Will Oldham | |
|---|---|
_(3606166772).jpg) Oldham in 2009 | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as | Palace Brothers Palace Music Palace Songs Bonnie "Prince" Billy |
| Born | Joseph Will Oldham (1970-01-15)January 15, 1970 (age 55) Louisville, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1993–present |
| Labels | |
| Website | bonnieprincebilly |
Joseph Will Oldham (born January 15, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter and actor. From 1993 to 1997, he performed and recorded in collaboration with dozens of other musicians under variations ofPalace (Palace, Palace Brothers, Palace Songs, and Palace Music).[3] After briefly publishing music under his own name, in 1998 he adoptedBonnie "Prince"Billy as the name for most of his work.
Oldham was born on January 15, 1970, inLouisville, Kentucky.[4] His mother, Joanne Lei Will Tafel Oldham, was a teacher and artist.[5] His father, Joseph Collins Oldham, was an attorney and photographer.[6] Oldham graduated from theJ. Graham Brown School in 1988. He attendedBrown University sporadically while pursuing a career as an actor, and living betweenBrooklyn,Los Angeles, andBloomington, Indiana.[7] He began making music during this time, initially as a project for his professorJeff Todd Titon, an ethnomusicologist at Brown University.[8]
Oldham is known for his "do-it-yourself punk aesthetic and blunt honesty",[9] and his music has been likened toAmericana,folk,roots,country,punk, andindie rock. He has been called an "Appalachianpost-punksolipsist",[9] with a voice that has been described as "a fragile sort-of warble frittering around haunted melodies in the American folk or country tradition."[9]
Oldham first performed and recorded under various permutations of the Palace name, including Palace Brothers, Palace Songs, Palace Music, and simply Palace. Regarding the name changes during this period (1993–1997), Oldham said:
I guess the idea is that when you have a name of a group or an artist, then you expect that the next record, if it has the same name, should be the same group of people playing on it. And I just thought we were making a different kind of record each time, with different people, and different themes, and different sounds. So I thought it was important to call it something different so that people would be aware of the differences.[10]
Will stated in a 1995 interview withKCRW that the name Palace Flophouse was inspired by readingJohn Steinbeck'sCannery Row. Beginning in 1998, Oldham has primarily used the moniker Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, which draws inspiration from several sources:
[T]he name has so many different references that it could almost have a life of its own.Bonnie Prince Charlie has such a beautiful ring to it, and I was very conscious of appropriating that mellifluous sound. And I was also thinking about the nameNat King Cole. But it wasn't until later, and this may have been subconscious, that I remembered thatBilly the Kid was William Bonney or Billy Bonney.[10]
He has explained that "the primary purpose of the pseudonym is to allow both the audience and the performer to have a relationship with the performer that is valid and unbreakable."[11]
Many of his solo albums are not available onSpotify, as Oldham disagrees with how they treat musicians.[12]
Some of his albums, such asThere Is No-One What Will Take Care of You (1993),[13]Viva Last Blues (1995),[14] andI See a Darkness (1999),[15][16][17] have appeared on greatest albums lists.
Johnny Cash recorded a version of "I See a Darkness" on hisAmerican Recordings discAmerican III: Solitary Man (2000). Oldham provided backing vocals. Spanish singerRosalía also recorded a version of "I See a Darkness" for her debut albumLos Ángeles.Marianne Faithfull included Oldham's "A King at Night" on her 2003Kissin Time tour.Steve Adey also covered "I See a Darkness" on his 2006 LPAll Things Real.Mark Kozelek recorded a version of Oldham's "New Partner" on his 2008 disc,The Finally LP.Katatonia covered "Oh How I Enjoy the Light" on their 2001 EPTonight's Music, and their song "Don't Tell a Soul" is about and contains an interpolation of the Palace Brothers song "You Will Miss Me When I Burn". In 2009Mark Lanegan andSoulsavers recorded a cover version of "You Will Miss Me When I Burn". The release is a split single, backed with the Lanegan-penned "Sunrise" featuring vocals by Oldham. In 2011,Deer Tick's cover of Oldham's song "Death to Everyone" appeared in an episode ofHell On Wheels.Cadaverous Condition covered "Black" on theirTo the Night Sky album (2006).
Oldham's first film acting role was as the teen preacher inJohn Sayles's filmMatewan (1987), a dramatization of the life of Appalachian mining community in the 1920s and theBattle of Matewan. Following this, he moved to Hollywood to pursue a career as an actor.[18] He played the role of Chip McClure (father ofBaby Jessica) inEverybody's Baby: The Rescue of Jessica McClure (1989), and the role of Miles in the filmThousand Pieces of Gold (1991). Oldham also played minor roles inJulien Donkey-Boy (1999),Junebug (2005), andThe Guatemalan Handshake (2006).
In 2004, Oldham appeared as himself in the short documentary filmTripping With Caveh, wherein he tookpsilocybin mushrooms with autobiographical filmmakerCaveh Zahedi.[19][20] The project was intended as the pilot episode of a reality/documentary series, with the concept being that Zahedi would takepsychedelics in the company of a different celebrity in each episode.[19] The project was never picked up by a television network, but the short with Oldham finally saw official release in the 2015 retrospective box setDigging My Own Grave: The Films of Caveh Zahedi.[21]
Oldham played a lead role as Kurt inKelly Reichardt's filmOld Joy (2006), and had a brief role in the director's next filmWendy and Lucy (2008). Oldham played Pastor Pigmeat in the "Horse Apples" episode of the second season of theMTVchildren's show parodyWonder Showzen and appeared in an episode of Chatman and Lee's subsequent television show,Xavier: Renegade Angel as a Reverend.[22] In 2007, he starred alongsideZach Galifianakis in a music video forKanye West's "Can't Tell Me Nothing".[23]
Also in 2010, Oldham appeared inJackass 3D as a gorilla trainer. As part of an agreement to play that role, he wrote a theme song, in the style of a Saturday-morning cartoon show, for filmmakerLance Bangs.[24]
In 2011, Oldham played a father telling a bedtime story to his son inDavid Lowery's short filmPioneer.[25] In 2017, he appeared as "Prognosticator" in the feature filmA Ghost Story, also directed by David Lowery.
In 2009, Oldham narratedMadam and Little Boy, a documentary film about atomic weapons, directed by Swedish artistMagnus Bärtås. In 2010, Oldham narratedMusic Makes a City, a documentary about the formation of theLouisville Orchestra, directed by Owsley Brown III andJerome Hiler.[26] Oldham provided voice work and inspiration for the character "Will" in the video gameKentucky Route Zero, released in 2013.[27]
Oldham married the textile artist Elsa Hansen in 2016.[28][29] They had a child together in 2018.[30]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | What Comes Around | Young Tom Hawkins | |
| 1987 | Matewan | Danny Radnor | |
| 1990 | Thousand Pieces of Gold | Miles | |
| 1999 | Radiation | Will | |
| 1999 | Julien Donkey-Boy | Partygoer | Uncredited |
| 2005 | Junebug | Bill Mooney, scout | |
| 2006 | Old Joy | Kurt | |
| 2006 | The Guatemalan Handshake | Donald Turnupseed | |
| 2008 | Wendy and Lucy | Icky | |
| 2010 | Jackass 3D | Himself | |
| 2011 | New Jerusalem | Ike Evans | |
| 2014 | Eden | John | |
| 2017 | A Ghost Story | Prognosticator | |
| 2023 | The Bikeriders | Bartender |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Everybody's Baby: The Rescue of Jessica McClure | Chip Mcclure | Television film |
| 2006 | Wonder Showzen | Pastor Pigmeat | Episode: "Horse Apples" |
| 2007 | Trapped in the Closet Chapters 13–22 | Sgt. Platoon | Video |
| 2008 | Xavier: Renegade Angel | Reverend (voice) | Episode: "Signs from Godrilla" |
| 2018 | Animals | Father Ferret (voice) | Episode: "At a Loss for Words When We Needed Them Most or... The Rise and Fall of GrabBagVille" |
| 2020 | The Midnight Gospel | Bubble Max (voice) | Episode: "Vulture with Honor" |
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| Soundtracks | |
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