drew in breath – the song had been given a whole new meaning. The lyrics On the Other Side of that door/ Is the life I was created for could, however apply to any situation, not least from Billie’s own life experience.

Billie was born in Saskatchewan, Canada, and grew up on the praries. At seventeen she went out on the road and gave it up to settle in Thunder Bay , Ontario, for love, before her move to Nashville, where she has also worked as a prison guard among other things. This period of her life is chronicled in the incredibly beautiful Thunder Bay which for me, hearing live, was the highlight of the evening. I never dreamed that you would break my heart/ So soon after our first night beneath the sea of stars/But I knew my life would never be the same/On the day you moved away from Thunder Bay/You can’t go back, that’s what they say, but I left the best part of my heart /With a man in Thunder Bay. In discussion with Billie, I commented on the line You can’t go back and she said that is what motivates her to enjoy every moment of what she does and every new experience whilst she is on the road, especially over here. In typical lyricist style she went on to tell me that as soon as each moment is over, you can’t get it back and it becomes a memory; that’s what makes them so special. So that song to me represents not only her journey, but also the transience of time, and performed live it brings chills.

Billie’s website describes her album as Twelve tracks that let you glimpse into the personal journal of Billie Joyce's past three years....Honest, bittersweet, and hopeful.....I have doubt that seeing her live lets you even deeper into that journal; her songs and stories take you on a journey which is all of these things and more. Ralph MaClean of BBC Radio Foyle, described her as Nashville’s best kept secret. I think the UK and certainly those present at the Riverside have unearthed that secret and will be eagerly awaiting her return to our shores, hopefully early next year.


 

Billie Joyce                                                                                                          

The Meadow House Berwick on Tweed Friday, July 30.2004

The song says that the luckiest people are the people who need people. I would suggest that music fans run them a close second. At least those who managed to catch the current tour of Billie Joyce and Shawn Jones. It never ceases to be a pleasure and a privilege to watch artists do what they were born to do and Friday night in the Meadow House was both.

On her return visit to the First and Last Venue (don't worry it's the same place, it's on the Scottish border and I mean ON the border) we were treated to a more restrained i.e. seated, Billie Joyce, although when she seared her way through Love Alarm it wouldn't have mattered if she was seated, standing up or hanging from the rafters. I know it's supposed to be about the music but this lady doesn't radiate sexuality she explodes with it. Lob in some steamy bottleneck blues and it's little wonder good men lose their heads over beautiful women. I'm not convinced that Billie Joyce's choice of Peace as her opening song was a good one, after all that was the only thing she could guarantee we wouldn't get in a night of unstoppable country blues. The audience were also given a tantalizing taste of Joyce's new album (as yet untitled). And on this evidence it promises to be the album that finally makes the world sit up and take notice. Where her debut Love Tone was autobiographical these new songs are wrenched from sometimes bitter experience. The beautiful Season For Being Alone needs little explanation. But its performance was as painfully personal as the title suggests. There is absolutely nothing protecting Billie Joyce from her audience, she is a feisty, gutsy singer but she reveals a heart and soul that have been hurt. Mississippi Romeo was an epitaph to a shattered love, before it hope, after it nothingness. You could hear the lifeblood of the relationship drain away as the song progressed. It is undoubtedly a gift to be able to express feelings as clearly as Billie Joyce can but it must also sometimes seem like a curse to be compelled to do it in front of strangers night after night. Billie Joyce doesn't just tug the heart strings she manipulates them like a master puppeteer and Wind Child was as good and as evocative as I remembered it. Basically it's the story of her early life and it should be subtitled 'how to make grown men cry'. It would be far easier and profitable for Billie Joyce to sit down and use her undoubted skills to write a song for some 'name' to record. However who could sing Hard Not To Fall and Real Good Men the way she did and does. Billie Joyce doesn't just write songs she lives them as well and as her voice soars all those elements combine to make an unbreakbale bond between singer, song and audience. The more established country/blues singers should look worriedly over their shoulders and start scouring the situations vacant columns. The torch wasn't passed to the new generation at The Meadow House night it was wrenched unceremoniously by one of the brightest talents in the game. Discoveries come in the strangest of places but in a pub on the border ( and I mean ON the border) it was obvious that, Billie Joyce is destined for great, great things.

 

Charley Dunlap

Porter Bar Review

Bath UK  August 12,2004

Billie Joyce is modern Nashville in the best way, writing meaningful songs from her own experience, singing with a voice that has surprising strength and a subtle country twang. More than anyone, she reminded me of the underrated Bobby Gentry, the female side of country soul. Billie has quality songs – Yotin Awasis, based on Indian ancestry, was beautiful; Peace was a hook-laden country rocker, Elixir and Love Alarm solid, hooky soul grooves. Billie Joyce would benefit from letting the spolight linger, establishing an uninterrupted mood with her arrangements, letting her voice and songs take us away.