Born on June 9, 1949, in Greensburg, IN, singer-songwriter Billy C. Farlow spent his childhood across Alabama, Indiana, and Texas before his family settled in Detroit during the early 1960s. Already skilled on guitar and harmonica, he began performing alongside John Lee Hooker, Sippie Wallace, and Big Joe Williams in local coffeehouses and blues venues. In 1966 he launched Billy C & the Sunshine alongside pianist Boot Hamilton and guitarist Larry Welker, soon collaborating with Sam Lay, the Butterfield Blues Band’s renowned drummer. Farlow also became a regular guest with Ann Arbor’s Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen; when the group moved to Berkeley, CA, in 1969, he formally joined and relocated with them. Several albums followed on Paramount and Warner Brothers, including the 1972 smash “Hot Rod Lincoln,” before the band dissolved in 1976. Remaining in California, Farlow assembled a rockabilly and Western swing ensemble featuring pianist Billy Philadelphia and guitarist Tommy Thompson. By the mid-1980s he had returned to Alabama and the South, beginning an extended partnership with Nashville producer and guitarist Fred James that yielded five albums across multiple labels over the following twelve years. In the early 1990s he rejoined Sam Lay for three more recordings. A dedicated gourmet cook, Farlow still resides in Alabama and maintains an active schedule of recording and touring.
