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Billy Bremner Biography

billy-bremner
  • Born: in Scotland
  • Years Active: 2000s
  • Member of: Rockpile
  • Genre: Rock & Alternative

Billy Bremner was the guitarist for cult legends Rockpile, one of the finest traditional rock & roll bands in Britain during the pub rock/new wave era. A native of Scotland, Bremner was already a prominent session guitarist and pub rock scenester when he joined Rockpile in 1976. While the group toured as its own entity, its early studio work mostly consisted of backing band leaders Dave Edmunds and Nick Lowe on their solo albums; Rockpile didn't release an album under its own name until 1980's Seconds of Pleasure, and disbanded the following year. Bremner became a temporary replacement for late Pretenders guitarist James Honeyman-Scott, playing on several Learning to Crawl tracks. In 1984, Bremner released his first-ever solo album on the British division of Arista; Bash! was produced by pub rock mover'n'shaker Will Birch, but failed to attract much attention. He moved to Los Angeles to work as a session musician, and in the early '90s relocated to Nashville for the same purpose. In the mid-'90s, he moved to Sweden, where he played with a traditional rock & roll combo called the Refreshments (not to be confused with the American nerd rock band of the same era); the group issued their first album in 1995, producing five studio albums over the next six years and releasing a greatest-hits collection in 2001. In 1998, Bremner also recorded his second solo album, A Good Week's Work, for Gadfly (naturally, with a Swedish rhythm section). ~ Steve Huey, Rovi

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