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Tea & Sympathy With Billie Myers

After a seven-year hiatus, Billie Myers is back with an all-new album. She talks to Advocate.com about what it means to be "gay enough," her new music, and why she doesn't want to be Anne Heche'd out of the gay community.

BILLIE MYERS 02 X390 (PUBLICITY) | ADVOCATE.COM

Full disclosure: Billie Myers and I are friends. Good friends.

One night about a year and a half ago at singer-songwriter Darren Hayes’s Los Angeles concert (he of Savage Garden fame, who went solo, came out, and cemented his status as a gay icon), a “fan” got a bit riled up -- i.e. drunk -- and began shouting things at the stage.

This is before Hayes had even started singing.

Hayes finally took to the stage, the crowd went wild, and this drunk guy started calling people on his cell phone, screaming at people in the room, and shouting for “more drinks” across the crowded club.

I have a low tolerance for people who won’t shut up when someone is singing. Just as I was about to lean forward and ask the guy to keep quiet, this statuesque woman with a mop of golden locks leaned forward and said as politely as she could muster in that oh-so-melodic British accent, “Pardon me, but could you please shut up,” or something to that effect. Sometimes I add the word fuck to that quote, but in all honesty, I don’t remember exactly what she said -- I just know that the guy got up and left and I asked this woman to sit down.

We listened, we laughed, she invited me and my friend backstage with her to meet Darren after the show. How did she know him? They’d toured together.

Billie Myers of “Kiss the Rain” fame is how she’s best known to her fans, but I know Billie Myers as my saucy, loud, and opinionated but kind-to-a-fault friend.

And I am thrilled that after a seven-year hiatus (one imposed by a shape-shifting music industry) she’s back with a new album of songs.

Check out Advocate.com’s exclusive video interview with Billie. In the days to come, we'll bring you footage of Billie in the studio, singing “Kiss the Rain,” her new single “I Hope You’re Happy Now,” and other songs from her new album, Tea & Sympathy, which is available for purchase now at BillieMyers.com.

 

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Reader Comments
  • Name: John Kwiatkowski
    Date posted: 10/27/2009 1:30:47 AM
    Hometown: Houston, TX

    Comment:

    Great interview. It's great to see an artist speak so candidly in an interview. Any chance of the other performances surfacing?

  • Name: Court Clark
    Date posted: 9/11/2009 11:58:59 PM
    Hometown: Denver, Colorado

    Comment:

    Billie herself gave me an advance copy of "Tea And Sympathy" several weeks before it was released on September 1st and I can honestly say that not one day has passed that I haven't listened to it. It is a brutally honest, breathtaking collection of music that I am thrilled to have in my collection, and thrilled to see Billie out in the limelight once more promoting her long-awaited masterpiece. Buy the album, people. You will not be disappointed! -And Billie, I will gladly sing backup for you anytime!

  • Name: Court Clark
    Date posted: 9/11/2009 11:55:29 PM
    Hometown: Denver, Colorado

    Comment:

    Excellent interview, excellent album! Billie herself gave me an advance copy of of "Tea And Sympathy" several weeks prior to September 1st and I can honestly say that not one day has passed since receiving it that I have not listened to it. I've been a fan of Billie's since the beginning and I am thrilled she's finally released her third album. -And Billie, I will gladly sing backup for you anytime!

  • Name: Jordan
    Date posted: 9/8/2009 8:25:41 PM
    Hometown: Whitewater, WI

    Comment:

    "Tea & Sympathy" is a must-have record. It's refreshing to see a major media outlet dedicate some space to discuss it. I'm eager to see the exclusive performances.



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