A review

Billy the Kid - The Lost Cause

Billy Pettinger is what I like to call "Punk-real". She has lived what she writes about and never forgotten where she came from. She has the steel nerve to confront her past and the candour unleashed on her breakthrough solo CD "The Lost Cause" throws down the gauntlet to all types of artists. Can anyone really say that we have been as open about relating the stories of our own lives? Have we shown the same flair in doing so if we have?

Anyone who has taken enough of an interest to follow her career for any length of time knows Ms.Pettinger does not yield to a specific format. Her first lasting musical love was punk and it remains both a source of inspiration and a form she will doubtless compose within again at some point to come. But the fact she moves between genres is another intriguing aspect for any that discover her as I did a while back.

It had been a pleasant surprise to see Billy "The Kid" perform at the Rivoli concert theatre in Toronto in December 2006 when I first met her. I had wandered in thinking I would just stay for a quick beer before heading home but was drawn in to the music coming from the back room stage. The riveting performance of just one winsome maiden in black horn-rimmed glasses and her guitar delighted the large crowd huddled together, standing room only.

The real emotion that fuelled the writing of compositions like "the Accident" was fully evident and the interpretation was filled with conviction, as were other songs in her set. Few performers accompany themselves with as competent guitar playing as she did. I could barely believe the almost otherworldly level of intensity I was hearing coming out of such a normal, pleasant looking person but it was impossible to ignore as it filled the room. From where I was sitting I could see that the rest of the audience felt it too.

I just had to shake my head and ask myself "Who is this woman?" Cutting edge performers have a way of letting the music they have composed seemingly take them over during live performance. There and then I purchased her 2006 CD Yet Why Not Say What Happened? which she made with her punk band, London, Ontario based Billy & the Lost Boys. I got to chat with her for a good fifteen minutes after the show and have gathered dribs and drabs of information about her to find out that much more since.

I knew merely from what I had seen from her then, that she was going to be a huge star one day soon.

At the time I even wrote a brief article which was run on Canoe Live and has since disappeared into the vacuum of the Internet. Whilst covering other bands for various online indie publications in Toronto our paths crossed and I awaited the release of her solo album.

I had several occasions to see Ms. Pettinger perform again numerous times in the city in 2007 opening for other acts. From our chats at these gigs I got to learn quickly that the Vancouver native has had to make every kind of deep personal sacrifice to produce her music for a mass audience. I also got to hear that music which proved to be every bit worth the effort for her fans and potential audiences.

A beautiful person on the inside as well as the outside she continuously impresses without even trying. Hearing of her benefit shows for homeless youth and the working poor over these past years was thus not too good to be true. There is no hidden agenda with this performer, no charity tax incentive capitalised upon whilst milking good PR. There is only the deep felt hope that she can make a positive difference and give back some of the generosity that has come her way. I took note of that like everything else. In so doing I watched an essential part of the latter evolution of The Lost Cause, a deeply personal and introspective examination of her life thus far.

Billy the Kid, in the tradition of truly great balladeer/troubadours of the oral tradition going back through the ages touches her own nerves with what she plays and takes the chance that we will be touched too. The intensity of her compositions can be somewhat jarring at first for those hearing them for the first time and this is as it should be.

Raine Maida of Our Lady Peace was sufficiently enraptured by the writing to offer his services in producing the CD. A slew of well-known industry veterans like Stanley Behrens (harmonica) and Steve Mazur (mandolin, banjo, and guitar) followed to add their own distinct talents to the project. It is telling that such greats would lend their names to this not merely innovative but potentially visionary work.

The result is an eclectic blending with more pronounced and coherent amplification of that which many of us have seen performed (and unaccompanied) by Ms.Pettinger in shows over the past year plus.

Tracks among the five on the EP include:

These City Lights which is a sad break-up song, it contrasts with the break-up songs of Ms.Pettinger's punk past. The sense of mutual disappointment and wondering what will happen next is communicated rather than the unbridled anger unleashed in her earlier work. There are different kinds of break-ups and that is something that is explored here.

The Drugs is a song known for drawing tears in live performance and my sense is that is because it hits close for some if not many. Not merely those that have drug addiction but those dealing with someone they care about that have an addiction. The recording of the track features Garth Hudson.

Just Trying To Get By has greater resonance now than ever given tough economic circumstances people everywhere face these days. Musicians on the indie scene live this song and have for several years but they are hardly alone. Just Trying To Get By is the most relevant, and potentially the most significant, musical statement Billy The Kid has ever made.

Overall The Lost Cause breaks the kind of new ground which makes it an essential addition for the collection of any connoisseur of modern music. One can be captivated by the CD now and see its influence on other music produced in the near future.