Bob Villa

Artist Information

Biography

Bob is a Native American musician and songwriter who pours everything into the music he plays. Whether covering classic rock tunes, country ballads, or blues beats, Bob delivers a song with power and conviction. His original songs showcase a blend of thoughtful and witty lyrics and unique, pleasing melodies.

Bob and Penny have performed on a regular basis at restaurants, wine rooms, bars, and casinos around the Phoenix area and elsewhere across Arizona. They have also traveled and performed extensively in New Mexico, where they enjoyed a 4-month run at Inn of the Mountain Gods Resort and Casino in Mescalero; the Texas Hill Country, where they've spent so much time they're considered "locals" around Fredericksburg and Luckenbach; and Tennessee, where they frequently play songwriter showcases in Nashville. They have recently relocated to Lubbock, TX, and are excited about getting immersed in the local Lubbock music scene.

Bob released 2 CD's during the winter of 2004/2005 containing, with the exception of one song, all original music. He has made 4 appearances on Good Morning Arizona, a Phoenix morning news show. Bob won The Proof Is In The Pudding solo artist competition at Alice Cooperstown in Phoenix in 2005. He went on to perform at Alice Cooper's Christmas show held at the Dodge Theater along with Alice himself, STYX, Don Felder of the Eagles, and many other world-class musicians. In 2008 Bob received a callback at the National audition level for the Nashville Star TV show. Though he was not ultimately chosen for the show, he wrote a funny, tongue-in-cheek song about his audition experiences. That single enjoyed airplay on over 30 radio stations in 12 states, including Internet radio.

Instrumentation

Bob Villa - Guitar; Vocals
Penny Villa - Background-Vocals

Discography

Cursed Tree, Independent LP, 2004
Old Black and White, Independent LP, 2005
Good Enough for Nashville Star, Independent Single, 2008

Links

• Facebook
• YouTube
• MySpace
• Twitter

Audio

• COVER - Wichita Lineman clip
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• COVER - Some Beach clip
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• COVER - Pride & Joy clip
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• COVER - Lay Down Sally clip
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• COVER - Summer Breeze clip
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• COVER - Sabor A Mi clip
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• ORIGINAL - Native American clip
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• ORIGINAL - Already Home clip
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• ORIGINAL - That One Thing demo
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• ORIGINAL - Buttermilk Road demo
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Lyrics

• That One Thing
• Buttermilk Road
• Big Moon

Video

Sister Golden Hair

Michelle's Song

Photo Gallery

Press

• Bob Villa: Native American
  

  Article by Phil Houseal, Fredericksburg, TX

• On the Road to Nashville [+ Show ]
  

  By Mihio Manus GRIN Managing Editor February 2008 When asked about how the road has treated h...By Mihio Manus
  GRIN Managing Editor
  February 2008
  
  When asked about how the road has treated him, Pima singer/songwriter, Bob Villa
  paraphrases a Dan Fogelberg lyric, “The audiences are heavenly but the traveling is hell.”
  
  Within the last 18 months, Villa and his wife Penny have been from New Mexico throughout the Texas Hill Country and back again. He’s been booked in lounges, bars and restaurants, both reputable and obscure. Some days the gigs were well worth the effort and other days the tip jar was barely enough for gas money. However, according to the road worn musician, he wouldn’t have it any other way.
  
  “It was great, man,” he said. “We were really embraced even though we’re from out of state and not Hill Country musicians. We made great friends there and great music.”
  
  The 47-year-old Villa is the son of Roberta Johns and hails from the Blackwater area of the Community. He’s been in and out of bands since he was a teenager and has become well adept enough to handle most any instrument. With influences ranging from classic rock and country to cumbia and blues, Villa’s roots in songwriting extend across many genres and boundaries.
  
  The summer of 2006 found Villa with a regular gig at Wendell’s Lounge, which is apart of the Inn of the Mountain Gods in Mescalero, N.M. During this time, he caught the attention of a restaurateur who invited Villa to play the opening of his new restaurant in San Antonio, TX. Jumping at the opportunity, Villa packed up his gear and told Penny they were on their way to Texas.
  
  However, upon reaching the Lone Star State, they were told that the restaurant wouldn’t open until a month later. So the two sought out gigs to fill in the downtime.
  
  Operating out of an ’85 motor coach parked in Fredericksburg, TX, the Villas roamed what is known as the Texas Hill Country, playing wherever they could find opportunity.
  
  Villa’s wife Penny explains, “The music scene is great and the music community is very embracing. Fredericksburg is a tourist town so we did really well in the tip jar because of the
  tourism. As far as paying venues in the Texas Hill Country, it’s too close to Austin and there are like 1500 guitar players in Austin willing to play for free just to be heard. Austin is known as the live music capital of the world.”
  
  At one venue called Silver Creek, which became a favorite place for Bob to play in Fredericksburg, he broke the tip record twice. First he set the tip record, then a couple weeks later broke his own record.
  
  Around the Valley, Villa can expect to get $50 an hour on a weekend night and slightly less on a weeknight. But in Texas, the rates came a little cheaper and it wasn’t unusual for him to play three hours for $50. This is where the tip jar is a critical asset.
  
  Life in a motor coach can be riddled with challenges. One night the couple came home to be
  greeted with water running out from under the door. The carpet of the coach was soaked beneath two inches of water because the icemaker had sprung a leak.
  
  “That’s been the downside of the road. Mechanical problems,” Penny said.
  
  “We counted four times we had to have it towed. Finally this last time, on our way to Oklahoma, we just left it just south of Mineral Wells, TX,” Bob said. “It required some major engine overhaul.”
  
  The logistics of it is that there have been more than there share of difficulties but the people they’ve met, as well as the audiences and venues have proved to be very inspirational to the musician. He’s done plenty of songwriting while out on the road, some based on the experiences they’ve encountered.
  
  “It’s been good, a real good experience. I’ve joined the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) and that’s been good because we’ve been able to get some good contacts through them. In Nashville, we were able to do a couple of writer’s showcases. We played at the Blue Bird Café which is famous for launching Garth Brooks and others on their way up,” he said.
  
  His wife adds that the Blue Bird Café hosts the most prestigious open mic in the world and that Bob played a showcase there by invitation only.
  
  At the Blue Bird, he played an original song called “Already Home” that he had written for Penny back before the two were married. It’s a song about being on the road with a band and how he wanted nothing more than to be back by her side. The song went over with great success and afterward a publisher approached the couple and gave them his number telling him that he thinks the song would be good for Kenny Chesney.
  
  Another song, “Big Moon”, caught the attention of Steve Bloch with Writer Zone Music Publishing. Every March, Block comes out to Arizona and listens to songwriters. If he likes something, he takes it back to pitch to recording artists.
  
  Last March, he heard Villa’s “Big Moon” and liked it. Out of 31 songs, he chose six and Villa’s was one of them. He told Villa that he could hear Ronnie Dunn singing the chorus to the song and got it in his mind that he would pitch the song to Brooks and Dunn.
  
  “We’ve had a couple of big names mentioned for some of the songs that I’ve written from Nashville people,” Villa said.
  
  The culmination of his drive to perform and keep writing songs and music has pointed Villa in the direction of auditioning for Nashville Star, a show to be broadcast on NBC. The show is not unlike American Idol wherein a panel of judges launch a nationwide search for the next American Country Music Superstar. It’s an opportunity of a lifetime where a musician can score a record deal along with a chance to perform at the 2008 Olympic Games.
  
  Villa has no misconceptions about how his age factors into this musical expedition. By music industry standards, for Villa to become the next Tim McGraw could be somewhat unrealistic. Still, this isn’t keeping him from traveling to Denver, Colo., to audition on Feb. 17, 2008.
  
  “I understand that if you’re 40 years old and you get signed to a label or contract, they’re going to want to get everything they can out of you. They want twenty years of your career here and if you’re already 40, it’s like, ‘Well, how much can we get out of you.’ So, it’s a business decision as much as it is an art decision. But I still expect to be going when I’m 90
  years old and still playing,” Villa says. “Hopefully, that’s one of the things that will come out of this Nashville Star competition. That I’m a writer.”

• Too good to be a star
  

  Article by Phil Houseal, Fredericksburg, TX

• Country Singer/Songwriter with East Tennessee Connections Releases New Single [+ Show ]
  

  Bob Villa, husband of the former Penny Daniel, a Lenoir City native, has just released a new single,...Bob Villa, husband of the former Penny Daniel, a Lenoir City native, has just released a new single, Good Enough For Nashville Star, for radio and internet play. The song is a funny, tongue-in-cheek account of Villa’s experiences during the audition process for the Nashville Star TV show which airs Monday, June 9th , on NBC.
  
  Though home-based out of Phoenix, AZ, Villa spends 3 to 4 months each year in Lenoir City and pursuing musical opportunities currently opening up to him in Nashville. Another of his newest songs, Buttermilk Road, pays homage to the local Bradbury community where Penny’s father grew up. It is slated to be included – along with “Nashville Star” – on Villa’s next CD project which should be released in late summer or fall of 2008.
  
  Penny Villa is the daughter of Alda Rainwater Daniel of Lenoir City and the late J. B. (Bradbury) Daniel, who owned Daniel’s Barber Shop in downtown Lenoir City for many years. Penny is a 1976 graduate of Lenoir City High School and a former member of First Baptist Church.
  
  Good Enough For Nashville Star is available on the Villa’s website, www.DesertManMusic.com. Copies are also being provided to all local area radio stations, including WLIL, WLNT, and WIVK. There is even a reference in the song to Knoxville. “It is our hope,” says Penny, “that our many friends and family in Lenoir City and around East Tennessee will light up the radio stations’ request lines asking to hear Good Enough For Nashville Star by Bob Villa (pronounced ‘vee-ah’.)”
  
  

• Quote by Erich Sielaff, Host of AZ Music Café Radio Show [+ Show ]
  

  Bob Villa is one of Arizona’s finest………a talented guy and a superb entertainer………his recent guest ap...Bob Villa is one of Arizona’s finest………a talented guy and a superb entertainer………his recent guest appearance on KKNT 960 Radio’s “Arizona Music Café” was a treat for our listeners and a real pleasure! We hope to have him back soon!
  

Setlist

COVERS:
Here Without You 3 Doors Down
Black Velvet Alannah Myles
Lookin’ In The Eyes Of Love Alison Krauss
When You Say Nothin' At All Alison Krauss
A Horse With No Name America
Sister Golden Hair America
Tin Man America
Ventura Highway America
The City Of New Orleans Arlo Guthrie
You Gave Me Love BJ Thomas
All My Lovin’ The Beatles
And I Love Her The Beatles
Can’t Buy Me Love The Beatles
Don’t Let Me Down The Beatles
In My Life The Beatles
Nowhere Man The Beatles
Something The Beatles
This Boy (Ringo’s Theme) The Beatles
We Can Work It Out The Beatles
When I’m Sixty-Four The Beatles
With A Little Help From My Friends The Beatles
Yesterday The Beatles
Piano Man Billy Joel
Some Beach Blake Shelton
Rocky Top Bluegrass Standard
Blowin’ In The Wind Bob Dylan
Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door Bob Dylan
Turn The Page Bob Seger
Night Moves Bob Seger
Faded Love Bob Wills
Online Brad Paisley
One Step Up Bruce Springsteen
Sittin’ On Go Bryan White
Wild World Cat Stevens
Greensleeves Celtic Traditional
All I Have To Offer You Is Me Charley Pride
Is Anybody Goin’ To San Antone? Charley Pride
Kiss An Angel Good Morning Charley Pride
Gettin’ You Home Chris Young
Johnny B. Goode Chuck Berry
She Won’t Be Lonely Long Clay Walker
In This Life Collin Raye
Hello, Darlin’ Conway Twitty
Tough Craig Morgan
Down On The Corner Creedence Clearwater Revival
Have You Ever Seen The Rain? CCR
Lodi CCR
Lookin’ Out My Back Door CCR
Proud Mary CCR
Run Through The Jungle CCR
Traveling Band CCR
Up Around The Bend CCR
Who’ll Stop The Rain? CCR
Hittin’ The Road Dallas Holm
Peaceful Harbor Dallas Holm
River Of Love Dallas Holm
Leader of the Band Dan Fogelberg
Good Time Charlie’s Got The Blues Danny O’Keefe
Have You Forgotten? Daryl Worley
Runaway Del Shannon
Houston Dell Owens
Walkin’ Back To Georgia Dell Owens
Settle For A Slowdown Dierks Bentley
American Pie Don McClean
China Grove The Doobie Brothers
Listen To The Music The Doobie Brothers
Fast As You Dwight Yoakum
The Best Of My Love The Eagles
Desperado The Eagles
Hotel California The Eagles
Lyin’ Eyes The Eagles
Peaceful, Easy Feeling The Eagles
Take It Easy The Eagles
Witchy Woman The Eagles
All Shook Up Elvis Presley
Heartbreak Hotel Elvis Presley
Hound Dog Elvis Presley
In The Ghetto Elvis Presley
Jailhouse Rock Elvis Presley
Teddy Bear Elvis Presley
Young And Beautiful Elvis Presley
I Shot The Sheriff Eric Clapton
Lay Down Sally Eric Clapton
Wonderful Tonight Eric Clapton
Misty Erroll Garner
All I Have To Do Is Dream The Everly Brothers
Ain’t Misbehavin’ ”Fats” Waller
All Of Me Frank Sinatra
Fly Me To The Moon Frank Sinatra
Strangers In The Night Frank Sinatra
The Way You Look Tonight Frank Sinatra
Before The Next Teardrop Falls Freddy Fender
Wasted Days & Wasted Nights Freddy Fender
The Dance Garth Brooks
Friends In Low Places Garth Brooks
If Tomorrow Never....Garth Brooks
Rodeo Ga

Basic Requirements

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