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Billy Redfield’s “Die For You” Named November “Best Song Of
The Month”
By Dale Kawashima
Billy Redfield, a talented, acoustic-rock singer/songwriter
based in Baltimore, MD, has won the SongwriterUniverse “Best Song Of The Month”
Contest for November, for his song “Die For You.” This song is featured on his
11-song CD Two Steps Closer, which he released independently this past
April (2006). The album has already sold 4,000 units in the past six months.
Billy Redfield
“Die For You” is a graceful, heartfelt love song, which is
musically in the vein of soulful, acoustic cuts byJack Johnson and David Gray. The song starts out with a sparse,
acoustic guitar riff in the intro, then gradually builds to a full-sounding
track in the chorus. The recording provides an excellent showcase for
Redfield’s expressive lead vocals, and also features elegant piano playing by
Daniel Park. “Die For You” was expertly produced by Chris Keup, who is known
for producing Jason Mraz and Liz Phair.
Redfield grew up in Potomac, MD (a suburb of Washington,
D.C.), and then he moved with his family to Baltimore when he was 15. Early on
he was very active in sports, playing basketball, soccer and joining the swim
team. However, when his father bought him a guitar at age 14, he began to focus
more on his music and songwriting. After high school, Redfield attended Loyola
College in Baltimore, where he subsequently graduated with a B.A. degree in
Business. During college, Redfield continued to develop his music, writing
songs and playing gigs at coffeehouses.
Then after college, Redfield began writing and recording new
material, and he released a five-song EP called Made You Smile in
October 2005. Redfield received good feedback on his EP, which led to modern
rock station Z-104 inviting him to perform his songs live on a broadcast.
Redfield also won an Opening Band Contest held at the 9:30 Club – his
performance earned him the opening slot for a concert headlined by the Pat
McGee Band and Hanson.
Billy Redfield
Redfield continued to build his career momentum with the April
2006 release of his first, full-length album, Two Steps Closer. “I wrote
the album during a two-month period in 2005,” explained Redfield. “For ‘Die For
You,’ I came up with the opening guitar riff first, and then came the music,
followed by the lyrics. The theme of the song is, ‘Would you give up everything
for the person you love?’ I thought this would be a good theme to write about.”
“Die For You” was recently selected to appear on the CD
compilation “Craft The Music,” which was produced by American Songwriter
magazine. And Two Steps Closer has already sold an impressive 4,000
units. Currently, Redfield is aggressively promoting his CD in two different
ways: (1) he’s hired the firm Planetary Group to promote his CD to college
radio stations; and (2) he’s signed on with agent Eugene Foley to shop his CD
to major labels. “I would also like to sign a publishing deal,” said Redfield.
“I love the whole songwriting process. Besides writing for my own albums, I
would like to collaborate with writers for other projects.”