James Wilson pulls out a copy of the new Sons of Bill record Love and Logic—on vinyl of course. “Do you have a record player? Listen to it straight through, sitting in the dark,” he said.
Ha. Right. Good one. Should that be backwards or forwards?
James, the Sons’ de facto frontman, is not laughing. It’s not that he doesn’t have a sense of humor. He’s actually a pretty funny guy—if you’re clever enough to understand his mostly-literary punch lines. But about this, he’s dead serious.
The way the record was produced, largely with the same type of equipment that would have been available in the ’70s, makes it really pop on wax, he said. The unspoken reason it should be enjoyed alone in the dark would probably go something like this if spoken: “You’ll need to give the album serious attention if you want to ‘understand’ it.”
Turns out the members of Sons of Bill—Abe and Sam Wilson round out the family affair, Seth Green plays bass and Todd Wellons mans the drum kit—are all dead serious when it comes to music. Ever since the three sons of retired UVA theology professor William Wilson came together to form a band in 2007, they’ve been working to establish themselves as serious songwriters, serious studio musicians, serious road warriors. And they’re seriously focused on creating music that means something more than just popular success.
Popular success, by the way, hasn’t been a problem for Sons of Bill in little old Charlottesville. Around these parts, the Sons are sonic royalty. They sell out the Jefferson multiple times a year and, without fail, finish first or second in C-VILLE’s annual Best of contest.
But outside of Charlottesville, the landscape is different. The band has a following in some areas on the East Coast, but it’s never made much effort to span the country or, much less, the globe.
Until now.
Ironically, Sons of Bill has severed ties with its world-renowned management company Red Light in order to extend its reach. (It should be noted that James, who recently guest taught a course on William Faulkner at UVA, might scoff at the use of “irony” in this case.) The massive local outfit that made superstars out of Dave Matthews Band and counts Phish, Ben Harper and Alabama Shakes among its clients just wasn’t doing what needed to be done to keep an up-and-comer like the Sons up and coming, according to the Wilson brothers.
“It really just kind of came to a point where it wasn’t a mutually beneficial relationship,” James said. “We weren’t a band that significantly affected their bottom line, and we needed more attention than they could give. We all felt the pressure of needing to deliver something that was going to blow up. That’s not the kind of band we are. Going on our own made us feel free.”
Wes Kidd, one of the Red Light managers who worked with Sons of Bill, is unwilling to talk about the split, saying in no uncertain terms he’d rather leave it to the band to characterize it. James said there were no hard feelings for either party after the breakup, but to a man, Sons of Bill seems more optimistic now than ever.
Coming off their first full-nation tour, on which they played the largest venues of their career, and preparing for their European album release in January, the local Sons, with help from their new manager Whitaker Elledge out of Austin, Texas, are getting more national press and airtime than ever before. They’re right on the cusp of the top-10 of the Americana Music Association’s airplay chart, just trailing the likes of Lee Ann Womack and Ryan Adams. No, the band isn’t giving up on making music that means something or looking to go pop, but it’s hungry, eager to push its Southern sound on new ears and dead set on making sure Sons of Bill is a full-time job for decades to come.