Billy Stokes

Billy Stokes is a rock guitarist/songwriter who hails from Tucson, Arizona. He started playing guitar at eleven years old, and quickly moved into songwriting as his forte. He continued to play in Southern California bands, but after becoming restless with the music scene joined the U.S. Army and shipped off to Germany. In 1991 after the Persian Gulf War, he left the army and then played the festival circuit in Europe. After the death of his longtime bass player, Fletch Fletcher, Billy returned to the stability of the Army and started a family. In 1997 Billy was badly injured in the line of duty, signifying his last day in combat boots. After long hospitalizations in Germany and stateside, Billy was released from Walter Reid Army Medical Center in Washington D.C. With music in his heart, he returned to the civilian life and set up residence in Tucson. This is where he found the inspiration to write his latest album entitled Muscle and Blood (fashioned in Allusion Studios, Tucson AZ). Drawing on inspiration from his life experiences and his rock guitar heroes, Billy has brought in an album featuring a multitude of rock guitar monsters such as Frank Marino, Pat Travers, Les Dudek, and renowned bass guitarist Barry Sparks (formerly Malmsteen, UFO, Nugent, and Dokken) as guest artists.
Singer Marc Storace of the Swiss rock giant Krokus brought forth a stellar performance for the sixteen-song body of work. Billy continues to be a serious songwriter and purveyor of the Golden Era of Marshall driven rock and roll; when rock music seemed to have an uplifting bent to it symbolizing strength and unity.