BCAF is powered by mentorship. Inspired by Billy Conway’s artistic generosity, people have come together to create a network of support for new Indigenous artists in Montana, a place Billy loved to live. We have one Primary Mentor who will work with the artist throughout their six month term, and many Pop-Up Mentors ready to share their wide array of experiences.
We’ll be making weekly introductions so you can enjoy getting to know who is on the BCAF team—check back in regularly!
But first, let us introduce you to our first BCAF Artist!
The Billy Conway Artist Fund seeks to aim the spotlight on Indigenous Artists from Montana who create in the musical, literary, and visual arts. This labor of love has been created to honor and push forward Billy’s legacy of creative generosity- he was the backbone of many songwriters’ creative processes , for Billy it was all about the song, not about himself.
We at BCAF are thrilled and proud
to announce our first grant recipient:
Shadow Devereaux
(aka Foreshadow)!!!!!
(We try not to use a lot of exclamations, but…)
Shadow Devereaux is a Salish and Blackfeet hip hop artist from the Blackfeet Reservation in northern Montana. His music blends the struggles of Indigenous youth with themes of positivity and resilience. Shadow's work exemplifies the power of art to inspire change and uplift those around him, embodying a spirit of creativity and cultural pride. He has honed his craft over a decade, mastering the art storytelling through song, with a deep understanding of engagement and cultural preservation. He bears a dynamic and impactful presence, both on and off the stage.
Shadow is a skilled audio engineer and owner of the Missoula recording studio, Nu Wav. And, to top it off, he is father to three beautiful boys.
Just before Billy Conway left his body, he summed up life from that perspective by saying—with a sweet smile, “In the end, we’re all just a story.” If we look at it this way, we, as individuals, weave our stories into one another’s, and create something larger.
We are looking forward to witnessing the story of Shadow.
From Marc Beaudin:
“I knew Billy for far too short a time. I guess everyone who knew him feels the same, no matter how much time they had—it wasn’t enough. As the universe would have it, we only had the chance to perform live together once. It was a show in Livingston we called the “Jazz/Poetry Thing,” and for our final piece—a poem of mine called “El Sonido del Mar es Silencio”—Billy kicks it off with the perfect groove. I mean perfect! On the video of it (you can watch it here), I see myself smile and tap my heart—two gestures that exactly describe how I always feel when I hear him play, or see an old photo, or remember a random moment of our friendship.
After that, I knew I needed to work with him again. I envisioned another live show, but his illness had other plans. What became possible was a long-distance collaboration for an album called From Coltrane to Coal Train: An Eco Jazz Suite. As sad as it was to not be sharing a stage with Billy, working in this way also meant it was possible to include Dana Colley and Laurie Sargent, and that meant magic. As always, Billy was the bridge that brought people together.
Working with him, even for a short time, made me a better performer, and so by extension, a better person. For that, and for all the smiles and heart-taps he engendered, I am forever grateful.”
_____
Marc Beaudin is a poet, theatre artist and bookseller based in Livingston, Montana. He is the author of These Creatures of a Day, Life List: Poems, and Vagabond Song: Neo-Haibun from the Peregrine Journals. His spoken word album, From Coltrane to Coal Train: An Eco-Jazz Suite, features music by former members of the bands Morphine and Orchestra Morphine: Dana Colley, Billy Conway, and Laurie Sargent. His poetry has appeared in Orion, Cutthroat, Whitefish Review, Deep Wild Journal, among others, and is widely anthologized in publications dedicated to environmental and social justice.
To learn more about Marc: facebook.com/MarcBeaudinPoetry; @crowvoice
To learn more about BCAF: billyconwayartistfund.org
From Sally McAlpin:
“I met Billy Conway in 1990, not as a rockstar drummer, but rather as a wonderful friend—along with his partner Laurie. I became a moth to their light. As a young mom living on the campus of a school where my husband taught, and where Billy briefly coached hockey, they both became my windows into all things heart and mind-opening. Whatever Billy suggested I read, I read; whatever music he loved, I listened to. I like to think of Billy as one of my greatest teachers. Gentle and wise and completely present, he was truly the essence of mindfulness.”
____
Sally McAlpin has been practicing yoga and meditation for 50 years. She has been teaching for 30 years and has had the opportunity to train with many master teachers.
Sally is a certified Kripalu instructor. She has trained extensively in Iyengar yoga in Boston and Edinburgh, Scotland and has trained with Tias and Surya Little—founders of Prajna Yoga.
Sally is certified by meditation and healing pioneer Jon Kabat-Zinn to teach Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction and by Herbert Benson Mind/Body Institute to teach mindfulness in the schools. She is deeply committed to teaching a safe holistic approach to yoga enabling students to find a sense of awareness to their body/mind connection and in doing so discovering a greater sense of well being.
To learn more about Sally: omnamocenter.com
To learn more about BCAF: billyconwayartistfund.org
From Frank Swart:
“Conway was a musical big brother to me. His zen-like calm, Yale-meets-downhome humor, and always encouraging smile are all forever embedded in my musical DNA. I trusted Billy implicitly and am forever grateful to have made music with him as well as having the privilege to call him my friend.”
____
Frank Swart was born and raised in Boston. He grew up hearing the big band swing records and classic Broadway show albums that were in his parent’s record collection, along with the music that his sister (who was ten years older) listened to including the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Sly and the Family Stone, and Led Zeppelin. He also developed a love for Miles Davis’ 1970s recordings, the spiritual jazz of John and Alice Coltrane, and the deep soul and blues of Chess and Stax records. After some ungratifying drum lessons, when he was 13, his sister bought him a bass. As a teenager, he worked with rock, blues, and acid funk bands. Very interested in making recordings, Swart rented a recording studio in the basement of a hair salon on the graveyard shift and taught himself how to engineer and produce records. The studio was fondly called "Hell" and is where he recorded the first Pixies demos.
After meeting his future wife and deciding to leave Boston, he spent periods living and working in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Nashville where he led the experimental jam band Funkwrench. He worked with Patty Griffin off and on for 17 years, recorded with Morphine, produced and performed with cult underground art-rock band Billy Nayer Show, was part of the acid jazz group Junk/Post Junk Trio, was a founding member of the psychedelic electric blues trio SIMO, and recorded and toured with such artists as Norah Jones, The Indigo Girls, John Hiatt, and Buddy Miller.
After settling back in San Francisco in 2017, Swart and publisher-producer Brian Brinkerhoff founded the Need to Know Music label, Skunkworks Studios, and Funkwrench Blues. They have made hundreds of recordings with artists such as: Faye Webster, Heather Little, Nathan Bell, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Gretchen Peters, Dom Flemons, Malcolm Holcombe, Jaimee Harris, Marc Ford, Dale Watson, Guitar Shorty, Lucky Peterson, Gary Bartz, Idris Ackamoor & The Pyramids, Bill Evans, Fred Wesley, Mike Stern, Joanna Connor, Toronzon Cannon, Jim Campilongo, Joe Louis Walker, Jerry Douglas, Vieux Farke Toure, Sonny Landreth, Albert Lee, Nels Cline, and many more.
To learn more about Frank: @funkwrench
To learn more about BCAF: billyconwayartistfund.org
From Jabe Beyer:
"I first met Billy Conway in a recording studio. Almost immediately, it became clear that I was in the company of someone different. His stoic silence, wolf-like blue-eyed stare, and intriguingly profound demeanor somehow made me a bit nervous. Never before or since have I experienced such a feeling. Within days of working together I came to realize that this quiet, whisper-voiced, somewhat feral looking character was much more than the drummer on the recording session. He was a reader. A thinker. A farmer. An observer. An interrogator of the human condition. He was caring, sensitive, dead-on direct, honest, eloquent, and when he wanted to be, absolutely hilarious.
"I soon began working under his tutelage as a recording engineer. To my recollection I was never hired, I just started showing up every day. It was as though I had discovered a new center for higher education, and Billy was the unassuming, inadvertant instructor. Whatever the topic of conversation, Billy had the ability to get to the core of the matter with an uncanny, magnetic precision of wit and self-awareness that always made anyone feel better for having spoken with him. Like so many midwesterners of his day, small talk was not his strong suit. An innocuous antecdote about a traffic light could oftentimes become a two-hour discussion on the evolution of mankind, the spawning of the industrial revolution, or the ever-changing migration patterns of birds. Whatever the topic, Billy seemed to be well-read on the subject, always offering a unique and intuitive understanding.
"For the next 20 years, I was lucky enough to have Billy in my life as a devoted friend, a brother, a sounding board, a pillar of mindfulness in an often confusing world, and a weight-bearing beam within the music community. I am honored to carry on his mentorship, in his name, and offer all I can to this wonderful program."
____
Jabe Beyer is a 30-year professional songwriter (Sony/ATV Music Publishing, Eclipse Music Publishing, BMG Music Publishing), a touring guitarist and multi-instrumentalist (artists include Grammy winners Kacey Musgraves & Brothers Osborne, Kris Delmhorst, Cold Satellite, Ruston Kelly), and music producer. He is the winner of the BMI Music Maker Songwriting Competition, as well as the Abe Oleman Songwriting Award from The Songwriting Hall of Fame. Beyer's songs have been recorded by artists Natalie Hemby, Lucie Silvas, Will Hoge, Andrew Combs, Natalie Prass, Trent Dabbs, and many others. When not touring, Beyer focuses on film/television licensing. His work has been featured on ABC, HBO, FOX, CMT, FX, The CW, Hallmark, Amazon Prime, Hulu, as well in international feature films. He lives in Nashville, Tennessee.
To learn more about Jabe: jabe.net, @jabenation
To learn more about BCAF: billyconwayartistfund.org
From Ted Drozdowski:
“[Billy] imparted so much joy, engagement, and inspiration in every conversation and in everything he did. The world needs more people like Billy Conway. And it is my fondest hope that this program can help create them.”
Ted Drozdowski is the leader of the Nashville-based cosmic roots band Coyote Motel, whose latest project is The River: A Songwriter’s Stories of the South—an award-winning feature film (with an accompanying soundtrack album) that combines musical performances, storytelling, cultural history, psychedelic light-art, and aerial dance.
He is also an award-winning journalist and music historian, whose writing has appeared in a host of publications. Currently, he is the editorial director of Premier Guitar, the world’s largest guitar specialty magazine. He is also a songwriter and music producer with decades of experience mentoring younger artists and journalists.
Ted first met Billy when Billy was in Treat Her Right, where he was the eye of the band’s occasional hurricane of personalities. “Encountering Billy was always a joy,” Ted recalls. “His quiet, contemplative, gentle demeanor reflected the depth of his personality and intelligence. His warm and welcoming style was always refreshing, even in environments where maintaining his level of balance and peace would appear to be a challenge. I only wish I could meet his measure.
To learn more about Ted: teddrozdowski.com, @teddrozdowski
To learn more about BCAF: billyconwayartistfund.org
From Dan Snyder:
“During the short time I knew Billy, he was the most curious and inspiring musician I had ever met. He valued everyone! He was a force of skill, love, experience and something we should all hope to become.”
Dan Snyder is the founding member of two alternative indie bands, aReverie and Paper Lights (IMEA Alternative Artist of the Year, Akademia and Global Music Awards). He has managed a variety of recording projects and composed music for numerous corporations, such as CBS, Coca Cola, MTV, Outside Magazine, Land Rover, and ESPN. Dan has also performed live for Grammy winning Mac Powell, AMA artist of the year Sam Hunt, Warren Zeiders, Sara Evans and multiple BBC Radio tours with singer/songwriter Callaghan. He is a voting member of The Recording Academy (Grammy Awards) and Volunteer Coordinator for TED Talks.
To learn more about Dan: dansnydermusic.com, @danimalsnder
To learn more about BCAF: billyconwayartistfund.org
From Dave Herlihy:
“I first met Billy in the 1980’s Boston music scene where we played gigs at the same venues all over town. He was gentle, funny, kind and a tremendous, collaborative musician. Billy knew how to groove—on and off the stage; in and out of the studio. He paid deep attention to those around him, and he always shared his gifts freely. It’s my privilege to join the Billy Conway Artist Fund and to support the effort to pay the gift forward to kindred musical spirits.”
Dave Herlihy is a Billboard-charting songwriter, and multi-award-winning lead singer for O POSITIVE, a Boston-based musical group with full-length albums on Epic Records and several independent record labels. Dave has shared stages with Sinead O’Connor, The Psychedelic Furs, Bryan Ferry, Robyn Hitchcock, Billy Bragg, Hoo Doo Gurus, Jimmy Cliff, The Pixies, Face to Face, and (gasp), the Beach Boys, Eddie Money, and Cher. Dave just released a new single, “The Invisible Girl” from his EP on Lunch Records, “Postcards from Kindergarten, Volume 1.”
Dave is also a transactional entertainment lawyer and a Full Teaching Professor at Northeastern University, where he coordinates the university’s Music Industry Program.
To learn more about BCAF: billyconwayartistfund.org
To learn more about Dave: herlihymusic.com
From Rick Berlin:
“I spent hours with Billy recording Me & Van Gogh—a solo piano record on Sandman’s fatso grand piano. Billy was my guide/producer/engineer throughout. The terror I felt having to sing and play those damn songs at the same time was palpable. Conway handled me gently with Just-Right encouragement, saying little. A look would be all I needed to know where to aim, to free myself and serve the song. He kept the record clean. Unadorned. Just voice and piano. Only one tiny moment of reverb in one vocal note and no complaint about my fluctuating sense of time (all over the place). This from the quintessential drummer/artist/musician that he was.
“Oddly, we were both Yay-ull grads, far from white-shoe, but in a strange way connected because of it.
“I agree with everything written about Billy by the more accomplished mentors. In particular those who wished they’d known him better. I don’t think he needed to be ‘known.’ Not by us. He never required self-attention. His focus was on the person or the project before him—the ultimate mentor.
“Lastly, I’d say, Billy was beautiful. Of face and of being.
“BCAF is the perfect legacy for the person he was. It’s how he lived. The work done by whomever is chosen as the first artist will shine with his presence.”
About Rick Berlin:
“My feeling is that Rick is the definition of a true artist--someone who lives and breathes for what he creates and puts everything he's learned and felt into his songwriting. The sheer range of styles he's worked in and personalized attests to everything good about the Boston scene.”—Brett Milano
To learn more about Rick Berlin: berlinrick.com/
BCAF Producer 2024
When urging artists to move their work outside the box, which he felt was necessary for the sustainability of artistic expression, Billy often used a phrase: Turn the wheel. I interpret that as change lanes, take a new road.
When the top three applicants for the 2024 BCAF grant turned out to be talented hip hop/rap artists, we realized we’d have to turn the wheel more quickly than we’d predicted in order to provide the perfect producer for Shadow. Through people in Billy’s network we were introduced to Ty Acord, aka Lophiile.
Ty has a firm grip on the turning wheel—as a musician, beatmaker, dj, turntableist, remixer, and producer in these genres: metal core, jazz, soul, R&B, electro funk, hip hop, and rap. Googling him is a blast—his map goes in so many directions—including grammy winning producer / hobby enthusiast / dad to 2 cattle dogs.
BCAF is excited (to put it mildly) to welcome Lophiile (aka Ty Acord) to our network of generous artists and humans who have donated to make this all happen. Over the next couple months, Ty and our first BCAF artist, Shadow Devereaux /Foreshadow will begin working together, supported by a steady stream of mentors.
To hear Lophiile’s work: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9DbuOU5bxrxk46zKhwGt5A
BCAF Primary Mentor 2024
Paul Durham is a singer, songwriter, producer, and artist coach. He has signed two major label record deals, sold 200,000 albums, scored top-10 radio singles and national tours with his band Black Lab, and has 70,000 monthly Spotify listeners. His songs have been featured in dozens of films, trailers, TV shows, and commercials (Spider-Man, House MD, Pretty Little Liars, Honda, Coke, etc.) and received over thirty million streams.
As a writer and producer, he has collaborated with Mushroom of Massive Attack, Natalie Imbruglia, and Rachael Yamagata, among many others.
As an artist coach, he teaches songwriting, production techniques, organization skills, and the clarification of purpose. He specializes in helping young artists liberate their voice and maximize their impact, both artistically and commercially.
“I only got to spend a few evenings with Billy, laughing over dinner and trading songs afterwards. I only got to play with him a few times, him slipping in beside me with no rehearsal, just pure listening and that silken feel of his.
“One thing I always noticed when we were hanging out with a group of musicians was the leadership he provided through his quiet presence. While the rest of us would tussle with stories and jokes, Billy was always the adult in the room, always kind, always compassionate, like a rock — but a soft, warm rock that loves you.
“So I guess I’ve been torn between sadness over losing him and my gratitude for the time I got to spend with him. Most of that time was spent playing music because that’s just what he did. He was a beautiful man."
To lean more about Paul:
From Audrey:
“In the past decade, Laurie Sargent and Billy Conway both played a starring role in my exploration of music while pushing the boundaries of my art. We've collaborated on many projects, from live shows in art galleries, concert venues and bookstores to art installations in the greenhouse and fields of their farm. In each experience, Billy was a grounding force, steady and open. I appreciated his unwavering support. Even as a seasoned veteran artist, he was always patient and kind in his guidance. I never felt like the beginner musician that I was. He honored and met each person where they were in their own endeavors, including me. I’m grateful for the friendship we had and the precious time I was able to spend with him.”
Rooted in the dirt of the American West, Audrey Hall is an internationally exhibited and collected visual artist with a dozen design books to her name. Known for her poignant landscapes, ethereal equine abstracts and intricate gold bison photographs, her work is part of the TIA Collection, a distinguished private collection whose unique purpose is the lending of significant works of art to museums and institutions.
For her recent series, Hall broke out of the confines of two dimensional pieces to create music under the pseudonym, Harlow Willis. Bitter Taste, a multimedia series, reflects on its primary theme of loss and the opportunity it affords for reinvention. Hand printed Prussian-blue cyanotypes with 18 karat gold accents were paired with matching hand-cut vinyl records, framed to hang on the wall.
Her latest series and book, BISON Portrait of an Icon, won a National Outdoor Book Award, a Pub West Silver award, a Reading the West finalist, Foreword Indies Award finalist and most recently a High Plains Book Award winner for Art and Photography. The two companion exhibitions in support of BISON have both sold out. Hall, along with long-time collaborator, Chase Reynolds Ewald, presented their work on BISON and her related art to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History on November 14, 2022.
She is hard at work on her next two books, solo exhibition, short documentary and collection of upcoming songs.
To learn more about Audrey:
From Joanne Gardner:
“Billy brought a kindness and light to everything he did, always punctuated with that wonderful twinkling eye and wry smile. I miss him.”
Joanne Gardner (Lowell) has spent the last 46 years making money in the music and film industry. Before that, for several years, she was learning and working for free on crews or singing with bands. She was the first woman director to win a Best Female Video ACM award for her work over 30 years ago with Tanya Tucker and came out of retirement in 2023 to direct Tanya's latest video.
After owning a production company in Nashville with Rosanne Cash, she moved to California, then New York, and back to California to direct and produce music videos, ending up as the Senior VP of Video Production at Sony Music. There she worked with Will Smith, Beyoncé Ricky Martin, the Fugees, Bob Dylan, Tony Bennett, Marc Anthony, and hundreds more during her ten year tenure.
She has retired to Montana, where she presents music events, and has created the Livingston Hoot with her husband John Lowell. She managed Rodney Crowell, Ben Bullington, John Lowell, and Laurie Sargent for a brief time, “Before Billy's illness changed all of our plans.”
Billy, Laurie, John, and Joanne marched with pink hats in Bozeman in support of women's rights, made music, and broke bread together.
From David Huckfelt:
“In my entire life I've met maybe three-and-a-half people with enough sand and grace to lower the shoulders of any situation they waltz into. Billy had that gravity in spades, and for younger artists that's like floating in outer space and suddenly someone shows up with a suit and a ship.
”My only regret in knowing him is that I didn't know him better, longer, deeper. I can't think of anything he'd rather do than support young Native artists from that gorgeous place he and Laurie called home. I remember the first time we had the honor of playing with him he asked, ‘What kind of song do you wanna do?’ We said, “It's kind of a dark, minor blues thing.’ Said Billy, twinkle-smile flashing: ‘Yeah okay, I think I can do that.’ ”
David Huckfelt is a singer/ lyricist /activist from Minneapolis, with two solo records featuring collaborations with John Trudell, Quiltman, Keith Secola, and Greg Brown.
David was also a member of The Pines, whose recordings were in heavy rotation at Billy’s and Laurie’s Crazy View Farm in Montana—during the day while they harvested and packaged their amazing greens, during mealtimes and hangouts in a farmhouse filled with hard working people of all ages from all over the US (and the world!), who grooved to their music.
To learn more about David: davidhuckfelt.com
From Michael Earl Craig:
“When I think of Billy the first thing that comes to mind is his presence—the energy that came off him, his sense of calm, his focus. Sitting at his kitchen table and talking about a book or a band or a film, or even the messiness of politics, I always came away feeling refreshed, as if a scale somewhere within me had just been gently recalibrated.
“Billy was a centering force—he was quiet and thoughtful and had a way of bringing out the best in people. The Billy Conway Artist Fund aims to nurture emerging indigenous artists here in Montana and I can’t think of a better base energy than that of Billy Conway.”
Michael Earl Craig is a journeyman farrier living in Livingston, Montana, who also happens to be the author of six books of poetry. He served as Poet Laureate of Montana from 2015 to 2017. The Poetry Foundation writes that “Craig's poems question the assumptions and habits of daily life, using humor and frequent glimpses of a torqued pastoral landscape,” which is pretty much how conversations went while he worked on the horses at Billy’s and Laurie’s Crazy View Farm.
Earl, as Billy and Laurie know him, wrote an essay recounting a horseback ride across the state of Montana, which you can read here: poetry.arizona.edu/blog/where-was-i-adventures-reading-michael-earl-craig
You can grab his latest book, Iggy Horse here: wavepoetry.com/products/iggy-horse
From William Garrett:
“Back in the 80s I had the honor of working with a band called Treat Her Right and Billy Conway was a member, keeping time on the unique cocktail drum kit. Becoming fast friends, he played on many sessions I produced and I was witness to the formation and growth of the band Morphine. His amazing drumming ran adjacent to his overall deep musicality, patient demeanor, and his philosopher tone.
The Billy Conway Artists Fund is the personification of his grateful, giving, and musical spirit.”
William has worked as an independent music producer, recording and mix engineer, recording studio owner, studio builder, and manager and podcast host in Boston, Los Angeles, and New York City. From 2016 to 2024 he was the senior producer for Spotify Singles, producing and supervising the recording and mixing of over 900 released tracks, which have had over 8.7 billion streams to date.
He managed studio operations for Spotify Studios at NYC’s incomparable Power Station and Mateo, a studio he helped design in Los Angeles that won the 2023 NAMM TEC Award for Best Studio Design Project.
To learn more about William: instagram.com/electracraft/
From Joe Navas:
In the early 90s a friend of mine in Boston turned me on to a new band she described as having “that sound” she knew I’d really like. She was right and then some. Morphine was and still is the music that both inspires and informs me. At the heart of that was a man I’d come to know 20+ years later as the quiet, grounding center of any group of people fortunate enough to create with him.
“I had the pleasure of spending a few days with Billy as he played on a Kris Delmhorst record I was photographing the making of. The value of his presence was only partly exemplified in the beats he put down. The dinners, the conversations, just the feel of the space, all of it already lovely, was just that much better because of his presence. For me personally, he didn’t have to make it a point of letting me know I was welcome there, but he did.
“I couldn’t claim to know him anywhere near as well as many, but I feel forever fortunate that I even got to observe some of the friendships he was such a rich part of.
“There’s something very special about a community that both understands and relishes the responsibility of making art that they mean. It makes for a legacy the importance of which cannot be overstated.”
Joe Navas is a Cape Cod-based photographer, living in Eastham. His work has been featured in Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, American Songwriter, Variety and other publications. He’s had the pleasure of working with Jeffrey Foucault, Kris Delmhorst, Mark Erelli, G. Love, Ani Difranco, Peter Mulvey, Carla Kihlstedt, Seth Glier, and others. Joe has also taught at the The Lillian Orlowsky and William Freed Museum School at the Provincetown Art Association Museum.
To see Joe’s work: joenavasphoto.com
From Dana Colley:
“I was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time—Boston in the 80s—where there was a burgeoning music scene busting at the seams. I got to hear Treat Her Right, a band that featured Mark Sandman, David Champagne, and Jimmy Fitting, with Billy Conway on the cocktail drum. These guys tore it up, but it was Billy who was driving the band. The way he stood over his cocktail drum, kicking it from below with a pedal designed to hit the bottom head while both hands worked the top of the drum created this incredible rhythm that really had to be heard—Billy all the while jumping and dancing with the biggest smile as the sweat streamed off of him like a garden sprinkler. You couldn’t take your eyes off his infectious energy. Billy lit up the room time and time again. We became friends, then bandmates, and I got to spend a great deal of time in his presence.
“Never was there a kinder, more engaged present human being than Billy Conway. He was all about getting behind a good idea. He created community and valued the collective consciousness.
“If Billy was involved in a project, whether it was mending a fence or recording a song, it was clear you were involved in something that mattered. If Billy was on the job you were in the right place at the right time.”
Dana Colley is a Boston based saxophonist living in Somerville, MA. He was the saxophonist in Morphine and now plays with Vapors of Morphine.
With the bands Morphine, Orchestra Morphine, Treat Her Right, and Twinemen, Dana and Billy traveled the world together over the course of twenty years, becoming true brothers through the highs and lows of their combined journey.
For more about Dana: vaporsofmorphine.com
From Amber Jean:
“Those of us with decades of experience have helpful knowledge we are happy to share. Billy, with his gentle whisper of a sage, left a legacy of wisdom beyond knowledge - that of being present, authentic and in harmony with the rhythms of existence. Together we can continue to spark and inspire by sharing some gleaming nuggets.”
“I share Billy’s deep love and passion for the boundless blessings Montana bestows such as grit and grace, solitude and community, beckoning peaks, soulful valleys and untamed wilderness beneath an endless mystical big sky.”
Typical of the “don’t fence me in” attitude of a true westerner, Amber Jean’s creativity transcends boundaries and defies a singular classification. She seamlessly uses a wide spectrum of mediums to create 2D and 3D art in a luminous gesture of love toward nature and humankind.
Declared by WOOD magazine as one of “America’s Woodworking Greats,” Amber Jean became the first woman to carve in the country of Bhutan when the Prime Minister asked her to create an artwork in a retreat palace for their revered king. She created the life-size Bison Bench at the Bozeman Airport. She is a storyteller, writer, and TEDx speaker whose reverence for Mother Nature and the interconnected spirit in all things infuses her life, her creativity, and her heart.
To learn more about Amber: amberjean.com