Star Spotlight

When Billy Gilman, 15, burst onto the scene three years ago with his debut single, "One Voice," he quickly became a yonug star of country music. He sold millions of records and won many awards. Now, he's working on one of the most important projects of his career: an album called Music Through Heartsongs, based on the poems of 14-year-old Mattie Stepanek, who was diagnosed with a rare form of muscular dystrophy, an uncurable disease that weakens the muscles. Mattie began writing poetry at the age of 3 to deal with the ravages of his disease.

We caught up with Billy and asked him all about his new album, how he met Mattie, and their amazing collaboration. Here's what he had to say:

Hear Billy Gilman's advice to kids who want to perform like him! (RealAudio)
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Q & A

Billy: Thank you. That was the whole point—to get his [Mattie Stepanek] message across to, hopefully, millions of people.

Q: When did you first meet Mattie?

Billy: I first met him in Washington, on February 15 of this year. It was [at the] first-annual Heartsongs gala dedicated to his poetry and other Muscular Dystrophy Association survivors.

Q: But you had talked to him on the phone before?

Billy: The first time was in January. I went to Nashville to start recording my vocals and the instruments. I talked to him on my cell phone, and he was very excited to meet me.

Q: So you recorded this album very quickly.

Billy: We really rushed. We were in the studio for hours and hours, and my voice is changing, so it was a tough battle. There were days when I wasn't quite there, but there were other days when I was crystal clear. Sometimes we'd work two hours; sometimes we'd work five hours.

Q: You can really hear how your voice has changed on this album. It's getting more mature.

Billy: The funny thing is, it's not even done changing. I can't wait till it's fully changed. I can't belt right now because the vocal chords aren't as strong, so I might damage them. I'm limited right now, but when they stop changing and get strong again, I'll be able to belt and be able to do a lot more.

Q: Do you have any special routines to keep your voice strong?

Billy: Sometimes I go on full vocal rest, which is terrible for me because I love to talk. [laughs] When we're in the recording studio, [I] get up in the morning, get some hot steam going from the shower or from a portable steam thing, and then I'll do 20 minutes worth of vocal exercises to get my voice up there so I can hit all the notes. Then I just sing!

Q: When did you first read Mattie's poetry?

Billy: After we were on Larry King Live "together" — Mattie was in New York, and I was in Washington and they put the two segments together, so I really didn't meet him. That was the funny thing. What happened was, Angela [Billy's vocal coach] called me, and said, "Wouldn't it be great if these poems could be turned into music and you would sing them?" I was a little timid, how were they going to be a record, you know? She called my manager, and he was already out buying the book, so everyone had the same idea, and I was like, "This is going to be great! I'm excited now."

Q: What was the process of creating music to Mattie's poems?

Billy: Mattie helped us a lot on that. He'll write a poem and he'll have a specific element for that song. There's a song called "Songs of the Wind," and the minute you think of that, you think of a relaxing, soothing type of melody, [so] we had an ocean [sound] in the background. We sit down, and go, "OK, the words mean this, so we'll form the music like this." If it's a happy song, we'll do a happy melody and it'll tend to be a fast song. If it's a serious song, it'll tend to be a ballad.

Q: Was Mattie familiar with your music before this project?

Billy: Yes, he was...It's funny, because we're so alike, yet different at the same time. He has a poem called "For Our World," and he's writing about where he thinks the world is going, and how we should have peace. On "One Voice," I'm singing [about] how the world is going with all the guns and the violence in schools. We're really alike with the message department.

Q: Do you and Mattie have plans for promoting the album?

Billy: It depends on his health. He's in and out of intensive care a lot. We want to do some live television appearances together, because that would make more of an impact than having just him or me there alone.

Q: Do you have any other plans for 2003 besides promoting the album?

Billy: I'm doing Slime Time Live, the Nickelodeon show that's based in Orlando, Florida, and I have nothing for the first two weeks of May so far, so I want to spend a couple of days there. We've had such a wicked winter here in Rhode Island. I just want to get someplace warm.

Q: We hear you're studying sign language.

Billy: I thought it would count as extra credit. I've learned 212 words within two weeks! It's really great, and you adapt to it really quickly. I love it, I really do.

Q: People don't realize what a major thing it is to deal with a changing voice. There's a possibility that if something goes wrong, you wouldn't have a singing career.

Billy: Right. If you go out and do 20 concerts with your voice changing, the [vocal chords] are so thin—they're not as strong as they were—they're bound to get damaged. You're in trouble, you really are.

Q: Have you ever overworked your vocal chords?

Billy: I've had some hairy experiences where I've had to go on vocal rest. I have a big studio in my house, and I would sing and sing, and it turned out I had a hoarse vocal chord, so I had to really rest. You really get afraid—"is [my voice] strong today? Is it weak?" You really learn from your mistakes.

Q: You're 15 now. Are you starting to think about getting your driver's license?

Billy: I can't wait! Not this September, but next September I'll be driving by myself.

Q: Do you think you'll stick with making country music or move on to another genre?

Billy: It was always country, country, country! I want to go out with symphonies, that's what I love now.

Q: Do you watch American Idol?

Billy: I have to admit it, but I'm a groupie with that stuff—The Bachelorette, American Idol, and Fear Factor. I love that show! One time, they had to walk over glass. They had to break a certain pane of glass and it said "10," "5," or "3." If you hit "10" you had to walk 10 feet across [broken glass]!

Q: Do you have any advice to kids who will be on the upcoming Junior Idol?

Billy: Go for it! I've wanted to sing since I was 3 years old. Mattie and I are so alike because I started singing at 3, and he started writing his poems at 3. If it's what you want to do, you're going to love it, because you're really going to appreciate it more than just going out there and not really caring about it.

Q: What do you hope listeners take away from Music Through Heartsongs?

Billy: Music has a healing power. If I'm mad or confused about something, I'll turn on music and it will cheer me up. So [to] combine the power of music with this message, it's a double whammy. Hopefully his message will get across to millions. That was our main goal for the [project]. That made us drive to want to do better and better.

—Interview by Marie Morreale