Photos above by Gary Campbell

       Photo by Ken Appelbaum

Billy Chapman, an accomplished musician and song writer captivates his audiences with spectacular vocals and rhythm guitar. His heart sings through his music with original notes and lyrics. Spanning the ages with his music, he draws from the past, reflects on the present and looks to the future.

He performs at Private Parties, Clubs, Festivals, Receptions & Weddings.
For further information please contact us directly by going to the contact page.

Billy was born in Shirley; Massachusetts in 1966 while his father was in the army.  After three years in Germany the family returned to the states and moved to Savannah, Georgia where he first sang in a children’s church choir at the age of five.  At the time, his uncle was overseas in the service so his family got his record club selections, and Billy discovered the turntable and spent many hours in the living room listening to music.

After trying piano and later, trumpet, he settled on guitar at the age of fourteen and never looked back.  He began to play for his church youth group the next year and began his stage career with sing-along, folk and gospel tunes.  After high school and a short stint with the Air Force in Cheyenne, Wyoming, he returned home to the space coast.  One night he tried to enter an open mike event at the famous Wine Gallery in Indialantic.  The door guy told him to come up on Thursday night so, having no real repertoire, he went home and practiced for a week and when he came back ready to play, a band was already playing. He was sent away angry and just decided to go get a gig for himself.  The next week he got a job at the local Hilton hotel in the lounge playing four nights a week and he had begun his professional career.

That was 1987, and several months later he met up with some of the local musicians and began working on improving his craft.  After joining a blues combo as the bass player and then a southern rock band as the lead vocalist, he was ready for something different.  He and local jazz  guitar great Billy Van Riper started the band “A Million Tiny Fingers” in 1992 with drummer John Paul McCune and bassist Butch Ballard. Butch had other things to do at the time and in stepped Greg Young to be joined by William Tuu on congas and hand percussion to make the Fingers a five piece.  In 1994 they released the band’s self-titled CD of Billy’s original music.  The response of the public was overwhelmingly positive and the band continues to entertain audiences today.  Billy still performs in solo mode and has released a cd  named “Sweet Nothings” in 2005.   The album was recorded on acoustic guitar and vocal using no overdubs or assisting instruments.  The collection of original performances reflects twenty five years of playing and writing.  “I wanted to represent what I do by myself.  Some of the songs are older and some are newer, but they are all from the heart.”

The Billy Chapman Band

Melbourne Friday Fest Street Party       

February 13th, 2009

Photo By Rich Ataman