Canadian singer/songwriter and new Interscope Records signee Billy Raffoul has released the music video for his debut single, “Driver.” The chaotic and dizzying video is the perfect visual counterpart to the anthemic song and Raffoul’s soulful voice.
“Driver” is a potent calling card for 22-year-old Raffoul, who hails from Leamington, Ontario, and is the son of musician Jody Raffoul. Billy’s signature sound is a rough-hewn, low-timbered rock and roll that nods to the likes of Jeff Buckley, Neil Young, and Joe Cocker, and is powered by Raffoul’s gravelly, soulful voice and deeply felt lyrics. “Driver” was inspired by his family picking up a hitchhiker one night after Raffoul and his dad played a gig on Pelee Island in the middle of Lake Erie.
“This guy was really out of it, so he ended up staying with us for a few hours,” Raffoul says. The following weekend Raffoul told his story of the hitchhiker to songwriter Simon Wilcox and songwriter-producer Nolan Lambroza during a writing session in Los Angeles. “We turned it into something a little more sentimental, in that maybe I’m not singing about someone being lost on the side of the road, but maybe someone lost in life who doesn’t know where they’re going or what they’re supposed to be doing,” he explains.
Look for Billy out on the road this summer supporting Mondo Cozmo:
July 30thTown Ballroom in Buffalo, NY
August 2Schubas in Chicago
August 5 7th St Entry in Minneapolis
August 6th Slowdown in Kansas City
August 7th recordBar in Omaha