IN THE DRIVER SEAT
Raffoul enjoying airplay
Billy Raffoul has a lot going for him: good looks, great voice and song writing in his DNA.
So perhaps it makes sense that Raffoul seems to have gone from zero to 60 in one second. But goodold sweat ultimately may be what sends the 23-year-old Leamington native — whose first single Driver is currently revving up the radio — into stardom.
“It takes a lot of luck sometimes, but that’s when the hard work begins,” Raffoul told the Star in a phone interview from Los Angeles, where he’s writing with hitmaker Julia Michaels. “It’s easier to convince one or two people to get behind what you’re doing, but it’s harder to convince everyone else.”
Raffoul admitted that he started with his share of good luck.
As the eldest son of Leamington hometown hero Jody Raffoul, the youngster had a great role model to follow.
“I wouldn’t be doing this if it weren’t for my dad,” Raffoul said of Jody, who routinely plays 250 shows a year. “I don’t think I would be taking it as seriously if it wasn’t for his work ethic. When I was growing up I would see him work like crazy. He’s my main inspiration.”
Even his brother Peter, 22, who plays piano, is making inroads in the biz.
For Billy, it started — at least in spirit — when his father gave him a guitar at age 10, though he was still more interested in becoming a professional goalie. A few years later he brought the instrument to St. Louis school for show and tell, and decided he should learn how to play it.
When he graduated Cardinal Carter Secondary School he started performing on the bar circuit in Leamington, Windsor and the Detroit area, often four or five times a week.
But when he tagged along with his dad at a recording session for a Kid Rock associate at Rustbelt Studios in Royal Oak in December 2013, things changed. Quickly.
“It was one small moment in time,” Raffoul recalled. “I went in with my father one day just to watch him and ended up singing on a track and they liked my voice. I performed some original material. They took an iPhone clip of me and sent it to my now manager in Nashville.”
The manager happened to be Kid Rock’s former manager, Ken Levitan, who founded Vector Management.
“He took a chance and said, ‘Hey, I love this song, I love the voice. Can you come down to Nashville?’ ” Raffoul said. “So my dad and I drove down to Nashville the next day.”
He played an hour for the highprofile agent and it went so well, he called Raffoul who was on his way back home and said, “Let’s do this.”
Raffoul then dived into writing songs for 13 months, before Levitan shopped his client around.
“I was getting off the plane in Toronto from Nashville only to get a phone call and to get back on the plane in an hour because I had a guy from Atlantic Records wanting to meet with me,” Raffoul said. “I called my girlfriend and said I had to get back on the plane. I think I had the same cabin and crew.”
He actually met with most major labels, in Nashville, Los Angeles and New York, and within five weeks chose Interscope Records, which boasts a few minor artists, such as U2, Madonna, Eminem, Maroon 5, Black Eyed Peas, Lady Gaga and much more.
Still, it took a couple more years of writing and touring — he has played Europe three times and has opened for the likes of Kings of Leon and Jeff Beck — before Raffoul started to hit. He has recorded separately with electronic dance artists Avicii and Kygo.
Now his catchy rock tune Driver — with his soulful, gravely voice and a gravity-defying video shot in L.A. — has toes tapping on The River, 89X, WRIF and other stations across the continent. And his first album hasn’t even dropped yet.
The album will materialize soon, he promises, plus another single, to go with Driver, Dark Four Door, and Difficult. He and his bandmates — drummer and multi-instrumentalist Justin Zuccato, from Windsor, and bassist Line Sorensen, from Denmark — leave at the end of January for a two-month tour opening for bluesrocker ZZ Ward.
Meanwhile, father Jody thinks his son will succeed based mostly on drive.
“Yeah, he’s good looking and he’s got a big voice and he plays the guitar,” Jody said. “He’s got a lot of assets. But his secret weapon is his willingness to learn and his hard work. “His focus is remarkable.” Billy said he plans to do what he has done so far: grind away, success or not, and enjoy life.
“I’m very fortunate and grateful for everything that’s happened in the past year,” said Raffoul, who splits his time between Nashville and Leamington. “But I’m not stopping to look around. I’m keeping my head down. I’m trying to keep going.”
It’s easier to convince one or two people to get behind what you’re doing, but it’s harder to convince everyone else.