The novelty wears off after about an hour and a half for me. No human contact, lots of coffee, and an inspection of the room and I’m pretty much ready to move on. But with another 36 hours to kill before we have to do anything, I usually get constructive and work on the sites. Update this one, tweak the Idol site, maybe throw a Tweet or two up. I also tend to get random ideas during this time, like …. “wouldn’t it be nice to get all the original Ants/Bow Wow Wow/Chiefs together and play all those songs again”….somehow that one turned into reality!! The Scala, London, Nov 21st – be there!! I use the time to go through the ridiculous amount of pics from the current tour – trying to keep up with Charles (the photographer who shoots every show) and looking for good ones to use. But again, a couple of hours geeking out in cyberspace and its time for a change. Today was laundry day – oh yes, the glamour of it all! – a taxi from the hotel into town to find a local place that will do all my shit and have it ready for tomorrow – that was the change I got today.

On returning, for instance, today is in a Casino…… so it strikes me that a couple of hours of innocent gambling might kill some time. More than a few dollars later, and I am starting to feel broke and hungry. Ah yes. When bored….EAT! OK – time to find somewhere half decent. I call a couple of the band and we go for some food. The ‘Day Off’ is starting to feel a lot like work, figuring out ways to keep my over-enthusiastic mind occupied. Download some TV from I-Tunes and that’ll help later tonight. I guess what I’m realizing about myself is that the concept of a day off gets lost on me. I feel I’m forgetting something – not making the most of my time. Relaxing doesn’t come easy for me, and I wonder why. Some people can simply read a book, lay around taking a nap or three, and be perfectly happy. What is it about my head that keeps moving at 100mph? This has to be part of the reason I threw so many narcotics into my body back in the day – that shit slows you right down! Day Off…..what a waste of fucking time. That’s what my head tells me. The only time I really, truly relax is on a beach, miles from anywhere, with scuba diving firmly on the menu. I guess I know what I’ll be doing this Christmas.

The concept of a day off is different for everyone. Some people live their whole lives in one huge day off. Others work like a dog from the age of 18 to retirement, like my Dad. Somewhere in the middle lies a nice, healthy balance I believe. But at the time of writing, I don’t think I’ve found that balance. I have had periods of my life where I literally sit on the couch playing video games for weeks at a time. But I’m not relaxed. The head is still spinning, real life is piling up, and I’d call that depression! Most of the time I am balls-to-the-wall juggling six projects and making all around me stare at me, shaking their heads and waiting for the inevitable crash to happen. Balance has never been my strong point. ‘More’ has always seemed better to me. If the laundry detergent says ‘one cap full of liquid’, then SURELY two caps would make it cleaner? If it says ‘take two’ with meals, then I KNOW that taking 15 throughout the day will be way more effective. Welcome to my head! My day off has drawn to a close now, and writing this piece has certainly killed about 30 minutes of it. Tomorrow, its back to work in Biloxi. Clean clothes, guitars to tweak, moving on across the US, emails, phone calls……ah, the familiarity of busy. So comforting.

Peace
Billy

Back to that slice of Americana I spoke about. My observations about the people out here are interesting. So much more reality than in the huge, urban sprawls. Or is it just a different kind of reality? I mean, out here, people really are happy to see you when you buy something from a store. Not fake-happy because they went through a training seminar that weekend, explaining that the customer is always right and that you need to smile at all times in the presence of one. These people are happy. Genuinely glad to be serving you in their own, family operated business. But does that make the reality in Los Angeles, or New York, or Chicago any less real? Not really – just different, fast-paced, hectic….and I feel also a little thespian in nature….acting as if, trying to appear something we aren’t, or it isn’t….I don’t know yet. Let me see what else this tour uncovers for me. I may get bored with the wordsmithery (is that a real word? If not, it should be!) and the insight and just go back to playing video games and rockin’ out at the gigs. But for now, I am interested in looking, opening my eyes, observing.

County fairs. Smells, sights, smells, more smells. Rabbits mixed with corn dogs, next to the chickens, by the Ferris Wheel, behind the pigs, over by the donuts, opposite the rock n roll show. Nothing compares. All the big words apply – dichotomy, juxtaposition – and so many of those smiles I just refered to, walking with family and simply enjoying. No agents, no managers, no suits, no high-powered business lunches at Katsuya (God, the baked crab rolls are simply divine at that place!) – would I trade one for the other? Is it possible to combine both worlds? Which one has more substance? Is one better than the other? I don’t have the answers but I do have fun playing guitar and making rock music. So that’s what I continue to roll with - create, perform, try and be as honest as I can. Truth is, I happen to love living in Hollywood and the suits and business people make life extremely fun sometimes. It’s all part of the rich tapestry of life, as they say. There is a place for everyone – for me, I live better, cleaner, happier when I don’t judge…..when I minimize the amount of opinion I have on certain things…..when I simply try to see what I can BRING to the table, rather than what I can TAKE from it. Not easy to live by, but worth striving to attain.

Peace

Billy

Its been a month exactly since I updated this site, and I guess I needed to take a break from all the updates. I kept the blog going over at BillyIdol.Net (which I intend to continue with on this current US tour) and used Twitter and Facebook daily, so at some point I just HAVE to stop updating something....and this site was it. So my new resolution is to keep this updated weekly, just like the Idol site, throughout the next two months. We will be on the road across the US (with some Canada thrown in for good measure) and that means I will have plenty of hotel rooms and opportunities to keep my cyber activities current and up to date. And if those hotels are anything like the one I am in now (crazy, multicolored swirly pattern decor, brightly colored walls, carpets and ceilings and NOTHING matches!!) I will need to be staring at a computer screen to stay sane!

The last three weeks have been all about decompressing from the European tour and gearing up again to do it all over in the States. Europe was a complete success, and we all had a blast, but it's nice to have some time to be with your family (I miss my wife when I am on the road), go eat at your favorite restaurant, see your friends, sleep in the same bed every night, and generally relax and unwind. Me? Not so much! I have to remain constantly busy, motivated and creative. So luckily we had a Camp Freddy show during the break for me to sink my teeth into - for the X-Games/ESPN party. It was our 6th year doing this event and we brought the house down with our last couple of guests - Sully (Godsmack) just killed his tracks, and then Billy Corgan (Smashing Pumpkins) floored everyone by singing Poisons 'Every Rose Has Its Thorn' and his own smash, 'Bullet With Butterfly Wings'. There was something magical about watching Billy do the whole 'audience singalong' thing with the Poison song and to me, that rates up there in the Camp Freddy top ten experiences (alongside doing Venus In Furs in New York with Lou Reed, and playing Paradise City with Ronnie Wood).

I can also tell you that I have undertaken to organize a show in London on November 21st. I will announce the details soon, but it will be a charity show and will be commemorating one of my most powerful influences on guitar - a man who is largely unknown and died young, leaving us some great music and a legacy that needs to be celebrated. I plan on having a few friends participate in this one as well, so keep your eye on all the sites listed below as I will announce the details shortly. I also THINK (but believe it or not, still don't know for sure!!) that October 20th is the release date for my Gibson Les Paul model to be released. I met with the people at Gibson during the break and discussed a few fun things to do for the launch and also talked about doing a few magazines to coincide with that date. So unless things have changed (which they frequently do!) it will be an October launch for my all-antique white-Les Paul-Billy Morrison model. Wow.

OK - well the other great thing about being in all these hotels is catching up on the TV that I dont usually have time to watch. And right now, a new season of Warehouse 13 is calling my name!! So consider this the first in a series of updates for BillyMorrison.Net. A renewed enthusiasm for my own site. If you want to keep up on a daily basis, CLICK HERE TO FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER or if you are on Facebook, CLICK HERE TO BE A FACEBOOK FRIEND. I'm still figuring out what to do with the solo tracks I recorded last year and the latest thought in my head is to give them away. I'm sure you guys would be ok with that so let me look into it. For now, I am going back to my hideously decorated hotel room and an episode or two of Warehouse 13. Be back soon - I promise!

Billy

My first tour with Billy Idol as rhythm guitarist has definitely been a huge success. Sold out shows, arenas, festivals – noisy, animated European audiences that sing every single word of every song….even the new ones that Billy, Steve Stevens and myself only wrote a month or two ago! Now that’s clever (and a testament to the power of YouTube). The Idol fans have accepted me whole-heartedly and that makes me feel good. The Billy Idol website has been fun to build and maintain, and has kept me in touch with the legions of people that follow Billy and Steve. And as a guitarist, my playing has just kept getting better – and that is the best feeling. Sharing the stage with these guys is an honor and now that the European leg of the tour is coming to a close (I think we have just 6 more shows to do over the next 10 days) my thoughts are turning to the couple of months we will be doing in the US. If you have tickets to any of the shows, you are in for a treat! New stage set, new songs, new Idol line up….and we are headed your way.

You know, I think sometimes that the life I lead is all a dream. Maybe I actually did OD when I was using and now I am in the ether, floating around dead, but getting to do all the things I always wanted to do. When I was curled up behind a trash can, shooting smack into my leg, the notion that someday I may stand on the biggest stages, playing guitar, traveling through Europe and living an amazing life….just wasn’t part of the thought process. But on this 4th of July, I can celebrate my own independence. From that life to this one. It ain’t easy, but it’s fucking worth doing. And if I can do it, anyone can. I hope you all have a great Holiday in the US and thank you to everyone who supports me and my endeavors. IF YOU WANT TO READ THE WEEKLY TOUR DIARY FROM THE BILLY IDOL TOUR, CLICK HERE and then click on the "Tour Diary" tab in the menu at the top. I love you all.

Billy Morrison

(PS - Even though I wrote this on the bus on the 4th July, the joys of touring meant that I had no internet connection until we arrived in Montreux today, so here it is.... a day late. But who cares really!)

It’s time for me to drop another personal update here – those of you who are following the Billy Idol tour through my Tour Diary on the www.billyidol.net site will be aware of where we are and what we are doing, but as always, life is in session for me personally and I always love to come back here and write a little more personably about how I feel and what’s going on. And I guess the biggest thing for me during this last week or so has been reaching 15 years without drink or drugs. I am pretty sure that those who came across me while I was ‘out there and at it’ will attest to just how huge this is for me. Most people thought I would have been dead long ago, never mind celebrating such a milestone by playing with Billy Idol and Steve Stevens on the main stage at Donnington in the UK, and then doing a SECOND show with Ginger Wildheart later that night on the acoustic stage. But that is exactly how I celebrated. Operating on two hours sleep and with a disgusting cold in full effect, my close friends from London travelled up to my hotel in Birmingham, drove me to the show, hung out with me all day and did what real friends do…. let me enjoy my day! Massive respec’ goes out to Terry, Ray and Steve (and Giles – it was a pleasure to finally meet you, mate!).

The day was cold and wet, and I felt pretty rough and spacey, but it didn’t matter. Paying a brief visit to my old homeland, hanging with the boys and killing it in the torrential rain at the festival felt fucking amazing. I missed my wife a lot that day – I would have loved her to share my special day with me as she is a huge part of everything that’s happened in the last 10 years. But never mind – she was in my heart, and it was a killer day. Thank you to all who were part of it – including the 80,000 people in the audience….. you made it perfect!! So far, we have hit Russia, Finland, Sweden, England, Germany and now Greece. And as I write this, I am by the pool at the hotel in Athens. I have been out in the blazing Greek sunshine for a few hours now, and I think it may be time to grab a salad and get into the shade. After all, I don’t want to overdo it, and although tonight is show time, tomorrow is a whole day off here in Athens. And of course, I have sorted out a spot of scuba diving for the morning!

This three day sunshine break is just what the doctor ordered – there has been a lot of traveling/airports/vans etc over the last couple of weeks. And I am really looking forward to getting underwater tomorrow and hanging out with the fish. As usual, life ticks by and Camp Freddy will be playing at The Palms in Las Vegas while I am out here in Europe. Bizarre feeling, that one – I will never get used to NOT being there when the guys play…. But it’s kinda cool to have a band that can always play, no matter what. I guess that’s the idea – a loose knit collective of friends that love music and know each other well enough to do shows no matter when or where – this time, I believe that Mr Steve Jones and Mr Billy Duffy will be performing the guitar duties. The show is July 10th and I would imagine if you google it, or call the venue, there will be more details available.

While I was in the UK, I paid a visit to Gibson London, and I will also be dropping by the offices in Berlin when we get there – and the reality of my Les Paul coming out continues to sink in further as each week passes! It’s really exciting and now we are starting to dream up fun ways to give guitars away as prizes, and working out what I can do to promote it. The London office was extremely nice (thanks Jeremy!) and we discussed a few fun ideas that hopefully we will be able to put into motion. I also got an email yesterday asking me if I would be interested in designing a signature Gibson guitar strap as well!! My response was a succinct and very positive……. “um….YES!!!!!!” May I suggest that you follow @gibsonlifestyle and @gibsonlondon on Twitter as soon as you can, for more news on all things Morrison/Gibson.

I’m gonna call it a day – there’s way too much R+R here today for me to keep typing. I just wanted to check in, acknowledge my 15 year mark, and say hi to people. A new tour diary will be up on the Idol site soon, and I will continue to update, Tweet, Facebook and generally cyber my way around Europe as much as I can. I love this shit and I am one lucky ex-junkie today.

Peace

Billy

I am jumping on the fact that I have 20 minutes before we leave the hotel in Finland, and seizing the opportunity to update my own website. And what a quality problem it is, that I have been too busy to get around to it for a week or so. I am constantly amazed at the life I lead, and the opportunities that present themselves. And I have to force myself to slow down occasionally and smell the fucking roses!! Right now, I am in the early stages of the Billy Idol European Tour, having spent the first week in Russia with shows in Moscow and St Petersburg and now we move from Finland (where we played last night) to Sweden and then onwards to the big Rock show at Download Festival, Donnington, in the UK.

I need to express my gratitude and my excitement at being able to work with Billy and Steve. The back catalogue is a firm part of my musical upbringing - of my formative years, both as a young punk in Bromley in the UK, and also as a guitarist struggling through addiction in the late 80's and early 90's. Even through that narcotic haze, I remember the chills that some of these songs gave me..... and playing them on a stage every night now still evokes the same feelings. Billy Idol is, without doubt, one of the best frontmen and iconic singers of the last 30 years. Watching him work a crowd, CONNECTING with them (a concept which most singers these days just don't understand) and singing every note like it's the first and last time...... it's inspiring to me. And playing with Steve Stevens is a trial by fire!! The guy is perhaps the most amazing player I have ever worked with, and his tone is absolutely second to none. He casually tosses riffs around that most players can only dream of..... and when he casually looks at me and says....."Hey, Morrison.....why don't you double me on this part....." - FUCKING HELL!!! My playing has definitely come on leaps and bounds in the last few months. These guys are the real deal - and I am extremely fortunate to be able to share all of this with them. Donnington is gonna fucking rock, and I cannot wait to get there and do this show.

Our tour manager, Rex, has wandered into the lobby which means it’s time for me to shut down and start the journey from Finland to Sweden. I miss my wife terribly and the time difference means that our I-Chat time is very limited. But no doubt we’ll catch each other tonight when I check into the hotel in Copenhagen (staying in Denmark, playing in Sweden…..yes I KNOW it seems like a glamorous, jet set life but trust me, it can get very confusing!!!). Now I’m getting that look – the look that says….”Morrison! Time to go. Get off the fucking computer!!”….. so…..

Peace

Billy Morrison

Anyone with even a passing interest in what I do or who I am influenced by will know that The Wildhearts are one of my top three artists of all time. Along with The Sex Pistols and David Bowie, they wrote songs that spoke to me, raised the hairs on the back of my neck, and made me wanna smash my head into a wall repeatedly. In a good way! And so it is with great pleasure that I announce I will be joining the lead singer and the creator/architect of the aforementioned Wildhearts, Ginger, in a headline acoustic set on the Jagermeister Acoustic stage at the Download Festival in the UK this year, on the last day of the festival - Sunday June 13th. I was already looking forward to returning to England to play with Billy Idol on the main stage, and now I will be finishing that show, drying off, and running across to the acoustic stage to rip up a set of Wildhearts songs with Ginger and a few of his friends. We wanna make the set loud, raucous and generally the maddest acoustic vibe ever. So come down at 7.00pm and lets light this fucking thing up.

On the very last day of rehearsals, the prototype of my Gibson model arrived and it’s just so cool. It’s basically the same as the Cream and Black Union Jack guitar that I am using as my main Idol axe, but without the paintjob. The choice was easy…. In order to actually replicate the Union Jack paintjob, the guitar would have been too expensive at retail, and I just didn’t want to have a really expensive axe hanging on the walls of Sam Ash and Guitar Center. I wanted a model that plays beautifully, has all the appointments and details that my own guitars have, and be reasonably priced so that people can actually buy them!! So it’s a Gibson USA Standard with a 60’s slimline neck in antique white. It has ‘classic custom’ binding on the top, and a special matching ‘antique white’ headstock……something that Gibson never does and something that I have always wanted to do. It really sets the guitar apart because everyone is used to seeing the black headstocks with pearl inlay logos. My model will have a reverse headstock - white with black pearl logos. Very excited and hopefully we'll settle on a release date soon and begin the next phase of the process. Big thanks to Charles Jischke for the awesome pics.

Immediately after I wrap shooting today, I head to LAX to jump on a red eye flight to Indianapolis to meet up with the Camp Freddy crew. We are playing at Monument Circle in Indianapolis as part of the celebrations for the Indy 500 Race that takes place there this weekend. It’s an outdoor gig in the center of town and the admission is free. So if you are in the area and wanna rock, come on down. We are bringing a few friends with us as usual, and we’ll also be hanging out at the race the next day. Hope to see some of you there. And that pretty much wraps it up – the moment I get back to LA, I leave for Europe with Billy Idol. This is the last flurry of activity for a while…..I’ll be able to settle back into the touring groove and just concentrate on each day, each gig, each country. Although I will confess to having loaded my laptop with music software so I can write songs on the road. God forbid I ever just relax and enjoy whats in front of me, right??!! FOLLOW THE BILLY IDOL WORLD TOUR ON TWITTER BY CLICKING HERE.Have a great weekend everyone and be nice to each other.

Peace

Billy

Camp Freddy has been having a nice busy period recently as well - the Izod Indy car gig while I was in Switzerland went down a storm, and now we go to Indianapolis on May 29th to repeat the show at the race. Should be a fun weekend - I hear we get to hang at the race and get close to the action, and apparently we are playing in a street somewhere again - not sure about the details but we'll be there. We also fly to Chicago on May 15th for a show at the Chicago Museum Of Art. I am really looking forward to that one - it's a fundraiser and tickets are available - we have a couple of really exciting guests lined up for that show. And it seems like we will be returning to our home away from home in the not too distant future as well - Las Vegas - more details of that when they surface. But a nice busy month for Freddy and luckily I can participate as we don't leave for Russia until 1st June.

This is all coming on the heels of the Billy Idol Switzerland trip and the Ducati Allstars acoustic tour so it feels very busy.....which is just how I like it. It's hard to fit the rest of life into such a full on schedule, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I absolutely love what I do - all aspects of it. Occasionally there are personality clashes (just like in any job) and bad vibes and resentments can damage great things. But I truly love every person I get to work with in every band, project and environment and count myself lucky each day I open my eyes and get to put on a guitar. Which reminds me - I got word that my prototype 'Morrison Model' Les Paul survived the flood at the Gibson factory. It was out being photographed when it happened. I couldn't believe it when I heard. My love and best wishes go out to Gibson and I hope things will be ok. I'm off to spend a well-earned day with my wife. I just hope she recognizes me!! Big thanks to Scott Nathan, photographer extrordinaire, who recently took time out to shoot me (and who also is a card carrying mamber of the HFCC and takes a bunch of cool ones when we ride) - CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT SCOTT NATHAN PHOTOGRAPHY.
Peace

Billy

4 mates, 2000 miles, 8 days, 6 gigs, 130+mph, 127 coffees, 3 states, 2 bob... and 1 ticket. That was my Facebook status update last night after the final wet and windy ride into Seattle. Most of the days riding was fantastic weather. In fact, we were extremely lucky to have only hit rain twice on the way up the coast, and the first time around Weed, CA wasn't much to worry about (although the snow drifts posed a few obstacles for us!!). But the torrential rain on the way in yesterday soaked us all to the bone, and poor Franky got a speeding ticket thrown in for good measure. But we all made it safely to Seattle without major incident and the acoustic shows that we played along the way were so much fun. Unrehearsed and very intimate! Lots of eye contact, mistakes and laughter - but some killer songs and always a noisy, enthusiastic audience. All the dealers went above and beyond in creating stages and vibe and I really hope we get to do it again. Thank you to all of you guys that came out to one of the free shows and thank you Jason and Ducati North America for being forward thinking enough to agree to such a crazy idea!!

It's back home to Los Angeles on an afternoon flight now, and then I start working with the Idol camp next week. We now begin the final prep for the European tour - figuring out a few surprise songs and making sure the set and the production is tight. After the constant travelling of the last few weeks, I gotta say I'm looking forward to a month in LA where I can regroup and get ready for the flight to Russia. Also, Camp Freddy will be playing again in May (maybe twice - I still need to get confirmation on the second show) - at the Chicago Museum Of Art on May 15th. As always, I cannot tell you who the guests will be, but I urge you, in all seriousness, to buy a ticket if you possibly can. We will be pulling out all the stops on this one! OK - gotta pack up my shit and get outta here. See you guys soon and have a great week.

Billy