Billy Price to Release New Album

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On June 1, 2006, Billy Price will release East End Avenue, his first studio recording since late 1999, on Bonedog Records. East End Avenue features Price and the Billy Price Band on a set of 13 original new songs, five of which were co-written by Price with Jon Tiven, recent winner of four 2006 Blues Music Awards, including Song of the Year for "Think of Me" by Little Milton. East End Avenue also has a song written by Billy Price Band keyboard player Jimmy Britton, a cover of Dan Penn's "Faithful and True, " and six songs written by Pittsburgh songwriter Mike Sweeney. Sweeney has written songs for several Bonedog artists as well as for Glenn Pavone, former guitarist with Billy Price and the Keystone Rhythm Band.

Price and his band-Lenny Smith (guitar), Paul Thompson (bass), Dave Dodd (drums), Jimmy Britton (keyboards), Joe Herndon (trumpet), Eric DeFade (tenor sax), and Rick Matt (baritone and tenor sax)-recorded East End Avenue at the Mojo Boneyard in McKeesport, PA. The Boneyard is the site of a burgeoning soul and blues revival in the Pittsburgh area; artists who have recorded there include Bobby Wayne, Hoodoo Drugstore, Piney Brown, Tommy Brown, and Guitar Shorty. East End Avenue was produced by Price and Jeff Ingersoll, owner of the Mojo Boneyard and Bonedog Records.

"For the past year and a half or so, " says Price, "I've been writing songs with Jon and Sally Tiven from Nashville, and I'm thrilled with what we've produced. It's also been great to have an opportunity to record some of Mike Sweeney's songs, which I've admired for a long time, and to work with Jeff at the Boneyard."

"I'm as excited about this CD as I have been about anything I've ever done in my career, " says Price. "It showcases the extraordinary talents of my band members. I know that my fans are going to love it, and I expect that it will help to introduce our music to lots of other people too."

Billy Price, east coast blue-eyed soul man, has been entertaining audiences for the past three and a half decades. In his hometown of Pittsburgh, PA, he is an institution. Price's popularity isn't hard to explain. As Geoffrey Himes of the Washington Post has written, "Unlike so many blues revivalists, Price is not an imitation of older, better singers-he's the real thing."

Billy Price first attracted national attention during his three-year association with guitarist Roy Buchanan. Price is the vocalist on two of Buchanan's LPs, That's What I'm Here For and Livestock. Price assembled Billy Price and the Keystone Rhythm Band in 1977. Before their breakup in 1990, the band recorded four critically acclaimed LPs and developed a reputation as one of the most exciting touring bands in the U.S.

Price formed The Billy Price Band in 1990. In addition to performing popular songs from Price's years with Buchanan and the Keystone Rhythm Band, the Billy Price Band features new interpretations of blues, R & B, and soul classics.

In April 1997, Billy Price released The Soul Collection, which featured a duet by Price and his friend and mentor Otis Clay on Clay's "That's How It Is, " as well as background vocals by veteran Chicago vocalists Theresa Davis (former member of the Emotions), Robin Robinson, and Dianne Madison.

Can I Change My Mind on Green Dolphin Records was produced in Los Angeles by Jerry "Swamp Dogg" Williams, who has also produced artists such as Z.Z. Hill, Doris Duke, Irma Thomas, Solomon Burke, Patti LaBelle, Lionel Ritchie, and others. Since its release in December 1999, Can I Change My Mind has received critical acclaim from publications throughout the world.

Billy Price released a double CD, Sworn Testimony: The Billy Price Band Live, in July 2002. In July 2003, the Billy Price Band gave a critically acclaimed performance at the Belgium Rhythm & Blues Festival in Billy Price's first-ever appearance in Europe. A DVD of the concert, entitled Funky...Funky Soul!!! was released in late 2003.

Billy Price, whose real name is Bill Pollak, lives in Pittsburgh with his wife, Rebecca and son Calvin (17). Their other children are Valerie Pollak (23), Leland Scruby (25), and Jon Scruby (27).

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