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<\/p>\nWith a stage name like Rev. Billy C. Wirtz, you\u2019d expect that the man would be an evangelist of some kind. And you’d be right. But Wirtz \u2013 born William Wirths in Aiken, South Carolina, just up the road from where James Brown was born 19 years before him \u2013 isn\u2019t selling old-time, fire-and-brimstone religion; no, he\u2019s on a mission to spread the good news about American roots music. A bona fide renaissance man of song, Wirtz is a singer, songwriter, humorist, broadcaster, journalist, historian, author and filmmaker.<\/p>\n
Like anyone who\u2019s passionate about their chosen vocation, Wirtz will talk your ear off if you let him. But in the process, he\u2019ll teach you a thing or two, and he\u2019ll certainly make you laugh. But he\u2019s serious about his mission. And he considers all of his various creative endeavors as part of one big calling. And that\u2019s been the case ever since long before he got started as a recording artist with 1983\u2019s Salvation Through Polyester<\/i>. \u201cI still do a comedic live presentation,\u201d he explains. \u201cBut within the comedy, I\u2019ll play an old classic and talk about how it evolved.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A Rev. Billy C. Wirtz concert is a history lesson wrapped in a rollicking, laugh-riot live show. He might start out by playing one of his originals: maybe a new one like \u201cGo Little Golf Cart,\u201d about the alleged naughty goings-on in The Villages, Florida\u2019s deep red, Disneyfied and 95% White community. From there, Wirtz might launch into a lively, fast-paced discussion about \u201cGot My Mojo Workin\u2019,\u201d the blues classic popularized by Muddy Waters.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut Muddy didn\u2019t write \u2018Mojo,\u2019\u201d Wirtz will explain. Composed by Preston Foster in 1956, the song was first cut by a woman named Ann Cole. \u201cShe and Muddy were on the same bill at the Manhattan Casino in St. Pete,\u201d he\u2019ll tell the audience. Waters had been looking for a blues song that combined country beats, like Chuck Berry had done with \u201cMaybelline\u201d in 1955.<\/p>\n
Helping the audience to appreciate that blues, gospel, country and rock \u2018n\u2019 roll are closely woven strands of the tapestry that is American music, Wirtz will then demonstrate that \u201cGot My Mojo Workin\u2019\u201d and Johnny Cash\u2019s \u201cFolsom Prison Blues\u201d are, in his words, \u201cthe identical song with the same beat.\u201d<\/p>\n
After pausing to let that fascinating fact sink in, he continues. \u201cI put stuff like that in between \u2018Mama Was a Deadhead\u2019 and \u2018Roberta\u2019 [from 1989\u2019s Deep Fried and Sanctified<\/i>] and all the classics.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wirtz\u2019s other pursuits dovetail with his own music-making. For years now he has hosted radio shows like Reverend Billy\u2019s Rhythm Revival<\/i>, broadcast in different forms on Santa Cruz\u2019s KPIG-FM, Western North Carolina\u2019s WNCW and Tampa\u2019s WMNF. \u201cI\u2019ve been doing the show for about 15 years now,\u201d he says. Wirtz says that his broadcasting career actually began when he was a student at University of Georgia. \u201cBut when I started playing piano in my 20s, the radio thing fell off to the side for awhile.\u201d But he eventually returned to the airwaves. \u201cI was always a music fan<\/i>,\u201d he explains. \u201cFirst and always.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a music fan with a deep well of knowledge paired with insatiable curiosity, Wirtz is the ideal person to explore and document overlooked corners of musical history. One of his current projects is a documentary about 92 year old pianist Leon Blue. A member of classic blues band The Manish Boys, Blue\u2019s extensive credits include work with everyone from \u201cking of Western Swing\u201d Bob Wills to Ike & Tina Turner to Lloyd Price to B.B. King. The documentary isn\u2019t quite finished yet, but Wirtz has his title: The World According to Leon<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Wirtz writes often for America\u2019s oldest blues periodical, Living Blues<\/i>, and other outlets. In 2022 he won an award in Florida for Best Nonfiction Magazine Article. That history of the state\u2019s so-called chitlin\u2019 circuit was, according to a well-connected acquaintance of his, \u201ca bad motherfucker for a documentary.\u201d Work is about to commence on that project. \u201cWe begin by interviewing Alan Leeds, who was James Brown\u2019s road manager for 15 years,\u201d Wirtz says.<\/p>\n
Rev. Billy C. Wirtz\u2019s passion for music is contagious, and it knows no bounds. He loves the wild stuff, and he has dedicated life and career to spreading that love to listeners, readers and audiences. \u201cWhen the segregationist preachers screamed about the devil n-word music, they said it would lead to premarital sex, and to interracial couples dancing,\u201d he says with a smile and hearty laugh. \u201cAnd they were right!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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