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From: Jim Bowman
Date: September 28, 2003
Thanks Steve. That is quite a compliment coming from Bob Wills. I thought Billy was, in addition to being a swinging steel guitarist, very tasteful in his music...and stylistic. My dad told me Billy started playing with a broken bottle neck and a cheap flat top guitar. One of his steel guitars showed up on E-Bay a few years ago and a friend of mine bought it for the family. Several of my uncles bought it from him and it is now part of an exhibit in Knoxville. Tracy Byrd played a July 4th gig here in Rogersville 2 or 3 years ago and I had occasion to speak to the band afterwards. I told them I really enjoyed their western swing songs and that I had an uncle who had played for Bob Wills. One of the musicians (I think most of them were from Texas) asked me who my uncle was. When I told him Billy Bowman he said B Bowman Hop! He said Billy was his dad's favorite steel guitar player. Small world in western swing music. Thanks very much. Jim Bowman