{"id":38661,"date":"2012-09-24T15:09:11","date_gmt":"2012-09-24T19:09:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=38661"},"modified":"2012-09-24T17:47:09","modified_gmt":"2012-09-24T21:47:09","slug":"will-oldham-on-bonnie-%e2%80%9cprince%e2%80%9d-billy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2012\/09\/24\/will-oldham-on-bonnie-%e2%80%9cprince%e2%80%9d-billy\/","title":{"rendered":"Will Oldham on Bonnie \u201cPrince\u201d Billy"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Will Oldham has been singing and composing for twenty-five years. In a new book, he discusses his highly individualistic approach to music making and the music industry (under the name Bonnie \u201cPrince\u201d Billy), one that cherishes intimacy, community, mystery, and spontaneity. <\/em><\/p>\n

Do you think a song is ever really finished?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I feel like a song is completed when the writing is done and I present it to a friend, partner, or group of musicians. Then it\u2019s completed when we record together and finish mixing. Then it\u2019s completed each and every time someone listens. I think that a song, for the most part, is completed by the listening experience. It enters into people\u2019s brains and mutates and then might get completed again\u2014in their dreams, in mix tapes that they make, or in new listening experiences that they have. So it isn\u2019t ever finished because there\u2019s never going to be a definitive listening experience. I guess the idea is that I listen to certain favorite songs over and over because for some reason I just haven\u2019t finished listening to them. But in terms of concentrating on the bones of the song, that ends with the recording; in rare cases there will be arrangement modifications, but from that point on the skeleton is always going to stay the same. From then on, playing live, for me, is more like an exercise to stay in shape for writing and recording.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s the way a song can sound when you\u2019re just playing it in a room to somebody that\u2019s going to perform it with you, and then the way it sounds in the rehearsal room when you\u2019re playing it with a band, and then there\u2019s the way it sounds when you go into a studio and the engineer is listening to it; there\u2019s an evolution of the song\u2019s identity from when it\u2019s something that you\u2019re creating on your own to where it ultimately ends up.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes. Anybody who\u2019s a big music fan and plays music for people experiences this, but if you work with recorded music you can point to the differences in instrumentation or preparedness or arrangement. And you can play the same recording of the same song and have vastly different feelings about it. You could be listening to a song in your car and not enjoying it, and then someone could get in the car and all of a sudden the song becomes good, or the reverse. It seems to me that the ears that are listening make more difference than the way the music sounds. \u2018Cause you can also tell when you see people who are absolutely 100 percent enthralled and enjoying inarguably terrible music, and they\u2019re smart human beings; you see it happening and you realize it doesn\u2019t have anything, or far less, to do with the music itself than the listening done by the listener and the situation.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

It could have something to do with the social atmosphere or where the music fits into that group of people\u2019s shared consciousness, whatever that is, at that particular time<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Yeah. And I don\u2019t know if that will ever be measurable, so that you could say, \u201cThis song is a great song when I\u2019m with my mother; this song is a bad song when I\u2019m with my friend Jack.\u201d \u2018Cause someone could convince you, even by their presence, that it\u2019s a great record, you know? I could hear a song on the radio with you in the car, and just your shift of energy could make me realize, \u201cThat\u2019s actually a really good song, I never thought of it before,\u201d and you might not even say anything about it. I like that.<\/p>\n

Whenever you\u2019re with a group of people that love the music that\u2019s playing, it\u2019s exciting; if you\u2019re in a Mexican bar or a Jimmy Buffett concert, when people are loving the music, the music is great. In 1985 there was a group of exchange students from Massachusetts that came to our high school for a week. I remember sitting in the back of someone\u2019s car, and the Thompson Twins song \u201cHold Me Now\u201d came on the radio. Everyone in the car was really excited and happy and listening to the song, and there were tons of us, so we were all pressed up against each other. They seemed to know it and love it, because they came from a normal school, whereas coming from the Brown School it was something that you might hear every once in a while, but for the most part we didn\u2019t listen to the radio or watch MTV that much. It was such a powerful feeling that for years I always had a positive association with that song, cherishing it. I\u2019ve heard it in the last few years and it doesn\u2019t do anything for me whatsoever, but it\u2019s a different song that I have in my brain now than actually exists in the real world.<\/p>\n

Overall, what effect do you think the audience has on your work?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I feel the value of my work is determined very precisely by the audience. What does entertainment mean, anyway, and what\u2019s the difference between that and art? I would say the main difference is that art isn\u2019t necessarily funded by the consumer, but entertainment always is. In that way, entertainment is a million times more important to me than art, and being an entertainer is more important to me than being an artist. The relationship with the audience is so direct, while the government or rich collectors are going to pay for something that is art rather than the person who is actually going to have a relationship with the piece. That\u2019s what\u2019s most important to me about what I do. I think of entertainment as being very serious and important, from Laurel and Hardy upward. It has to do with emotions of release, giving up, or extreme hilarity and absurdity.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s rewarding when I find a broader audience that doesn\u2019t think I\u2019m too crazy. [I\u2019m] trying to make something for that audience to experience, also knowing that at some level I will be sharing the experience. My absolute, purest particular taste would not be something that could be appreciated on a grand scale. It just wouldn\u2019t. If I really made a record just to serve myself I would end up alone in a dark, wet room, you know? That\u2019s not really where I want to be. That\u2019s why it\u2019s more important to me to make a record that serves itself and its audience well. A good record should involve my needs, the listeners\u2019 needs, and the needs of the other people who worked on the record. If I manage that, I feel I\u2019ve accomplished something; but ultimately it is the audience that holds the lion\u2019s share of determining if a record is worthwhile. The only way for my entire audience to appreciate the music is if they come to it of their own accord and find something in it that satisfies them as individuals. I\u2019ll do what I can do, and they\u2019ll do what they can do, and hopefully a mutual understanding can be formed.<\/p>\n

The Palace records were sung to an imagined audience, based on a knowledge of myself as an audience member. And then, of course, I got to know the audience better, so the imagined–audience concept was no longer feasible. That\u2019s where the Palace records ended.<\/p>\n

Do you have a sense of how your audience has changed over the years?<\/strong><\/p>\n

No. Because again, most of the music that I listen to I have zero relationship or contact or communication with the people who made it. Most of the music that I love the most is that way, because the people who are responsible for those musics are dead or they\u2019re foreign or they\u2019re too rich and famous. So I\u2019m gonna assume that it\u2019s the same, that I\u2019ll never know who the audience is that is really into the music . . . I\u2019ll never know who they are or why they\u2019re into it. I listen to enough music from different times and places that it\u2019s always my hope that any records I am involved with have a chance of finding an individual or five people somewhere else in the world: they\u2019re most likely not gonna ever find the bulk of their audience here in Louisville, Kentucky. I wouldn\u2019t release a song that I don\u2019t have some love for, and I also know that if I have love for it then someone else will, but I never know who it\u2019s going to be.<\/p>\n

Excerpted from <\/em>Will Oldham on Bonnie “Prince” Billy<\/a>, edited by Alan Licht. Copyright \u00a9 2012 by Will Oldham. With the permission of the publisher, W.W. Norton & Company.<\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

[tweetbutton]<\/p>\n

[facebook_ilike]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Will Oldham has been singing and composing for twenty-five years. In a new book, he discusses his highly individualistic approach to music making and the music industry (under the name Bonnie \u201cPrince\u201d Billy), one that cherishes intimacy, community, mystery, and spontaneity. Do you think a song is ever really finished? I feel like a song […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":412,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[907],"tags":[20541,8751,8752,46,8750],"class_list":["post-38661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-at-work","tag-at-work","tag-bonnie-prince-billy","tag-jimmy-buffett","tag-music","tag-will-oldham"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWill Oldham on Bonnie \u201cPrince\u201d Billy by Alan Licht<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"September 24, 2012 \u2013 Will Oldham has been singing and composing for twenty-five years. In a new book, he discusses his highly individualistic approach to music making and the\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2012\/09\/24\/will-oldham-on-bonnie-\u201cprince\u201d-billy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Will Oldham on Bonnie \u201cPrince\u201d Billy by Alan Licht\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"September 24, 2012 \u2013 Will Oldham has been singing and composing for twenty-five years. In a new book, he discusses his highly individualistic approach to music making and the\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2012\/09\/24\/will-oldham-on-bonnie-\u201cprince\u201d-billy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Paris Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-09-24T19:09:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-09-24T21:47:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/WillOldhamOnBonniePrinceBillyPbk-681x1024.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"681\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Alan Licht\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@parisreview\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@parisreview\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Alan Licht\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2012\/09\/24\/will-oldham-on-bonnie-%e2%80%9cprince%e2%80%9d-billy\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2012\/09\/24\/will-oldham-on-bonnie-%e2%80%9cprince%e2%80%9d-billy\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Alan Licht\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/9fe26bb3f9910ff1cfbb48ac79398eb0\"},\"headline\":\"Will Oldham on Bonnie \u201cPrince\u201d Billy\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-09-24T19:09:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-09-24T21:47:09+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2012\/09\/24\/will-oldham-on-bonnie-%e2%80%9cprince%e2%80%9d-billy\/\"},\"wordCount\":1522,\"commentCount\":4,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2012\/09\/24\/will-oldham-on-bonnie-%e2%80%9cprince%e2%80%9d-billy\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/WillOldhamOnBonniePrinceBillyPbk-199x300.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"At Work\",\"Bonnie Prince Billy\",\"Jimmy Buffett\",\"music\",\"Will Oldham\"],\"articleSection\":[\"At Work\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2012\/09\/24\/will-oldham-on-bonnie-%e2%80%9cprince%e2%80%9d-billy\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2012\/09\/24\/will-oldham-on-bonnie-%e2%80%9cprince%e2%80%9d-billy\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2012\/09\/24\/will-oldham-on-bonnie-%e2%80%9cprince%e2%80%9d-billy\/\",\"name\":\"Will Oldham on Bonnie \u201cPrince\u201d Billy by Alan Licht\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2012\/09\/24\/will-oldham-on-bonnie-%e2%80%9cprince%e2%80%9d-billy\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2012\/09\/24\/will-oldham-on-bonnie-%e2%80%9cprince%e2%80%9d-billy\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/WillOldhamOnBonniePrinceBillyPbk-199x300.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-09-24T19:09:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-09-24T21:47:09+00:00\",\"description\":\"September 24, 2012 \u2013 Will Oldham has been singing and composing for twenty-five years. In a new book, he discusses his highly individualistic approach to music making and the\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2012\/09\/24\/will-oldham-on-bonnie-%e2%80%9cprince%e2%80%9d-billy\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2012\/09\/24\/will-oldham-on-bonnie-%e2%80%9cprince%e2%80%9d-billy\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2012\/09\/24\/will-oldham-on-bonnie-%e2%80%9cprince%e2%80%9d-billy\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/WillOldhamOnBonniePrinceBillyPbk.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/WillOldhamOnBonniePrinceBillyPbk.jpg\",\"width\":\"1645\",\"height\":\"2472\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2012\/09\/24\/will-oldham-on-bonnie-%e2%80%9cprince%e2%80%9d-billy\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Will Oldham on Bonnie \u201cPrince\u201d Billy\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"The Paris Review\",\"description\":\"The best prose, interviews, poetry, and art. Since 1953.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The Paris Review\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png\",\"width\":696,\"height\":696,\"caption\":\"The Paris Review\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/parisreview\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/parisreview\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/9fe26bb3f9910ff1cfbb48ac79398eb0\",\"name\":\"Alan Licht\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e64fcf10e55bd2c12ad00578dc671c9eee73064a5f6a9131f565451d5cfbff2d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e64fcf10e55bd2c12ad00578dc671c9eee73064a5f6a9131f565451d5cfbff2d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Alan Licht\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/author\/alicht\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Will Oldham on Bonnie \u201cPrince\u201d Billy by Alan Licht","description":"September 24, 2012 \u2013 Will Oldham has been singing and composing for twenty-five years. In a new book, he discusses his highly individualistic approach to music making and the","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2012\/09\/24\/will-oldham-on-bonnie-\u201cprince\u201d-billy\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Will Oldham on Bonnie \u201cPrince\u201d Billy by Alan Licht","og_description":"September 24, 2012 \u2013 Will Oldham has been singing and composing for twenty-five years. In a new book, he discusses his highly individualistic approach to music making and the","og_url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2012\/09\/24\/will-oldham-on-bonnie-\u201cprince\u201d-billy\/","og_site_name":"The Paris Review","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/","article_published_time":"2012-09-24T19:09:11+00:00","article_modified_time":"2012-09-24T21:47:09+00:00","og_image":[{"width":681,"height":1024,"url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/WillOldhamOnBonniePrinceBillyPbk-681x1024.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Alan Licht","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@parisreview","twitter_site":"@parisreview","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Alan Licht","Est. reading time":"8 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2012\/09\/24\/will-oldham-on-bonnie-%e2%80%9cprince%e2%80%9d-billy\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2012\/09\/24\/will-oldham-on-bonnie-%e2%80%9cprince%e2%80%9d-billy\/"},"author":{"name":"Alan Licht","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/9fe26bb3f9910ff1cfbb48ac79398eb0"},"headline":"Will Oldham on Bonnie \u201cPrince\u201d Billy","datePublished":"2012-09-24T19:09:11+00:00","dateModified":"2012-09-24T21:47:09+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2012\/09\/24\/will-oldham-on-bonnie-%e2%80%9cprince%e2%80%9d-billy\/"},"wordCount":1522,"commentCount":4,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2012\/09\/24\/will-oldham-on-bonnie-%e2%80%9cprince%e2%80%9d-billy\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/WillOldhamOnBonniePrinceBillyPbk-199x300.jpg","keywords":["At Work","Bonnie Prince Billy","Jimmy Buffett","music","Will Oldham"],"articleSection":["At Work"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2012\/09\/24\/will-oldham-on-bonnie-%e2%80%9cprince%e2%80%9d-billy\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2012\/09\/24\/will-oldham-on-bonnie-%e2%80%9cprince%e2%80%9d-billy\/","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2012\/09\/24\/will-oldham-on-bonnie-%e2%80%9cprince%e2%80%9d-billy\/","name":"Will Oldham on Bonnie \u201cPrince\u201d Billy by Alan Licht","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2012\/09\/24\/will-oldham-on-bonnie-%e2%80%9cprince%e2%80%9d-billy\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2012\/09\/24\/will-oldham-on-bonnie-%e2%80%9cprince%e2%80%9d-billy\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/WillOldhamOnBonniePrinceBillyPbk-199x300.jpg","datePublished":"2012-09-24T19:09:11+00:00","dateModified":"2012-09-24T21:47:09+00:00","description":"September 24, 2012 \u2013 Will Oldham has been singing and composing for twenty-five years. In a new book, he discusses his highly individualistic approach to music making and the","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2012\/09\/24\/will-oldham-on-bonnie-%e2%80%9cprince%e2%80%9d-billy\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2012\/09\/24\/will-oldham-on-bonnie-%e2%80%9cprince%e2%80%9d-billy\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2012\/09\/24\/will-oldham-on-bonnie-%e2%80%9cprince%e2%80%9d-billy\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/WillOldhamOnBonniePrinceBillyPbk.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/WillOldhamOnBonniePrinceBillyPbk.jpg","width":"1645","height":"2472"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2012\/09\/24\/will-oldham-on-bonnie-%e2%80%9cprince%e2%80%9d-billy\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Will Oldham on Bonnie \u201cPrince\u201d Billy"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/","name":"The Paris Review","description":"The best prose, interviews, poetry, and art. Since 1953.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization","name":"The Paris Review","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png","width":696,"height":696,"caption":"The Paris Review"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/","https:\/\/x.com\/parisreview","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/parisreview"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/9fe26bb3f9910ff1cfbb48ac79398eb0","name":"Alan Licht","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e64fcf10e55bd2c12ad00578dc671c9eee73064a5f6a9131f565451d5cfbff2d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e64fcf10e55bd2c12ad00578dc671c9eee73064a5f6a9131f565451d5cfbff2d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Alan Licht"},"url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/author\/alicht\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38661","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/412"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38661"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38661\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39075,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38661\/revisions\/39075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}