Billy Hector Plays Bands by the Beach

By, Tom Baldino

Billy Hector has been on the music scene for more years than I care to publish and along with his soul mate, Suzan Lastovica, have provided great music locally and all over the state of New Jersey. It’s always a great night when he and his band are on stage and a warm muggy Sunday in West End was no exception. With Billy at the helm and his musical partners, Tim Tindall on bass and Van Romaine on drums they did ninety minutes of crowd favorites with a healthy dose of numbers from the new CD, “Rock Night in Jersey,” which was produced by Billy with Suzan and mastered at Jankland Studios by Steve Jankowski. 

The band kicked off the set with an Albert Collins gem “Jealous Man” which set the stage for a great evening of choice covers with healthy doses of Billy’s originals, old and new. The Don Nix penned “Going Down” had the biggest turnout of the summer bopping in their seats. “Sugar Coated Love” another crowd favorite was followed by one of the greatest boogie anthems “Old School,” delivered as only Billy can. They then slowed things down with Suzan joining the band to sing the beautiful ballad, “Wild Heart.” “Doctor, Doctor” was the first of six tracks from the new collection that, even without the horns, was notable for Billy’s creative soloing and the rock-solid rhythm section. Another new song, “Rock Star Betty,” was the tale of a female musician who played her guitar and sang about her pain in a finely woven story within a great song. Continuing with songs from the new disc, “Poor Howard,” a Lead Belly tune, was set to a Bo Diddley beat which gave it a fresh sound. Billy offered up some of his signature slide on this one and the audience responded. “Lazy Man,” another new tune penned by Billy, had a funky beat that was perfectly married to the lyrics and even without the horns on the studio version, the message was loud and clear. “I Know How to Party,” which is the first song on the new release, is a straight ahead rocker that epitomizes the title of the CD and went over well on the initial hearing for most in attendance. Billy closed with his party anthem “Butt Naked” and while the crowd didn’t take him up on it, they had a fun evening of tunes as only Billy Hector can provide.

Check out www.billyhector.com to find out more about the band and order some merchandise, including the excellent new CD “Rock Night in Jersey.”