Billie is born to sing. Old-school storyteller with new-school stories. She is an unapologetic artist who is magnetic to witness. Jazz harmony, folk melodies, soul and hip-hop phrasing.
Fat, funny and born to sing Billie McCarthy is a country girl who took the jazz bus to the city and had a dirty love affair in a back lane with neo soul. More than just a musician, Billie pulls no punches with activism being at the forefront of all her work.Billie is a smoky brew of jazz diva, soul songstress and folk balladeer, Billie McCarthy’s style and musicality is reminiscent of Billie Holiday, Joni Mitchell, Blossom Dearie and Jill Scott. The result is soulful, edgy and intimate music, which transfixes the audience with Billie's poetry, passion and presence. Hailing from Tamworth, and the daughter and the daughter of a Golden Guitar winning country and blues musician, Billie would spend hours as a child absorbed in her mother's eclectic vinyl collection. So, it's little surprise she was singing Sophie Tucker blues at 3 years old and writing to Dolly Parton by the tender age of 6.She has worked together with many international and local acts including Jimmy Barnes, Neil and Tim Finn, Paul Mac, Lanie Lane, Ngaiire, Tuka, Nick Murphy (fka Chet Faker) , UK soul sensation Omar and hip hop legend Charli 2na (of Jurassic 5), while American singer Jill Scott raved that she loved what Billie does, after catching one of Billie's performances while on tour.Billie has performed all over the World at events such as Java Soul Nation Festival (Indonesia), Groovin' The Moo, Sakifo (Reunion Island), Bluesfest, The Cosmopolitan (Papua New Guinea), Brisbane Festival, CMJ (New York), Listen Out, Splendour In The Grass, Culture Collide (Los Angeles) and Sydney Festival, Java Soul Nation Festival (Indonesia), Bluesfest Byron Bay, Brisbane Festival, Woodford Folk Festival and Sydney Festival.
