Billy F Gibbons has done it all when it comes to touring and playing live. However, while the ZZ Top frontman is used to being greeted by arena-sized crowds all ready to share the love, he still remembers what it’s like to pay your dues – which is where the latest instalment of uDiscover Music’s animated video series, ‘Beyond The Bus’ comes in.
Filmed exclusively for uDiscover Music, ‘Beyond The Bus’ has already showcased tales of ribald rock’ n’ roll revelry from Eagles Of Death Metal’s Jesse Hughes, irrepressible Aussie rockers Airbourne and blues-rock legend George Thorogood among others. Indeed, it’s fair to say that only bands with an unquenchable thirst for the road and the more exotic fare available at rock’s top table are likely to be immortalized in this series.
Bearing all that in mind, Billy F Gibbons is an ideal candidate for ‘Beyond The Bus’ and he has a fantastic tale to tell uDiscover Music all about one of ZZ Top’s very first live appearances. The band were barely out of the starting blocks at this stage and they were literally met by an audience of one person when the curtains opened.
“We went ahead and looked at each other, shrugged and our shoulders and said ‘Okay, let’s carry on’”, Gibbons remembers.
“We played for an hour, took a break. We walked down, took the guy to the lobby, brought him a Coke, and came back and finished the night out with a second hour [of music]. As the gear was being loaded up, we heard the clip-clop of horseshoes, and I want to say the guy probably came to the show on horseback.”
“As he made his way back through the desert sand and cactus…that’s the real Texas experience, of course”, Gibbons continues. “He’s a true Texan. He has had the same cowboy hat since day one. I think, to this day, he was a real working cowboy. He had on his dusty, rusty, trusty Levi’s, tucked into some fancy boots and he was actually covered with mud and dust. What a guy!”
So, did ZZ Top make a lifelong fan of the man they still refer to simply as “The Guy”? Go ‘Beyond The Bus’ with Billy F Gibbons below to find out how it all panned out in the end…
