On Sunday, May 19th, at the Silver Spur in Mechanic Falls, Maine, our very own Billy Thibodeau will be inducted into the Maine Country Music Hall of Fame.
As a child, Billy moved to Cambridge, ME., and he was soon cutting his teeth playing a mandolin that was nearly ¾ his size with his dad, Sam Tidwell, in the Kennebec Valley Boys. He was a little kid at the time but now, in a professional career that has spanned a better part of 40 years, his love and passion for anything bluegrass and country continues to blossom every season.
Known widely as a picker (guitar, fiddle, bass, banio, mandolin, etc..), band leader, singer, promoter and teacher, Billy performed professionally in Maine for close to thirty years, on both sides of a brief stint serving his country in the United States Air Force. Professionally, he played in North Country Bluegrass, and later joined his dad again. He's played with several other notable New England-based bluegrass bands including the Bluegrass Supply Company, Breakneck Mountain Band, Stan Tyminski and Blue Diamond, The Union River Band, and Anna Mae Mitchell and Rising Tide. He would later go on to manage, teach, and promote the Mueller Family Band.
Billy will be joining a few former band members who are also members of the Maine Country Music Hall of Fame including Ken Brooks, Stan Keach, and Joe Kennedy. Billy's dad and his biggest influence, Sam Tidwell, who passed in 2012, was also a member of the Hall of Fame.
Upon returning to Rhode Island in 2011, Billy helped form the Descendants of Bluegrass, featuring many New England-based second generation bluegrass pickers, as well as forming his own band, the Bill Thibodeau. In 2018, Billy joined the Rock Hearts and helped the band achieve national attention, at festivals, on the radio, and on the charts, lending his versatility on the mandolin, fiddle, lead, tenor and baritone harmonies, as well as on the production side. In 2020, the band was selected by IBMA World of Bluegrass as an official Showcase Band. Later, they signed with Sammy Passamano and The 615 Hideaway Record Label.
He's a 2017 alumnus of the IBMA Bluegrass Leadership Team.
There is so much more to share about Billy Thibodeau, which I'm sure will be elaborated on in the future. For now, thanks to Stan Keach for this information.
Rocking it with Rock Hearts, recently named a new Saga Musical Instruments Mandolin Artist, and now inducted into the Maine Country Music Hall of Fame, suffice it to say that Billy is enjoying the fruits of his life long joy for music. If you haven't seen or heard Billy yet, do yourself a favor and catch one of his shows with the Rock Hearts.
