Billy Crawford Leads James Reid & Sam Concepcion In 'The Crew' Concert At The Big Dome On April 5, Releases New Album, 'Work In Progress'

Billy with James and Sam, THE CREW

BILLY CRAWFORD doesn’t mind being considered the Kuya of James Reid and Sam Concepcion, his two co-stars in the summer concert, “The Crew”, to be staged at the Araneta Coliseum on April 5. “Ang feeling ko nga, bumabata ako dahil sa mga kasama ko,” he says at the concert’s presscon. “Ako naman talaga ang pinakauna sa aming tatlo na pumasok sa showbiz.”

We ask James and Sam if they’re aware that Billy started as a child actor in the late 1980s and that he really made it big as a singer in Europe with songs like “Urgently in Love” and “Mary Lopez”? “Yes, I’m aware,  but I didn’t know na 80s pa pala ng mag-start siya,” says James. “But we really respect him and all the wisdom he imparts to us.”

Billy now gets to collaborate with James in coming up with a new song, “Filipina Girl”, which is inspired by Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray and which has the makings of a future classic. “Fate brought us to work together with our producer, Marcus Davis,” adds Billy. “I asked Marcus to produce my album, which is my comeback after ten long years that I concentrated on hosting and acting.
"Then I invited James to do one song with me and he and Marcus wrote ‘Filipina Girl’, which has an infectious beat that listeners would surely groove to and lyrics that are so catchy, like ‘There ain’t nothing in this world/ nothing in the world like a Filipina girl/ there ain’t nothing in the world like a Filipina girl….’ Mala-last song syndrome ka talaga.”

Billy is Fil-Am and James is Fil-Aussie. Billy has a Filipina wife, Coleen Garcia, while James has a Pinay girlfriend, Nadine Lustre, and it’s obvious that they really love the beauty and good qualities of Filipinas. Marcus himself is an American from California but he has lived in Manila for many years so he has learned to love and appreciate Filipinas. He’s also in love with a Pinay, Amber, who sang the big hit ‘Kembot’ that Marcus also produced.

In their ‘The Crew’ concert, watch out for Billy and James do this great bouncy song live on stage. The song is part of a ten-cut album of Billy, “Work in Progress”, which will be released soon. Hopefully, it will reconnect him with his European fans again.

“I’m really praying for that,” says Billy. “I really intend to take the album out of the country to show na gifted talaga tayong mga Pinoy pagdating sa talent, especially in the music industry kunsaan may ibubuga naman talaga tayo. I’m excited about this album na ‘Work in Progress’ ang title kasi I’m still growing and improving as an artist. I really put all my heart and soul into this album and I want to share that with my audience and listeners.”