I will be winging my way to the land of amazing chocolate and gorgeous wrist watches in April with Billy Idol for an evening of unplugged intimacy. We will be playing an acoustic show in Zermatt on April 15th. The details are below. And keep your eyes on this site this week for some pics taken today. I will explain more when I post them in a couple of days.

Zermatt Unplugged, Zermatt, Switzerland. 13-17 April

The name is misleading – with Billy Idol on the bill, this certainly isn’t all about acoustic folk songs. This will be the fourth year the classic mountain resort has ended the season with a festival, and the acts booked to play keep getting bigger. Gigs take place in a big marquee or various clubs. Tickets: Are sold to the individual concerts – tickets to Billy Idol are 78CHF (£49). Numerous operators have packages to Zermatt, or see the tourist board website for hotels. Fly to Zurich and take the train direct to the resort (three hours, 15 minutes).

The first wave of Billy Idol rehearsals finished yesterday and I have to tell you it's been a lot of fun. Learning all the songs that everyone loves, and playing them with Billy and Steve feels really good. And the band sounds killer - twin guitars of Steve and I, with Jeremy Colson behind the kit, and Billy's long time bass player and keyboard players, Steve McGrath and Derek Sherinian. Now we do a thing or two as a band (best for me not to go into detail on that) and then we reconvene for some acoustic rehearsals. I'm looking forward to getting over to Europe in June and July and then doing North America in August. And of course, it's been all the excuse I needed to build a new guitar rig! Still based around Marshall JCM series heads and vintage 30 cabs, I am having a nice neat rack built to house all the Boss pedals and wireless units etc and running it through a Radial 7 switcher. It all looks very flash, with lights and knobs and switches and cables......we'll see if it actually works nearer the time!

And prototype Les Paul number 2 is winging it's way to me any day now for approval. The first prototype (with the messed up cream and black Union Jack paint job) is now my main guitar for the Idol tour. But we made a decision that the paintjob would not be on the production run (too complicated and would push the retail price up way too high) so now the wonderful folks at Gibson USA are preparing a second prototype exactly as the retail model will be. I get it, play it, approve it.....and start planning the release. Kind of freaking me out that it's actually happening, but I'm rolling with it. They sent me artwork for the case the other day and it looks really fucking cool!!

Thats it. Gotta get into the day. But I want to update the site more, so consider this a Friday morning check in, before the weekend and some H.F.C.C. motorcycle riding. See ya next week.

Billy

I am happy to finally be able to tell you that I will be touring in 2010 with Billy Idol. I joined the line up at the beginning of the year and have been deep in rehearsals for a few weeks now. The twin guitars of Steve Stevens and myself sound amazing on the Idol material and I am excited to get out there and start playing shows. My friend Jeremy Colson is behind the kit and the astute among you will remember that I have worked with Jeremy before in Circus Diablo. The official press release is below, along with the European Tour Dates. American and Canadian dates will be announced soon. Expect some choice V-Blogs, Tweets and general fun stuff from me throughout the tour. And keep your browsers here for more details and news direct from the camp

BILLY IDOL will debut a new powerhouse band when he hits the road this summer with performances at major music festivals throughout Europe, with North American dates set to follow. In addition to his longtime guitarist Steve Stevens, Stephen McGrath on bass and Derek Sherinian on keyboards, IDOL will be joined on this trek by acclaimed guitarist Billy Morrison and drummer Jeremy Colson. Morrison, one of the founders of Camp Freddy and front man for Circus Diablo, has previously played in The Cult, Stimulator, Doheny and Into a Circle, while Colson (Morrison’s collaborator in Circus Diablo) is known for his work with Steve Vai, with whom he’s worked since 2002.

The 2010 Summer Tour will kick off with a pair of shows in Russia (Moscow on June 5 and St. Petersburg on June 7), to be followed with a performance at the Malmo Sweden Rock Festival and his second appearance at the Download Festival at Donington Park in his native U.K.

EUROPEAN DATES SUMMER 2010
Sat 6/5  Moscow, Russia   SCCH Russia
Mon 6/7  St. Petersburg, Russia   Ice Hall
Wed 6/9  Helsinki, Finland   Ice Hall
Sat 6/11  Malmo, Sweden   Sweden Rock Festival
Sun 6/13  Donington Park, UK   Download Festival
Wed 6/16  Nr Nurenburg, Germany   Arbenburg, Burg
Fri 6/18  Athens, Greece   Karaiski Stadium
Sun 6/20  Skopje, Macedonia   Skopsko Lizgaliste
Mon 6/21  Belgrade, Serbia   Belgrade Arena
Tue 6/22  Zagreb, Croatia   T Music Festival
Thu 6/24  Ljubjiana, Slovenia   Hala Tivoli
Fri 6/25  Vienna, Austria   Danube Island
Sun 6/27  Prague, Czech Republic   Sasazu
Tue 6/29  Ravensburg, Germany   Oberschubenhalle
Thu 7/1  Sopron, Hungary   Volt Festival
Sat 7/3  Germany   TBA
Sun 7/4  Bremen, Germany   Freeload Festival
Thu 7/8  Bonn, Germany   Museumplatz
Fri 7/9  Huttweil, Switzerland   Rocksound Festival
Sun 7/11  Weert, Holland   Bospop Festival

Camp Freddy will be playing a set at the Global Green pre-Oscar party in Los Angeles on Wednesday March 3rd. The party will be held at the Avalon Theater in Hollywood. We will have a couple of friends with us as usual. There is a discounted $30 ticket available by entering the code CAMPFREDDY or if you CLICK HERE TO GO DIRECTLY TO THE CAMP FREDDY DISCOUNT TICKET LINK. That's all the details I have right now. I will also be able to give you my touring plans for 2010 next week. That's it from me. More news as it happens.
Billy

Here's a compilation video from the January Ducati Allstars show that took place in Los Angeles. I am completely wrapped up in rehearsal land with my new job.... and I will be able to say very soon who its with - I just have to wait until the dates are announced and then I can let you all know. I gotta tell you, it's a great vibe, and I get to play guitar on songs that I love and grew up listening to. To be able to play every day, in a full-on preproduction situation again is exciting for me. I have obviously missed touring and I'm happy to be headed out there this year. As soon as I get the 'OK' to say, I will say. In the meantime, we'll be doing another D.A.S. show out in Scottsdale, Arizona at the Red Bar on March 1st.
Have a great rest of the week and keep your eyes here for further info.
Peace

Billy

The current issue of Cycle News has a nice 2 pager on the Ducati Allstars show at the beginning of the year. Lots of nice pics and a great review. And it seems like we will be doing it again! We will be playing at the Red Bar in Scottsdale, Arizona at the request of Ducati again, on March 1st. Once I get ticket details and logistics, I will post them, but for now I know that we're learning a few songs and looking forward to doing another 'rock meets bikes' extravaganza! Camp Freddy also confirmed a show in Chicago in May (yeah, I know....its months away! There are other things going on but as you know - if its not confirmed, we dont talk about it!!). The Chicago show is inside the Museum of Art, and rumors that they'll be paying us with a Picasso and a Warhol are unfounded.

I have been really busy learning songs and now rehearsing. I have a fun summer coming up and I'm really looking forward to going out on the road again. As soon as the dates are announced, I will be able to tell you who I'm with, but it's enough to say I have been a fan for years so it's an honor to be playing these songs. And finally it was my birthday this week, and to celebrate, I went out to Willow Springs Raceway as a guest of MotoUSA magazine, Ducati motorcycles and Alpinestars leathers and had one of the best days of my life!!! We had two motorcycles there just for us to ride, and Franky Perez, Jack Osbourne and myself spent the day pushing the limits and riding the track. Fast!! Just to put things into perspective, we were easily clocking 142mph on the straight.......and the MotoUSA guys were flying past us like we were standing still!! A great day.

Thats it. Gotta get moving - just throwing stuff up here as I think of it. Tonight is the Haiti benefit here in Los Angeles and I will be showing up to support the cause. Get off yer arse and go make a donation.

Peace

Billy

We are already one month into 2010 - it's crazy how quickly time passes. The Haiti Relief Project album is now AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD IF YOU CLICK HERE. It features an exclusive track by The Sonic Graffiti - the band put together last year by Ginger Wildheart, myself, Michael Butler and Scott Lipps. The song is called 'Mystery Number' and was produced by Mike Clink. The album also features tracks by Ricky Warwick, The Wildhearts, Electric Six and many more. All proceeds go to the Haiti Relief effort. Hopefully if time permits, we will get together again at some point this year and record a few more tracks. Last years 'Wildhearts Greatest Hits' gigs were fun!

Camp Freddy has a few shows on the books already this year, which is always nice. The band has been together now for nearly eight years.... longer than a lot of real bands!! We are all really proud of Freddy and have amazing fun with the band. It's always nice to know that the shows are still coming and that we continue to put together our crazy Rock N Roll Circus a few times a year!! From the looks of it, we'll be getting out of LA a few times as well, which will be nice. Oh.... and PLEASE..... don't hit me up asking "if we'll be playing your town"!!! We don't choose the cities we play in - they choose us when we get an offer to do a show.

The John Varvatos party the other night was a veritable 'Rock Extravaganza!' The band, Alberta Cross, played in the West Hollywood store and John hosted another killer party - pre-Grammy. Tons of people packed inside and outside and it was nice to hang with my friends. Ginger was in town, with his new band and brought Michael Monroe with him. Duff and Matt came. Glen Hughes. Perry. It was a scene, Dahlings!

And I have the usual laundry list of projects and plans in front of me. I believe that the coming year looks extremely exciting and rewarding, at least on paper!! Things change daily in this business, but I am looking forward to it all. The conference call I had yesterday with my project people at Gibson USA moved the 'Morrison Les Paul' forward a lot. I re-thought the design and paint-job (which was proving to be difficult) and we talked through a bunch of the details like fretwire, trussrod covers etc. Expecting a new prototype in the next few weeks. Fingers crossed, it looks like my signature will see the light of day this summer.

I gotta get moving - although its Saturday, there is a potential International Camp Freddy show in the mix that we would all like to see happen, so I'm gonna do what I do best and start work on that today. Hopefully we can get it together...... this one is a nice one!! See ya soon, people.

Billy

An original track that was written by myself, Ginger Wildheart, Michael Butler and Scott Lipps last year will be exclusively available on the forthcoming Haiti Relief album, on Gingers Round Records label. The track is called "Mystery Number" and was produced by Mike Clink. It will appear under the band name "The Sonic Graffiti" and we have donated the track to the album - 100% of the proceeds will go to the relief effort. It will be available for download soon and I will post the details when I have them. The Sonic Graffiti played a couple of "Wildhearts Greatest Hits" shows last year in Los Angeles and at some point, will write and record more tracks. For now, enjoy the fruits of our time together and do something to help the devastation in Haiti.

Peace

Billy

I'm still lining up a few things for 2010, along with the usual Camp Freddy fun and games, but I wanted to let you all know that I just got asked to dig up a piece of Sunset Blvd, along with Lemmy, Zakk Wylde, the Mayor and a few key City Officials as part of a Sunset Strip Rejuvenation thing.....with a shovel that looks like a Gibson guitar!! ....and I quote.....

"The City of West Hollywood will begin a beautification project on The Sunset Strip in January. This project includes cosmetic upgrades as well repaving the legendary boulevard for the first time in more than 75 years."

Quite frankly, on a list of bizarre and fun shit I have done, this ranks pretty highly!! I guess if you show up on Monday morning outside the Whiskey on Sunset at 11.00am, you'll see us smash up a bit of the sidewalk. If this kind of thing excites you, be there. More news on a bunch of stuff coming shortly.

www.twitter.com/billymorrison
www.facebook.com/billymorrison.net

Here's to a great New Year for everyone - and thanks for being a part of it all for me. If you are in the LA area on Saturday night, you can come down to The Roxy and begin 2010 as we mean to go on - with some great rock n roll. Join me and a few of my friends tomorrow, Jan 2nd, at the Ducati Allstars show. See the post below for all the details. Until then.....

THE BILLY MORRISON WEBSITE.
BILLY MORRISON ON MYSPACE.
FOLLOW BILLY MORRISON ON TWITTER.
MORRISON TV.
BILLY MORRISON ON YOUTUBE.
BILLY MORRISON ON FACEBOOK.
THE CAMP FREDDY WEBSITE.

My passion for riding motorcycles has been deeply engrained in me, ever since I first watched my uncle racing for Kawasaki in the World Grand Prix (what is now known as MotoGP) when I was about 8 years old. Having a father who also raced motorcycles kinda sealed the deal I guess, and bikes have always sat side by side with music in my life. Now I fucked that up when I first met my wife and pulled a crazy long wheelie up Camden High Street in London on a 1000cc Yamaha R1 sports bike….. with her perched on the back. Not the greatest of moves, but how was I to know we’d end up married?! I was being young, dumb and full of….. well anyway….. earlier this year, a group of my friends began riding here in LA. All fans of Ducati motorcycles (and including Sex Pistols guitarist, Steve Jones), it has quickly ignited that passion again.

Steve was building a great relationship with the Italian marque and the idea for the DUCATI ALLSTARS show at the Roxy on January 2nd was born. A group of avid Ducatista, who also happen to play rock n roll. Seemed logical. Steve, along with existing riders Franky Perez, Mark McGrath, Jason Bonham and myself enlisted the help of guitar wizard Steve Stevens and The Cult’s bass player, Chris Wyse. Throw in the obvious MC stylings of Mr Donovan Leitch and there you have it. A one-off evening of motorcycles and music. There will be tee shirt giveaways (check out the design - I think Ducati will be giving a limited number of these away but only if you are actually at the show), 2010 Ducati motorcycles inside the Roxy, preferred Ducati parking…….. and if you enter the promotional code “Ducati” when you order tickets from either Ticketmaster or The Roxy, you get the friends and family rate of $25.

You can keep up to date over the holiday period with giveaways, promos and competitions in various locations. First of all, all So-Cal Ducati dealerships will have posters and information regarding the show. There were rumors that people buying a motorcycle in the month of December get in free, but I have no idea if that happened. Personally, I think if you just dropped fifteen grand on a Ducati and want to come to the show, you should just show up and walk in!!! Tell em Billy said it was ok!!! And then you can use the following links to stay informed. I’ll see you all, complete with New Years hangover, on Saturday January 2nd, at The Roxy. Peace.

DUCATI USA ON FACEBOOK.
FOLLOW DUCATI ON TWITTER.
THE OFFICIAL DUCATI USA WEBSITE.
STEVE JONES ON FACEBOOK.
FOLLOW BILLY MORRISON ON TWITTER.

WIth work finally over for a couple of weeks, I can now crawl my sick, flu-ridden ass back into my bed and a haze of video games and Pinkberry's new Chocolate flavor. Time to rest, recouperate and get ready for 2010. Below are a bunch of links that are interesting, fun, related and informative. Enjoy.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO BRENT BOLTHOUSE.

DONOVAN AND BILLY TALK NINETIES ON LAWEEKLY.COM.

THE DUCATI ALLSTARS PLAY LOS ANGELES.

A NICE BLOG REVIEW FOR CAMP FREDDY AT THE ROXY.

CAMP FREDDY ON FOXNEWS.COM.

CHECK OUT THE H.F.C.C. ON ROCKMOTO.COM.

The video above is from last weeks Roxy show. "Paradise City" with Cypress Hill, Steve Vai and Jason Bonham guesting. Honestly, I love the shit we do..... so much fun. This friday is the last show of the residency and like the other two shows, completely sold out. Sorry if you didn't manage to get a ticket. Maybe we'll have to do a summer residency next year to make up for it - who knows. But Friday's 90's set is probably one of the best we've ever had. A ton of new songs, a line up that is just amazing, and a fabulous way to close the year for us. It's been a blast.

The Golden Ticket pics are available now by clicking on the banner to the left of this post. If you tried before today and couldn't understand why it didn't work..... it's because I got the code wrong! One of the perils of running everything myself! But I guess it proves that I really do keep this site all by myself. No assistants or team of web people..... just l'il ol' me. Anyway - you can go get your pic now.

So many new songs to learn, so little time. Already, 2010 is gearing up, but more of that in another post. Right now, I gotta go learn songs. By the 90's, people had started using alternate tunings, strange arrangements, odd timing ..... and they really could play too! So that makes this set a lot harder to get right!!! I'll see you at the Roxy on Friday.

Billy