North Carolina’s Joseph Decosimo has shared the video for “Billy Button,” the second and final single from his forthcoming album, Fiery Gizzard, set for release on August 15 via Dear Life Records. The live session is a vibrant reinterpretation of a traditional tune, showcasing Decosimo’s deft ability to blend archival material with a contemporary, experimental edge.
The video, filmed at Fuzzy Needle in Durham, NC, captures the song’s intimate and collaborative spirit. Featuring Decosimo on banjo and vocals alongside Stephanie Coleman on fiddle, Matthew O’Connell on drums, and Jay Hammond on guitar, the performance is a testament to the raw, in-the-moment energy that drives the new album. The simple, single-camera shot ( filmed by Andrew Kornylak) focuses on the musicians, allowing their intricate interplay and the song’s infectious rhythm to take centre stage.
Stream the single here: https://lnk.to/billybutton
Drawing inspiration from friend and fellow musician, Jake Xerxes Fussell, Decosimo first began singing “Billy Button” to his son.
“I started singing ‘Billy Button’ when our son was born. He just turned three and still bops to it. I first heard Durham pal Jake Xerxes Fussell sing it and was immediately captivated by the melody, trippy imagery, and tongue twister refrain. Inspired by Jake’s approach, I worked it up on my banjo and added a verse from the old fiddle tune ‘Jimmy Sutton.’ Turns out, ‘Billy Button’ was originally an old banjo song from North Georgia, so it fell right in place. Jake learned it from the folklorist and visual artist Art Rosenbaum who documented Mary Ruth Moore, a colleague at the University of Georgia, singing it. Moore had learned it from her banjo playing father and recorded a version with Art. I’m perpetually drawn to nursery rhyme surrealism, and this one ticks the box.”
The song featured on Fussell’s 2017 album, What in the Natural World. In a KLOF Mag interview (read it here) with Fussell, Glenn Kimpton asked about “keeping songs alive”; Fussell’s answer may apply as much to Decosimo, whose reinterpretations and reimaginations share that similar emotional connection:
“Well, you know, I don’t necessarily think of what I do as keeping songs alive. I don’t think of music as either alive or dead, but I do like to look for things that are a little obscure, or underappreciated and bring those to light in my own way in whatever little arena I have. People have said that to me, about keeping them alive, but songs don’t have lives really…I think they have very curious existences of their own outside and beyond me and us.” He later adds, “The song has to strike me emotionally before I play it,” and that is where the magic happens, within that emotional connection. Like Fussell, Decosimo forges a connection to the tunes he plays, and through that bond, brings a fresh light to those tunes.
For Fiery Gizzard, Decosimo enlisted a host of acclaimed musicians from the indie and folk scenes, including members of Wye Oak, Fust, Elephant Micah, and Beirut, with Wye Oak’s Andy Stack taking a key production role. The album promises a fusion of electrified banjo, spacious guitars, and hypnotic percussion, breathing new life into old-time ballads and groove-heavy instrumentals.
Decosimo will celebrate the album’s release with a North American tour, including stops in Portland, Seattle, Asheville, and a performance at the Brooklyn Folk Festival.
Pre-Order Fiery Gizzard: https://josephdecosimo.bandcamp.com/album/fiery-gizzard
Live Shows
September 3 @ The Showdown – Portland, OR
September 4 @ American Banjo Camp 2025 – Port Orchard, WA
September 7 @ The Yodeling Goat – Seattle, WA
September 11 @ AyurPrana Listening Room – Asheville, NC
October 3 @ Wide Open Music Festival 2025 – Raleigh, NC
November 8 @ Bowerbird – Philadelphia PA
November 9 @ Brooklyn Folk Festival – Brooklyn, NY