Lost and found boys
Billy the Kid ready to hit the road with a reconstituted band
Rob Nay

Before releasing their latest disc, Billy and the Lost Boys first had to traverse some challenging terrain and drive down some dark roads.

“I’d quit my job… I got a whole new lineup in the band, broke up with my boyfriend, got kicked out of my house. I was poorer than I’d ever been because I hadn’t worked since I’d just been doing the band thing for so long,” says frontwoman Billy the Kid.

Billy’s real last name is Pettinger, and she earned her stage handle because she was always the youngest member in her early bands. Her current outfit formed when one of her previous groups suddenly dissolved.

“We broke up but we had all these shows lined up. Instead of cancelling the shows I put a band together. We actually had shows before we had a band,” Billy says, laughing.

While she had to run through a gauntlet of obstacles to get ready for her latest disc, Yet Why Not Say What Happened?, Billy says the challenges actually provided her with creative energy.

“It’s like I have no choice in the matter. Every time something bad happens to me I get a song out of it,” she says.

Drawing on those tough times led to some of the group’s strongest material, and the new album shows the band’s songwriting reaching a new creative peak. The disc’s Jawbreaker-meets-Team Dresch sound is in top-notch shape throughout the disc.

Along with showing a more refined musical approach, the new CD also marks a shift in how Billy approaches writing lyrics.

“I felt that on the first couple of records I got comfortable hiding behind a lot of metaphors. I still use them, but more to explain a point or to express my case,” Billy says.

“I’m not hiding behind that stuff anymore,” she adds, explaining that her latest record features more direct writing which reflects real events in her life.

Along with the band, Billy has also kept busy during the last few years, starting her own record label, Lost Records, and also running her own booking and promotions company.

Last year Billy left her hometown of Vancouver for Calgary to be closer to her band, which now features Darren Chewka from Les Tabernacles on drums and Aaron Weiss of Safe on a Satellite on bass. After completing a short string of shows earlier in the summer, the band is eager for its current round of touring.

And about all those departed members of the band? Well, Billy has a straightforward explanation for that.

“To put it bluntly, I ask a lot from people,” she says. “To be in Billy and the Lost Boys, you got to be able to put your whole life on hold and be able to leave and go on tour whenever and basically be on call all the time.”