Jan. 11, 2024

Living the dream with singer songwriter Ed begley

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Strap in for a ride through the heart of country rock with Ed begley, the frontman of Tattoo Billy, on the 'Living the Dream' podcast with Curveball. Discover the band's journey from its roots in the Appalachian Mountains to opening for iconic artists and scoring a track in the movie 'Kiss of a Vampire'. Ed shares his life stories, inspirations, and the intriguing tale behind the band's name. Tune in for an episode that's as heartfelt as it is foot-stomping!

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> Speaker A>Welcome, um, to the living the dream podcast with curveball. Um, if you believe you can achieve, cheat, cheat.

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> Speaker B>Welcome to the living the dream with curveball podcast, a, uh, show where I ain't view guests that teach, motivate and inspire.

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> Speaker B>Today I am joined by the leader of the country rock band, Tattoo Billy. His name is Ed Beckley. We're going to be talking to him about the band and everything that they're up to. They had a song in the movie kiss of a vampire, so we're going to be talking to Ed about Tattoo, uh, Billy, and everything that he's up to. Big shout out to Kaden Gordon for arranging this interview. So, Ed, thank you so much for joining me today.

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> Speaker C>Yeah, thank you for having me on. I appreciate it.

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> Speaker B>Why don't you start off by telling everybody a little bit about yourself?

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> Speaker C>Well, uh, tattoo Billy, it kind of had its early origins, I'd, uh, say about 1988, 80. And, uh, it was founded by me and my dad. And, uh, I was still in high school when I joined. And he was like, hey, once you start, I was playing, like, rock and roll music, and he was like, do you want to start making some money playing music?

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> Speaker C>Come join me. So I was like, yeah, I would like to make some money. So next thing you know, I'm playing every hole in the wall over the country.

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> Speaker B>Okay, well, tell us a little bit about your dad so people can get the, uh, idea of the origins of the band.

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> Speaker C>Yeah, well, dad, he was born in, uh, southeastern Kentucky, appalachian mountains.

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> Speaker C>And, uh, he grew up pretty much. If you've seen a sharecropper's house in Alabama, that's kind of house he came out of. And he started working the fields. And he was probably five or six years old and had, uh, a real tough life. Uh, but with most poor families, only thing they had to do was do music. And they'd sit on the porch, do mouth music, as they call it. If you didn't have an instrument, you'd just make up tunes.

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> Speaker C>And, uh, that's kind of how he got started. And he moved up here, I think when he was into Ohio, Cincinnati area when he was about 16 years old and looking for work. And, uh, a lot of the, uh, Kentucky families came up here. And it's an area, it's right outside of Cincinnati. It's called Hamilton. And, uh, a lot of Kentucky families came up here looking for jobs and try, uh, to better themselves.

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> Speaker C>Um, and I joined him. I think I was 16 and a half, 17 years old when I joined him. And, uh, the early stages, uh, of the same lineup until 2010. From those early days, uh, we got to open up for a lot of big artists and stuff over the years and stuff. So we just been on that underground scene for a number of years.

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> Speaker B>Okay, well, tell us about the genre of music.

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> Speaker B>That tattoo Billy does.

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> Speaker C>It was kind of like a southern rock. At one point, somebody said they started calling us gothic country because we had a few songs.

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> Speaker C>Um, one was called blackhearted lady, and it kind of had a darker feel to it.

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> Speaker C>And it was like, on some Halloween radio stations and stuff like that. So they started calling us, like, at one point, gothic country. And it was kind of, I would call it all of it.

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> Speaker C>I would classify it as, like, country rock or southern rock. Uh, um, I guess it was about 2009. We met a guy named Joe Torrentory. He's passed away now, but he was like, uh, a movie director, did movies of Linda Blair, and he was an actor himself when he was younger. He was Blackhand gunman and, uh, uh, the sting with Robert Redford and all those guys. And, um, I met, uh, him and showed him our album, and he took one of our songs and he put it in one of his newer movies at that time, what was a newer movie called kiss of a vampire. And it had, like, um, I think it was Daniel Goddard from young and the Restless and the Beastmaster series and had Matthews Hughes from the diehard movie and big, big, uh, adventure. And I, uh, forget, uh, the one star, uh, one of the guys from Willow, one of the midgets from that movie, if that's a proper term to use midget. I don't know what our little people, but, uh, yeah, a bunch of actors like that, that was in the movie, uh, costa mandalore from the Saul movie was in it. And, uh, yeah, it was pretty cool. And they used us as, like, in the backdrop when our songs being played in the movie, and we were sitting in the back of a bar.

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> Speaker C>But, uh, yeah, it was pretty cool. We had little things like that happen over the years. Uh, uh, like I said, I forget how many. We got over 100 songs released right now over the years because we've been together so long, and we try to release something every year. And, uh, we're in a studio right now working on a new one called put the you back in country.

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> Speaker B>Okay, well, you talked earlier about opening up for several big artists throughout your time plan, so kind of tell us about who you opened up and describe what that felt like.

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> Speaker C>Yeah, uh, we've opened up for, like, a fog hat fabulous, uh, thunderbirds trying, um, to think. Um, Ken Mellons had a song called jukebox junkie. Um, um, George Ducas, we opened up for him.

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> Speaker C>He had a song out called Lipstick Promises, which was kind of a big hit in the 1990s. Um, so a few artists like that, uh, we was on a way down scale. We opened up for Dwight Yokum, but it was like way down, you know what I mean? Uh, we were like the first band up. There was a few bands that were playing that night. It was just a one nighter, but it was still pretty cool to do.

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> Speaker B>Most definitely. So tell us about your biggest musical influences.

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> Speaker C>Big musical influences. Now, as in writing, this is one I always kick around. Like when people ask me, because I don't know if I really have any that influence my music writing, but as in what I like to listen to, as in country, I like a lot of the old country guys, like, uh, Earl Thomas Conley. And I like, uh, Johnny Cash. Just your real know, country guys. Waylon Jennings, I like all that. But, uh, I listen to a lot of stuff.

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> Speaker C>Like right now I'm listening to a band called blame, uh, my youth. And they got a new track out and that's called stupid human. So, I mean, I listen to a little bit of everything.

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> Speaker C>And, um, I used to be a prize fighter, you know, I used to fight out of Cincinnati, out of went and Terrace. It's like one of the toughest ghettos in the Cincinnati area. And, uh, I fought out of there and, um, fought for money, too. I had Aaron Pryor. I don't know if you remember that guy. He was a junior welderweight champ. He was my trainer from 99 to 2000, so always had my hand in a lot of different fires, you know what I mean?

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> Speaker B>Absolutely. So tell us about any current or upcoming projects that you got coming up, you and your band, and tell us what inspired them.

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> Speaker C>Yeah, right now we're working on one. It's called put the u back in country. I think it's going to be a real good one.

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> Speaker C>Guy, uh, that's, uh, engineering it and producing it.

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> Speaker C>Uh, his name is, uh, Matt Gracie, and he did a lot of stuff. He's worked with George Clinton and Pixies and just all kinds of different people over the years. He's really a great producer. Uh, so he's the one that produced frisky, huh? Whiskey.

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> Speaker C>Uh, that one's doing pretty good. I think we're 76, 77,000 views on that song right now. Uh, he just does a great work. Fun to work with, uh, just a real great atmosphere.

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> Speaker C>And like I said, I'm an older artist, so I do it more. I release for me anymore. But it's nice.

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> Speaker C>There's people, it's interested. People download the songs. So it's cool, too, that people still like what I do, but pretty much I do it for me. I think most artists do. You got to do it for yourself and like it yourself before you really put it out there for anybody else to dig. Because I think if you're going to dig it and you really like it and you're honest about what you do, then it's going to be good.

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> Speaker C>And if you fool yourself and you release something that's not so good, then you know what I mean?

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> Speaker C>It's, um, I guess one of those catch 22s with me, you know what I mean? So anything I release now, it's something I really. I would like it myself. Like frisky whiskey, I listen to that almost like in a third party.

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> Speaker C>I can sit back and listen to it and be like, almost forget it's me doing it.

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> Speaker C>And, uh, I like it because it's just a good song. And that one, which is funny about that song, I was taking a shower, and that whole song came in my head when I was taking a shower, got out of the shower, wrote the entire song, probably in ten minutes.

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> Speaker B>Okay, well, tell us about the name Tattoo Billy.

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> Speaker B>Tell us how you guys came up with that name.

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> Speaker C>Well, uh, it is funny. We were trying to come up with a name probably 93 or 94 to stick with. Even though we started earlier in that, we were like, we need to pick up a really good name.

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> Speaker C>So I kept on saying, hey, why don't we call it, um, psycho hillbilly? And my dad's like, I don't know about that one. And, um, then my dad was like, hey, what do you guys think about Tattoo Billy?

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> Speaker C>And I was like, well, that's pretty know.

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> Speaker C>And everybody liked the name. And, uh, I was the only one in the band at the time I had tattoos, so when we started playing out, people would keep on coming up, hey, Billy. Hey, Billy. I didn't know they were talking to like, didn't you hear me, Billy? And I'm like, oh, you're talking to me? And he's like, yeah, ain't your name Billy? And I was like, no. They were like, well, you're the only one in the band with tattoos, so we figured you were tattoo Billy. So it kind of became my moniker.

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> Speaker C>And now that's kind of my stage name is Tattoo Billy.

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> Speaker C>That's kind of what I go by. So whenever I'm playing out, people's calling me, know, and I just respond to it now.

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> Speaker B>Absolutely, Billy. So, Billy, throw out your contact information so people can keep up with everything that tattoo Billy is up to.

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> Speaker C>Okay. Um, I think, uh, the Twitter is tattoobilly.

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> Speaker C>Ed begley, maybe. And Facebook, uh, says tattoo Billy, tattoo.

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> Speaker C>And B-I-L-L-Y. Just a little space in between. That's usually the two I most genuinely answer off of is either, um, the Twitter, uh, page or the, uh, Facebook page. And, um, think that's what it is. I'm an older guy, you know what I mean? Remembered in the exact. I think it's T-A-T two on, uh, Twitter. B-I-L-L-Y-N on, uh, Twitter. But, yeah, they could hit me up anytime on there. And, uh, I usually respond within 24 hours to anything that's requested or anything like that.

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> Speaker B>Okay, we'll close this out with some final thoughts. Maybe if that was something I forgot to talk about that you would like to touch on or just any final thoughts you have for the listeners.

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> Speaker C>Well, uh, I'm going to say most people, if you're out there and you're still creating, keep on creating and keep on doing, uh, what you like to do and believe in yourself. It's like I said, I've been doing this now. I'm 51 years old, and I still play shows. I still got people like what I do.

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> Speaker C>Um, just want to thank all the, really everybody that supported me over the years that keeps believing in me, you know what I mean? Because even as an artist, sometimes we don't believe in ourself. And then people still show interest in what you're doing. And it's a really awesome thing to be able to do what you like to do. And like I said, it's mainly, um, like, I appreciate guys like you.

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> Speaker C>It took the time to sit down with me for a few minutes and have an interview. It's pretty awesome. And, uh, I appreciate you, and I wish you luck, too, on the things you're doing. And I subbed your channel on YouTube.

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> Speaker B>Yep, you subbed it, and I subbed back. And I definitely appreciate everything that you're up to. And, uh, we're definitely going to get this out to the listeners. Listeners, please support tattoo Billy. Check out everything that he's up to when that new project, uh, is released. Go ahead and check that out as well.

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> Speaker B>Follow rate review share this episode to as many people as possible. All of the country music fans out there and the southern rock fans. If you have any guests or uh, suggestion topics, see Jackson 102 at ah Cox net is the place to send them. As always, thank you for listening and tattoo. Billy, thank you so much for joining.

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> Speaker C>Me and thank you and thank you for your listeners.

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> Speaker C>You have a good night. Budy.

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> Speaker A>For more information on the living the Dream podcast, visit www.djcurveball.com.

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> Speaker A>Until next time, stay focused on living the dream dream.

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> Speaker B>You.