William “Billy” McCarthy

Within a podcast season, there’ll always be that one episode that’d I’d call “a beautiful ramble.” This is that episode and I’m glad it’s with non-other than William “Billy” McCarthy. I’ve known Billy for years due to him fronting a rock band called Augustines, who were known for being relentless road warriors that’d play shows with every fiber of their being. Since the end of Augustines, Billy has been releasing solo music that excels at tackling the strange but specific nature of American life. What I love about his music is that he never sings with scorn and contempt, but always with a tone of curiosity and understanding that we’re all in this together; regardless of where we come from and how we got here.

He’ll soon be embarking on a big life change which will see him traveling the country in a van, playing music to strangers and creating short films of his travels. For this episode, I caught up with Billy to really talk about life. Yes, we naturally talk about music, but we largely talk about the complexities of our country, the injustices that need to be challenged and why we need to focus on helping one another. We also talk in-depth about our mutual friend Scott Hutchinson, who was the frontman of Frightened Rabbit. I’ve personally found it difficult to speak about Scott publicly, so being able to do so with Billy meant a lot. RIP to you Scott, you are sorely missed.

Check out Billy’s music over at Bandcamp and more info on his creative projects over at his website. Also, be sure to follow him on Patreon, Instagram and Twitter.

Loah

Liann Kaye