Bonnie Prince Billy

Will Oldham, under the moniker Bonnie "Prince" Billy, plays O2 Institute Birmingham on 13 November 2026. Since the late 90s, the Louisville songwriter has written folk songs that sit between independent country and Americana, carried by a grainy voice, fingerpicked guitars and plainspoken storytelling. The set draws on early landmarks like I See a Darkness, Ease Down the Road and Master and Everyone, alongside later albums The Letting Go, Beware and Wolfroy Goes to Town, plus songs from Superwolf, his duo with Matt Sweeney.

His writing circles doubt, belief, intimacy and rural life, sketched in small scenes and steady refrains. On stage, arrangements stay lean, leaving space for melody and words, with shifts between acoustic hush and a low electric pulse. Mostly released on Drag City, his catalogue is less about fixed versions than living songs he revisits and reshapes. In Birmingham, the focus is the craft of the tune: direct, unadorned and patient, carried by that distinctive voice and the quiet drive of the guitar.