Billy Lister
Billy Lister
Billy Lister is a singer/songwriter/performer from Boerne, Texas. Billy started playing music at the age of 12, learning primarily from his Father Weldon Lister, but also his grandfather Big Bill Lister. His grandfather Big Bill was a country star in the 1950's, and the opening act for Hank Williams Sr. on the Grand Ol' Opry. Big Bill is also responsible for the finding of "There's A Teer In My Beer." Big Bill taught Billy mainly how to play rhythm guitar, but what he mainly taught him was how to interact with a crowd. "My grandfather wasn't much of a singer, but he was a great performer, and entertainer. He really knew how to work a crowd, and make them feel like they were part of what he was doing."
Billy is the youngest of four, with three older sisters. He barely got out alive... His father Weldon Lister, a Firefighter for 30 years, and Master Engraver. His mother a stay at home mom, and teacher. She home schooled Billy and his sisters. "Growing up being homeschooled, people think that we don't have access to a lot of things that private or public school kids do. One of those being an education. Well, all of my sisters graduated with a 3.5 GPA or higher. I on the other hand.. Well lets be thankful for music! My sisters and I never did without, we had a normal childhood. I played sports, my sisters played softball.. We could do everything that other kids did, we just did our book learning at home!" Billy's dad being a firefighter, meant that he worked 24 hours on duty and was off for 48 hours. "My dad was always there when we were
growing up. Looking back now it was a blessing, because all of my friends dads had 9 - 5 jobs, and and sometimes weren't there for baseball games, or plays.. They really missed out on a lot. My mom homeschooling us was great. We spent a lot of time with kids our own age, but we also had more interaction with adults than the average kid." Billy grew up right next door to his grandparents. His parents moved from San Antonio to Boerne in the late 80's, and have resided in Boerne ever since. Big Bill (Billy's grandfather) was also an engraver. He worked with Billy's Father in a shop attached their small house, for nearly 26 years. "When my dad wasn't at the firestation, he was usually at the shop with my Grandad, engraving. He worked while we did school with my mom. Of course we got out of hand sometimes, and if we got to big for our briches our mom would send us to the principals office right next door, where my Dad and Grandad would both be ready to set us straight. So for the most part, we behaved growing up. For the most part.. haha" As Billy got older and more into music, he had the privelege of being able to perform not only with his Grandfather, but with his Father as well. Currently Billy's band has consisted of himself his Father and a close friend. "Its been awesome getting to play with both my dad and grandad. Three generations being able to play together isn't very common anymore. Especially sharing a stage with my Grandfather was exciting! I mean he was the guy that opened for Hank Williams, and here I am standing next to him."
Weldon was Billy's early musical instructor. His father wasn't a theory learned musician. He played everything souly by ear. As a kid Weldon would spin records and listen to them and play along with them until he learned how to play just like them. Thats what he taught Billy. Billy did end up taking guitar lessons from Rick Patino. Billy learned some theory, and mostly technique. Billy would be taking lessons from Rick for the next 3 and a half years. After graduating, Billy went to the Audio Engineering Institute in San Antonio, where he studied under Marius Peron. He learned the basics of audio recording, and mixing. "I found that my real skill is in playing music.. I suck at audio engineering, and mixing.. Leave that to the proffesionals!" After that, Billy spent the next several years playing music off and on, never really focusing his full attention on it.
Billy had the opportunity to try out for American Idol in May of 2012. Unfortunately Billy didn't make it through. After the idol experience, Billy decided to focus solely on music, and develop his voice. After almost a year of writing, Billy decided to learn the piano. He started playing piano in August of 2012, and has made that his primary instrument. Billy has released his debut Ep "Have You Seen Emylie" accompanied by a music video for the title track, completely independent of a label. For the past 3 years Billy has worked for a small business in Boerne, and has spent most of his time working on music. When he's not working, or writing music, he spends most of his time with family and friends. Also his Grandfather taught Billy how to whittle, and tool leather.