Billy Faier
Long-time West Texas resident and five-string banjo legend Billy Faier succumbed to lung cancer last Friday, January 29, 2016.
Billy was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1930 before spending the next few decades wandering the county with his banjo from Woodstock, New York to San Francisco, California – with a brief stint in Mexico – before spending the final years of his life in Marathon.
Billy came to age on East 5th and Avenue D in New York City’s Lower East Side, which became home to the burgeoning urban folk music scene in the 1940s, playing banjo and learning the ropes among the musicians, poets, and painters that made the scene, including legendary Beat poet Bob Kaufman.
In his 60-plus year career playing banjo, Billy traveled with, performed, and became friends with such folk music luminaries as Woody Guthrie, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Pete Seeger, and Brew Moore.
Billy cut his first record, The Art of the Five String Banjo (a sly reference to Johan Sebastian Bach’s The Art of the Fugue) with guitarist Frank Hamilton for New York’s famed jazz and blues label, Riverside Records in 1957. The album was recorded by famed folk producer Kenneth Goldstein and had back jacket notes written by Pete Seeger.
The 1960s and 1970s saw Billy expand and diversify his musical output with the Beatles-inspired rock n roll record The Beast of Billy Faier in 1964 and 1973’s Banjo, a record devoid of folk and focused on original banjo compositions. He would later return to folk on a series of cassettes recorded throughout the 1980s.
Billy continued playing throughout the remainder of his life despite having suffered from carpal tunnel syndrome, which was remedied through a minor surgery.
He acted as a mentor to aspiring musicians in West Texas.
Billy is survived by a son, daughter-in-law, and grandson in California.
For more on Billy’s incredible life and adventures, please visit www.billyfaier.com.
A musical celebration and gathering in his honor will take place in the coming weeks.