Bonnie "Prince" Billy Unveils Zany Music Video for Jay Dawg's Bounce-style Remix of "New Memory Box" from I Made A Place (Drag City Records)

Joseph William "Will" Oldham is a musician, singer-songwriter, and actor, likely, better known as Bonnie "Prince" Billy (B.P.B.) Oldham is widely known for his D.I.Y. Punk aesthetic and blunt honesty and his musical output has often been likened to Americana, Folk, Roots, Country, Punk, and Indie Rock. B.P.B. has been called an "Appalachian Post-punk Solipsist" with a grizzly whiskey-soaked voice that has been described as "a fragile sort-of warble frittering around haunted melodies in the American Folk or Country tradition" by Chris Baldwin at The Wanderer. Will Oldham has been actively releasing, often self-releasing, music since 1993 (since '98 as Bonnie "Prince" Billy) under the assorted aliases Admiral Wiley Balls, High & Blue, Little Willy Bulgakov, Palace/Palace Brothers, Pushkin Will, Tusitala de las Olas, and Wayne Olephant. Oldham has performed with a number of bands, including Amalgamated Sons of Rest, B*tchin' Bonnie Billy Bajas, Bonnie Stillwatter, Bonny Sweeney, Box of Chocolates, Boxhead Ensemble, Chivalrous Amoekons, Havanarama, Oldham Brothers, Superwolf, The Continental Op, The Pieces of Sh*t, and The Sundowners. I believe, I was first introduced to Bonnie "Prince" Billy's music by way of Superwolf/Bonny Sweeney with Matt Sweeney, who released a phenomenal "self-titled" album together in 2005.


Will Oldham, also, famously appeared within Kanye West's side-splitting alternate music video for "Can't Tell Me Nothing" from Graduation (2007) co-starring then-rising comedian/actor Zach Galifianakis. Oldham has quietly been releasing music all these years and most recently, has been self-releasing 2-track cassette-style BPB mix tape volumes on his Bandcamp page. Last year, Bonnie "Prince" Billy issued an 8-track EP entitled When We Are Inhuman with Bryce Dessner (The National) and eighth blackbird and at the top of 2020, already released a new solo album, I Made A Place. "New Memory Box" is the lead-off track from I Made A Place and is a fairly typical, laid-back Bonnie "Prince" Billy Alt. Country ballad. Yesterday, Oldham's long-time label, Drag City Records, unexpectedly released what they're calling "a body-movin', certified New Orleans-style Bounce banger" Jay Dawg remix of "New Memory Box." It's accompanied by an equally zany music video directed by frequent B.P.B. collaborator Ben Berman; akin to Oldham & Galifianakis' "Can't Tell Me Nothing" alt. video, as well as Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott's infamous visual discography from the late 90's and early 2000's. Honestly, it's really something you just have to experience for yourself... but it features Bonnie "Prince" Billy in full-on Bounce/Hip-Hop braggado mode. Oldham can be seen sporting a giant puffy jacket and oversized boots, shouting out Ollie's Trolley located in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, riding around with a pack of dogs from Greyhound Pets of America: Louisville, and other assorted hi-jinx with blocky white text on screen. Bonnie "Prince" Billy's I Made A Place is out now on Drag City Records.