Billy Talon @ Xanadu Beach Club 10/07/21

Billy Talon, a name that I have heard mentioned time and time again in revered whispers in the corridors of SL as I have passed through, and indeed I have read a great blog about him by my own team member Neo (link at bottom of the page). As much as I have heard and read about Billy I have never managed to see the great man himself, that is until this morning and if I had have known just how true those whispers were I would have caught a Billy set loooong ago.

It was a Sunday morning in Australia and with the house to myself for the weekend and nothing that couldn't wait until later i sifted through events and stopped when I saw a listing for Billy Talon at Xanadu Beach Club I needed to look no further...this was where I was headed, so grabbing my cup of tea I tp'd on over and landed at a venue that I hadn't been to before. Two firsts for me for the morning.

Xanadu Beach Club is a bright, cheerful venue with a large wooden dance floor and stage right on the beach. There are tables with umbrellas and comfy looking chairs to relax in if you choose to just sit and take in the music and surroundings. As Billy took to the stage in ripped jeans, cowboy hat and boots with the shiny metal tip and an acoustic guitar he looked every inch a country boy (well man) that I see at my local pub on a Friday and Saturday night , and when he started to sing I was left in no doubt that he is the real deal.

In the past I haven't been a real fan of country but in the last few years I have left the city and moved to a tiny, sleepy town where country music is all the choice that you have when you go out, so over time I have come to have a greater appreciation of it and dare I say that I now even kind of like it. Grabbing a song list I chuckled that I knew so many of the songs and could have easily spent the hour requesting one after the other, but I finally settled on Alan Jackson's Don't Rock The Jukebox and Billy was more than happy to play it for me.

As the hour progressed Billy mixed his set up with songs that included Josh Turner's Would You Go With Me, Why Don't We Just Dance, Jake Owen's Down To The Honkey Tonk, Toby Keith's A Little Less Talk A Lot More Action, just to name a few but it was his last song The Dance by Garth Brooks that sealed the deal for me. Its such a beautiful song about love and loss, something that we can all relate to.

In closing, apart from saying just what a great artist Billy is I would also like to mention that not far into his set Billy gave a huge shout out to Droppin The Stream and I was truly humbled as I had never seen nor met him before this morning.

Thank you Billy Talon, you are someone I will be back to see again and again.

https://harlowsblog.wixsite.com/droppingthestream/post/billy-talon-and-papa-talon-down-at-the-honky-tonk