Billy Gilman
He wrote a killer in 'Let Me Remind You Again,' " says Gilman. "He played it to me over the phone and it was all crackly because he was on his cell phone, but even so I had goose bumps because the song is just everything I hoped for. It sounds like Patsy Cline or Ray Price, songs they would perform in a heartbeat. So it was great to see the versatility in his writing."
Gilman fulfills a longtime dream on this record as Pam Tillis lends her talents as a special guest on the song "Almost Over (Getting Over You)." Gilman has been a huge Tillis fan for years. His first performance was at five years old when he sang the Tillis hit "Don't Tell Me What to Do" at a school talent show. "Pam Tillis is why I started singing," he says. "I saw her on a television special for Sea World and my mother thought, 'Being a kid, he'll love the whales and dolphins.' I didn't like the dolphins and whales at all. I loved Pam Tillis!"
Gilman began playing fairs, festivals and other events near his Rhode Island home. When he was only eight years old, someone passed a demo along to Asleep at the Wheel frontman Ray Benson, who shared Gilman's music with Martina McBride. "Within a month, I was on stage with her, singing at our local fair when she came to town," recalls Gilman. "I was singing 'Broken Wing' with her band, the first time I'd ever performed with a live band. It was just so unbelievable. Then I went down to Ray's studio in Texas and recorded two songs. He sent them to Nashville and in December of the following year I had my contract through Sony Records."
What followed has been an incredible ride and during that journey Billy Gilman has matured from a talented, precocious child to a gifted vocalist who knows who he is and what kind of music he wants to make. "I was used to other people making decisions for me," he says of his childhood career. "Now 10 years later, I look at the pros and cons of different situations. What's the positive aspect? What are the negatives? I take more things into consideration. I think it's growing up. I don't take things for granted as much either. I know how fragile your career is. I know how fragile your vocal chords are. I grew up and respect everything more."
