Interscope Records has signed Canadian singer, songwriter, and musician Billy Raffoul. His debut single, “Driver,” is available via all digital partners now: http://smarturl.it/DriverBR. Listen to the track now below!
The anthemic “Driver” is a potent calling card for 22-year-old Raffoul, who hails from Leamington, Ontario, and is the son of musician Jody Raffoul. Billy’s signature sound is a rough-hewn, low-timbered rock and roll that nods to the likes of Jeff Buckley, Neil Young, and Joe Cocker, and is powered by Raffoul’s gravelly, soulful voice and deeply felt lyrics. “Driver” was inspired by his family picking up a hitchhiker one night after Raffoul and his dad played a gig on Pelee Island in the middle of Lake Erie.
“This guy was really out of it, so he ended up staying with us for a few hours,” Raffoul says. The following weekend Raffoul told his story of the hitchhiker to songwriter Simon Wilcox and songwriter-producer Nolan Lambroza during a writing session in Los Angeles. “We turned it into something a little more sentimental, in that maybe I’m not singing about someone being lost on the side of the road, but maybe someone lost in life who doesn’t know where they’re going or what they’re supposed to be doing,” he explains.
Raffoul now splits his time between Nashville and Leamington where, in between playing shows, he is hard at work on his debut album for Interscope Records.
Raffoul will perform at British Summer Time in London’s Hyde Park opening for Kings of Leon, Pixies, and Nathaniel Rateliff on July 6th. Tickets are available HERE.