DENTON’S OWN BILLY ROY — FULLY MANUAL ONE-MAN-BAND

THURSDAY (03/12) | FRIDAY (03/13) | SATURDAY (03/14) | SUNDAY (03/15)

7:00PM - 9:00PM (on the corner of Oak and Locust Street on the Denton square.)

“With 11 instruments, to say that Mr. Switzer is busy during a performance is an understatement. He uses his head-literally-his toes and almost every muscle between. He often asks his listeners to guess which muscle he would use to play instrument No. 12. Most people smile and keep their suggestion to themselves.

The show is so personalized that most of his instruments would never be found in an instrument directory.

They include contraptions such as the “Helmarine” (a crash helmet with a tambourine attached) and “Rub and Roll” (sours rubbing against a scrub board).

Mr. Switzer has asked fairgoers to help him name the 11th instrument, which is played by hitting a stick attached to the helmet against one of two metal rings.

Over the weekend, he recieved at least two suggestions, including ‘Wok ‘n’ Roll’ (because the metal ring looks like a wok) and ‘Head Buster’.

The latter came from 14-year-old Alan Sheil of Sanger.

‘You have to keep your head going up and down all the time,’ Alan explained, ‘If you keep doing that, you will bust your brain.’

And just think, he plays all of these things, to the delight of his audience, in perfect rhythm.”

John Yearwood, Dallas Morning News, 10/08/90

(Images and promotional materials courtesy Billy Roy Switzer.)

Tags: That Was 2009