Billy Hector: • Winner of the Asbury Park Music Awards “Best Guitarist”, “Best Blues Band” and “Living Legend” awards. • Two-time invitee to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s American Music Masters Series celebrating the music of Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters with Charlie Musselwhite, Bonnie Raitt, Jimmy Vaughn, Vernon Reid, Dave Alvin, Double Trouble and others. • Two-time winner of the East Coast Rocker’s “Best Guitarist” award. • Winner of the Jersey Shore Jazz & Blues Foundation’s “Lifetime Achievement” award. • Touring guitarist with Hubert Sumlin (Howlin’Wolf) at The Chicago Blues Festival, NY Blues Festival, Nottoden (Norway), BluesAlive (Sumperk, Czech Republic) and other venues with more to come. • Touring guitarist with Joe Louis Walker. • Invited guitarist on Martin Scorsese’s seven-part series “The Blues” where, in a historic studio session with Hubert Sumlin and Billy Boy Arnold, he recorded the blues classic “Juke”. Whether Billy Hector is teasing you with his sultry slidework, picking through delta blues or flat-out cranking it up and crunching out the electric blues/rock on his beloved vintage Fender Stratocaster, his music reflects the true soul and origins of the blues; always passionate, engaging and dedicated to making the audience move and sweat. Having honed his chops and style through three decades of performances, Hector is critically recognized as one of the hottest and most interesting guitarist/songwriters on the original circuit and has even been called “A New Jersey state treasure” by music writers. A prolific songwriter/composer, Billy Hector has fourteen albums to his credit, most on the independent Ghetto Surf label. With the release of his new DVD, Live and Kickin’, Hector continues his tradition of excellence and gives viewers a first-hand personal look into his skill, showmanship and music. Live and Kickin’, which was filmed at multiple venues, nicely covers the expansive range of Hector’s musical moods and intentions, and highlights the power of his concert performance as well as the nuance of his more intimate club appearances. Early in his career, Billy Hector identified himself as a deeply-grounded and versatile player drawing his influences from important predecessors including T-Bone Walker, Freddie King, Jimi Hendrix, Roy Buchanan and a host of others across musical style and genre. But, as with all truly great musicians, recognizable influences are interesting only insofar as they provide a departure point for the musician’s spirit. It falls on the musician to shape predecessor’s ideas into music that does not simply replicate but engagingly adds to the whole. Most can only aspire to this level of creation; Billy Hector generates it in spades and it happens every night. Another factor contributing to Billy Hector’s singular sound is the astonishing warmth generated by his unconventionally customized gear. A setup consisting of a Lindy Fralin-driven Stratocaster and Telecaster, reconfigured Bassman tube amps and a Boss Super Overdrive shapes the distinctive tone driven by Hector’s remarkable playing. In the late 70s, Hector’s first stop was as the guitarist for The Shots, a horn-driven R&B group that took over the house band role from Southside Johnny and The Asbury Jukes at the renowned Stone Pony. He moved on as lead guitarist for Hot Romance, a band based at the infamous Mrs. Jay’s biker bar in Asbury Park that also began receiving New York City radio airplay for its original songs. In the mid-80’s, drawn back to earlier musical roots, Billy Hector formed the five-piece blues/rock band The Fairlanes and, co-wrote and released three independent albums on the Blue Jersey label. By early 1993, Hector regrouped as a power trio and renamed his band The Billy Hector Band. The band’s lineup is guitars/lead vocals Billy Hector, drummers Dan Hickey, Sim Cain, Larry Crockett, Van Romain and bassists Tim Tindall, Winston Roye, Mike Leslie Erik Boyd and Mike Duclos. His latest CD, “Hard Rockin’ Blues”, releases four new originals to the public and eight of Billy’s favorite blues covers. Billy Hector has appeared with Buddy Guy, BB King, The Neville Brothers, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Bo Diddley, Johnny Winter, Billy Preston, Koko Taylor and many others. However you can get to see him, when Billy Hector plays “The world truly is a better place!” (JB; WNTI-FM) “It is clear that Hector’s musicianship and intimate relationship with his instrument elevate his playing to a higher level. You get the feeling he could step out and play like Segovia if he wanted to.” -Asbury Park Press