Biography

Based in Nashville since 1982, Bill Lloyd found his niche in Nashville’s music community as a songwriter, performer, record-maker, producer and session player. While internationally known for his work in late 80’s country-rock duo Foster and Lloyd and as a member of The Sky Kings in the 90’s, Lloyd also continues to release solo albums that are critical favorites and regarded as essential listening by fans of “power pop”.

Lloyd’s first solo pop-rock album, Feeling the Elephant, was released in 1986, but it was the success of the Foster and Lloyd duo quickly changed his musical direction. Opting for an “Everly Brothers Meets The Buckaroos” approach, Foster and Lloyd went from co-writing, staff songwriters to landing a record deal with RCA Records later that year. They released three critically acclaimed albums and racked up nine chart singles (including the Number One smash, "Crazy Over You" and several Top Fives with "What Do You Want With Me This Time", "Sure Thing" and "Fair Shake"). They toured the globe, garnered a Grammy nomination, struck a balance between being a commercially successful act at country radio and while leaning towards cowpunk.

Following the breakup of the duo in 1991, Lloyd accepted a position with RCA’s New York office as a talent scout. In 1994, Lloyd released his second solo album, Set to Pop, receiving accolades from Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, and Stereo Review which named it one of their Albums Of The Year.

A country-rock project that began in 1992 with RCA finally saw light on Warner Brothers in 1996 as The Sky Kings. Featuring the talents of Rusty Young (founding member of Poco), John Cowan (formerly with the New Grass Revival) and Pat Simmons (on hiatus from The Doobie Brothers) alongside Lloyd, The Sky Kings recorded albums for both labels but only saw several single releases during their stint at Warner Brothers after the departure of Simmons. The Sky Kings Warner Bros. recordings were finally made available through Rhino Records in the summer of 2000.

Throughout The Sky Kings years, Lloyd never stopped recording pop material and found himself included in a number of various artist pop collections and high profile tribute albums (Nilsson, The Hollies, Badfinger, Raspberries and Todd Rundgren).! In 1997, Rhino Records included "Lisa Anne" from Feeling the Elephant on their collection Poptopia - Power Pop Classics of the '80's.

The release of Lloyd’s third solo album, Standing On the Shoulders Of Giants, in 1999 on the Koch label put Lloyd back in the spotlight as one of power pop’s more notable practitioners. “Giants” received kudos from USA Today, Sound and Vision, Request, Goldmine, No Depression and Pulse.

By the end of the nineties.. The most-likely place to catch a live Lloyd show would be the frequent "songwriter in the round" gigs in Nashville. Somewhat adverse to hitting the road in earnest, Lloyd managed to play in “rock-band situations” in LA, Austin, New York and Nashville in support for the “Giant’s” album .. sometimes getting friends like The Shazam or 20/20, willing to be his band for the gigs.

In 1999, Lloyd also began a working relationship with the First Amendment Center in Nashville as the music director for their Freedom Sings program. Mixing a historical overview of censorship in America with music that features social and political content, the program quickly became one many Nashville musicians were happy to be a part of. Within the first year, The First Amendment Center released the Freedom Sings live cd that Lloyd produced featuring acts like Steve Earle, John Kay, Rodney Crowell and even a Foster and Lloyd reunion track.

In 2001, Lloyd’s first self-released cd called “All In One Place” was compiled and made available all the tracks that had found their way onto “various artist” compilations and tribute records.

In 2004, two more indie-pop projects garnered even more acclaim. A "buddy" record with pals, Jamie Hoover from The Spongetones and Dennis Diken from The Smithereens, called "Paparazzi" AND Lloyd’s long-delayed solo album, "Back To Even” were both released within months of each other and received glowing reviews internationally (a four-star revew in UK’s Uncut for “Back To Even”) and attention from both national press (USA TODAY, No Depression, Stereophile, Harp), and the fanzines from the pop underground (Pop Culture Press, Amplifier).

2004 also included a return to the road for Bill and Jamie Hoover who, along with Don Dixon on bass and Robert Crenshaw on drums, formed a touring combo to back each other up in support of their individual cds. Playing up and down the East Coast as well as Chicago, Cleveland and Detroit, the band had critics praising the package.

In retrospect, Lloyd’s genre- jumping, hyphenated career has been a study in multi-tasking ..or typical musician A-D-D behavior.

As a producer, Lloyd has worked on projects with Carl Perkins, Sweethearts of the Rodeo, Kim Richey and Amy Rigby among others'. He also produced The Thompson Brothers’ 1997 RCA album Blame It On the Dog. The video from that album, “Back On the Farm”, set a record for requests at CMT.

As a songwriter, Lloyd’s material has been recorded by a long list of artists and singers. A portion of that list includes Sara Evans, Martina McBride, Tanya Tucker, Hootie and the Blowfish, Janis Ian, Poco, Juice Newton, Beth Nielsen Chapman, The Forrester Sisters, Sweethearts of the Rodeo, Al Anderson, Webb Wilder, Suzy Boggus, Joy Lynn White, Robert Ellis Orrall, Swandive, Ben Vaughn, The Spongetones, Jeffery Foskett, Swag, The Morells, The Kennedy’s and even Maureen McCormack (Marsha Brady to most of us).

As a session player/singer, Lloyd has appeared on records by Steve Earle, Buck Owens & Ringo Starr, Marshall Crenshaw, Glenn Tilbrook (of Squeeze), Kim Richey, Jerry Douglas, Poco, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Beth Nielsen Chapman, Greg Trooper, Webb Wilder, Steppenwolf, Julian Dawson, Ricky Van Shelton, Don Henry, George Ducas, and others.