Bonnie "Prince" Billy & wife Elsa perform Merle Haggard's 'Bad Actor' with their dogs on morning TV

[@garysmith7184]

A great man. An amazing musician. Aberdeen, Scotland, Lemon Tree, 2006 I believe. I was sat right at his feet, front row, when I got up to get a drink... he asked me what i was doing and I said I was going for a drink, did he want one... "Oh yeah man, that would be great, thanks (the whole show had stopped now...). Can I get a Pina Colada please?" It had totally escaped me that he'd broken through the fourth wall and I had now been incorporated into his show. I went up, got my drink and Will's. I waited til he'd finished his track and then shuffled back along and gave him his Pina Colada. "thanks man, genuinely appreciated!" And that is what i get, and have always got, from him - genuine! A small moment that I'll never forget...

[@letmetellyousomething123]

Huge respect for Will. His creativity, his work helping wolves. His songwriting. He deserves much much more.

[@wulyf4lyf]

I love this. I remember meeting Will, and ended up being sat next to him at the NYFF premier of Harmony Korine’s Julien Donkey-Boy, in 1999. I don’t think he looked at the screen once, except to tilt his head up to watch the short scene he was in. He seems to not age at all. He was 29 back then, and was bald on top back then. All of his albums are incredible, more so the Palace (Brothers, Music, Songs, whatever he’d call each one, when he started releasing them via Drag City in the early 90s) albums, IMO. Bonnie “Prince” Billy-I see a Darkness is a masterpiece. Just missed seeing him with Jonathan Richman (Modern Lovers) right before this whole pandemic started, due to being sick. I’ve loved his music since the mid 90s, and the film he’s talking about in this interview, A Ghost Story, is one of my favorite films to be released in years, and the absolute best film of 2017. I saw it multiple times in the theater in the 5 days it played by me. Such a great songwriter. I wish him & Angel Olsen would collaborate on something again, but it seems unlikely from more recent interviews with them both.

[@mrinkel1]

why do you say that, did Olsen and him have a falling out?

[@gimmeblackcoffee]

Thanks or sharing! I'd love to see BPB!

[@pcarter1989]

Also, the guts and humor it took for his relatively unknown wife to get up there in a "BUM" t-shirt and play along with him on TV! Thanks guys.

[@GoSilvio]

Elsa's an artist in her own right, you can see her as studio hand for Tom Sachs in the video 10 Bullets

[@idiotjoyland]

Theres not many genuine voices out there. So thankyou Will.x

[@jeffstringer8198]

I love that the host took out his phone and snapped a pic during their perfomance

[@pcarter1989]

I love the fact that he highlights that he's trying to MAKE MONEY. Not necessarily for his own sake, but for the sake that we're all trying to get by. Give a little, get a little. I love you, Will. Thanks for the music.

[@MsZoombye]

He's tremendously talented, but being mostly kooky here. So many amazing songs!

[@StephenS-2024]

Songwriting is like having a little voice inside that just won't leave you alone until you give sound- form to it's whisperings. And then it starts in again, anew.

[@geraldorsel380]

Hello misses and mister oldham...i am Gerald from the netherlands (frisia provence) i came across an old dutch tv show about a Dutch man who makes realy intriging and refined artwork with broiderie (if i spell it righ t)i don't know ecactly why but i had miss oldham in my mind. because she is also a gifted and creativ soul with a needle and thread... maybe you are interested ...maybe somehow this message reaches the oldham family so that they might contact me and i send them a link...but first i will translate it because there are no english subs with the docu...ok i am curious by your response...have a nice evening (day) at least in holland it is lol...greetz from the high north of holland...

[@ScaryStoriesNYC]

When I was a kid, my mom took me to see Merle Haggard with WIllie Nelson opening at the Felt Forum in Manhattan. Willie was great, but Merle came out angry, telling us how he hated New Yorkers and weirdos and liberals. He refused to do his famous impersonations, he was rude to the local WHN radio guy, he did a short show, and he stormed off the stage. LOL I can't imagine he'd have enjoyed this lovely tribute! But the world needs its curmudgeons anyway.

[@joshrhodes5832]

I don't know if Merle Haggard completely renounced...that kind of attitude, but I know he did eventually say of "Okie from Muskogee" something like "Look, I was young and I didn't know shit."

[@itsgonnbeok7249]

@@joshrhodes5832 Okie from Muskogee was a joke song

[@joshrhodes5832]

@@itsgonnbeok7249 I don't think the joke was supposed to be on him, though

[@dpcdalecwatsondpcd]

are mood swings inter--

[@samholder196]

I'd marry Will, too, if he'd let me

[@sequenceleaflet6568]

On WHAS 11 with Terry Meiners tho. This is brilliant

[@franklinbumgartener1323]

The jew's harp made the whole thing. No lie... Reminded me of being a kid when my dad used to play one.

[@GreenSaxon]

Hey! Anyone able to tell me what the instrument is his wife is playing?

[@tomallen5837]

Jaws harp or a Jew's harp

[@GreenSaxon]

@@tomallen5837 Thanks Tom. Much obliged

[@Tenskwatawa4U]

What’s a record store? Do,they have a pay phone?

[@tomallen5837]

They came together, and that's not something that's done much anymore either

[@sturdeehouse]

what kind of watch is he wearing?

[@311tim311]

big un

[@winstonr.chapman731]

Timex Weekender

[@sturdeehouse]

@@winstonr.chapman731 Someone always knows these things. Thanks.

[@theheartofablackbird2109]

Kooky

[@heythere997]

Such a lovely couple and wonderful music, but the dog doesn't seem to be in the right place there...

[@oscarfonseca9765]

Did he have red fingernail polish?

[@311tim311]

no, uh-uh

[@oscarfonseca9765]

311tim311 Yes he did!!! Look closely at 6:40 when they are zooming in on him petting the dog!!!

[@VambeefcoHorzey]

@@311tim311 He definitely does, and he wears polish during other performances. Why not, eh?

[@ghostly606]

No... Think it's pink

[@oscarfonseca9765]

ghostly606 Either way it looks disgusting on a man!!!!

[@wayfarer691]

wow -will writes an honest song about himself.

[@sayeager5559]

#Superwolf

[@anonym9893]

The title is somehow misleading: There's only one dog performing the song with him, a she-dog with a hat (a very cute one, though!).

[@CandyapplesSaveU]

Hater

[@sequenceleaflet6568]

Boo

[@anonym9893]

Funny, when I made my original comment the title here was still "Bonnie Prince Billy performs...with his dogs." I'll take the credits for the rephrasing. ^^

[@GoSilvio]

So mean

[@mywordsmyhandle]

jesus christ she's 16 yrs younger.

[@DailyNihilism]

Lucky man

[@caseytins]

So what?

[@rcthompson3]

Yoko

[@DailyNihilism]

If she was smoking hot

[@Jeremy-th5pt]

The whole "I'm rich but dress like a mentally ill homeless person" is cringe. He literally wears a shirt that says "bum". He must have tons of white guilt.

[@Gramercy_Stiffs]

Are you one of those simpletons that thinks if someone is on the teelyvison then they must be loaded? He's been dressing the same for 20 years and is anything but rich, a true working musician who only survives by continuing to work. He also has a great sense of humour, something you probably struggle to recognise.