BillyMoss.Net

August 17th, 2006

Kate: Billy, you just had open heart surgery, did you know that you had any problems?

Billy: Well, I kinda figured I did. I was just on a trip the week before with my wife, and we were using a book I bought her a few years ago called "Old Mines and Ghost Towns of Washington".  We were checking out some old buildings around an old mining site and I could tell I was having some problems like a heart attack coming on, but whatta ya do? I'm just glad I didn't have a heart attack over there in eastern Washington, because we were way out there in the boonies, a long ways from a hospital.

Kate: Did the surgery go well?

Billy: Yes, it did. When I had my heart attack, I called my neighbor, who got me right to the hospital, but they had to wait two days so my heart would stabilize, then they sent me to the cath lab, where they went up through my groin into my heart and could look at it. Of course I've been to the cath lab before when I got a stent in my heart after my second heart attack. This was my third. They showed me on the screen the blockages, and told me I would have to have triple bypass surgery. The surgeons used all the latest techniques, they did not stop my heart but kept it going the whole time they did the bypasses, and used the blood I bled and pumped it back into me rather than using someone else's blood.

Kate: Why do you have a scar down the inside of your arm?

Billy: That's where they took the arteries from to do the bypasses in my heart.

Both my brothers had just left for vacation, and they came racing back when they heard I had heart attack. They spent several days with me in the hospital. It was good to have them in there.

Kate: How are you healing?

Billy: I'm doing really well. I can't lift much, and it took me awhile before I could hold a guitar, but Mark Baker came down and moved some stuff for me. He's been a really good friend. But I'm doing better every day. No complications.

Kate: So what happened with the Stormy Boys?

Billy: Well, me and Mark Baker decided to reform the band, and thought it would be nice to take the summer off if we were going to go through all that. Because if you think about it, being a musician, how many summers have you had off in your life? I know Mark needed a summer off, and it sounded great to me. I'm glad we took the summer off, I even ended up taking a trip to Oregon with Mark on the bikes. He liked it so much that he took his wife down there a couple weeks later.

Me and Mark have been talking about getting our music back together, and it looks like that will be happening soon. We will rehearse here at the ranch and we've got some other players in mind that we've been talking to. Whether we will reform the Stormy Boys or go with something else, I don't even know yet. But I really like the recordings we did with the Stormy Boys, and how often does one get to lay tracks with a '59 Les Paul? I've got the "Moss Burst" here with me now, it's actually a '58 historic reissue Les Paul owned by my brother Jeff. I was at a meeting here last week and asked if he'd be willing to part with it and he threw it into the case and told me to take it home with me and play it. He still hasn't decided what he wants for it, but when he does, I'll just pay him and keep it, unless he decides he wants it back. It's the guitar that Troy Moss used all over the Rebel Storm album, "The Hard Way".

Kate: What are your brothers up to nowadays?

Billy: They reformed the "Moss Brothers Band" awhile back, and I was asked if I wanted to join, but at the time I wasn't ready and ended up getting my own thing going with the "Stormy Boys". I really like what my brothers are doing musically. I think it's the best "Moss Brothers Band" that I've seen and heard. I've been going to their shows and they are great live. Their bass player, Kevin Dale, we've known since he was 15 years old, and he's played in a couple of my bands over the years. And David  Smith is an old "Moss Brother" so he fits right in. Great drummer, and a close friend of mine.

I've been helping my brothers out lately with their project, although I haven't had anything to do with the recording of their album other than playing on a track early in the recording process. I'm just helping to keep the project rolling by booking some studio time, making sure they get this thing (album) done, getting the album mixed, pressed, etc., getting them back on the web, and I'll still be helping them with distribution and such as needed. They are my brothers, so I'll do anything to help them.

Kate: Is there anything else you would like to say to everyone?

Billy: I just want to say hi to all my friends and family. And say thank you for all the well wishes during my situation. Thanks a lot!