Lord of the Rings star Billy Boyd's two new gigs: Father and musician
Billy Boyd, best known as Pippin in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, is pursuing another career endeavor and he has his son, Jack William, 11 months, to thank for it. The Scottish actor has put together his own band, Beecake, with some old buddies, an idea that came into fruition while he was on a self-imposed paternity leave last year.
I made a decision I wasn’t going to leave the country in the last few months of pregnancy, and for his first four months I wanted to be in Glasgow – and four turned into six. So while I was here, I was writing a lot, and then the guys started coming around the house, and then we started playing together.
Billy is currently in negotiations with several record labels and has created a five-year time frame for the band to record an album and tour. The work and touring may take Billy away from Jack and Jack’s mom, his longtime girlfriend Ali McKinnon, but he always keeps his family close. The proud father has a series of photos of his blue-eyed son on his cell phone and beams when talking about fatherhood.
It’s great. Jack’s a riot. He’s at that crawling, laughing, smiling age and he sleeps all night, which is brilliant.
While it may have taken his son to inspire him to tackle another profession, Billy has always been musical – fans of LOTR may recall Pippin serenading Lord Denethor (John Noble) in The Return of the King. The song was written by Billy himself.
You can listen to some songs and learn more about Beecake – which owes its name to a photo of a bee-covered cake LOTR co-star Dominic Monaghan sent Billy – on the band’s MySpace.
Source: The Evening Times
