Billy Ray Barnette on SoundBetter

Emmy Nomination, Top 10 Billboard Country, National Advertising Campaigns.....and over 5000 song demos

I am a professional session singer, songwriter and producer with over 20 years of experience in Nashville producing tracks, writing songs and recording professional lead and backing vocals that have been featured in movies, on television and on records distributed worldwide. You've heard my work on The Oprah Winfrey Show and on The Today Show, a production that received an Emmy nomination for original theme. I've sung on national ad campaigns for Budweiser and KFC. I've been on country radio with artists like Billy Dean singing BGVs on his hit song "Let Them Be Little". I've also produced and sung on many publishing demos for writers such as Kim Williams who wrote "Ain't Going Down 'Til The Sun Comes Up" for Garth Brooks.

My services include:
- High Quality Vocals (Leads, Doubles, Harmonies)
- Professional Songwriting (Lyric and Melody)
- Full Production
- Vocal Production
- Vocal Tuning

Terms and Conditions:
- Average turnaround time is 3-5 business days
- 1 FREE revision, additional edits subject to fee (pricing varies per request)
- Files will be sent once balance is paid in full
- Work for hire/buyouts (please contact for pricing)
- Ownership/Publishing is TBD on per project basis

Let me know if I can help. Contact me through the green button above.
I'd love to work with you!

I'd love to hear about your project. Click the 'Contact' button above to get in touch.

Credits

Languages

English

56 Reviews - 6 Repeat Clients

Endorse Billy Ray Barnette

by Alex F.
Verified
Billy did a great job as always. My 3rd song with him. He's got that voice to raise my southern back woods songs to a real authentic sound.
by Stacy H.
Verified
Wonderful vocals! Great delivery. Highly recommended. Always a pleasure working with Billy Ray Barnette!!
by Eric C.
Verified
Billy did a great job! Excellent voice for the right track!!
by Laurence C.
Verified
Another fantastic vocal from this great and very professional singer.
This was the latest in a series of jobs with him and there will certainly be more in the future.
by George Giatrakis
Verified
First time working with Billy. He did a great job on the lead vocals. Thank you, Billy.
by Peter H.
Verified
What to say about this man.When you nead great BGR vocals this is the man i turn to..
by Allen J.
Verified
What a great talent. I couldn't be happier with the final product. Ray took this song to a new level and I will certainly come back and highly recommend him.
by Tom B.
Verified
Billy was a pleasure to work with. Even though it was just small harmony part for which I need him, he nailed the phrasing beautifully, and the turnaround was surprisingly fast.
by Sean S.
Verified
What a wonderful singer! Billy Ray just NAILS it with excellent tone, timbre and style. Super high quality production ta boot!
by Alex F.
Verified
This is the 2nd time I used Billy for vocals....Billy did a super professional job enhancing the vocals to a song where I did the original vocal track. Will be using him soon again.
by Alex F.
Verified
Billy did a great job for this project. The song needed a real cowboy swing type vocal and Billy nailed it. Plus improved the phrasing & sync on this very fast tempo song!
by Bryan M.
Verified
Billy was lightning quick on correspondence and did a great job on my track. Got that unique country sound I was looking for. Thanks Billy!
by William D Lucey
Verified
Working with Billy was a pleasure. A top class professional, great sounding audio recordings and very flexible and versatile with regard to the parts. Highly recommend.
by Ron T.
Verified
Ray created an awesome country song from my lyrics. I’m extremely pleased and impressed with the end result. The vocal melody Ray came up with is creative and his vocals are absolutely amazing. Ray takes a lot of pride in what he does and is willing to put in the work required to ensure his client’s satisfaction. Working with Ray was pleasant and inspiring. He was easy to collaborate with and quickly addressed requested revisions. Selecting Ray for the project was an excellent decision!
by Dan Allen Music
Verified
Billy Ray did an awesome job on my project and went above and beyond on the harmonies, with a very quick turnaround.
by Jenny C.
Verified
This was my first time using Soundbetter and Billy was great. The whole process was completely seamless and he nailed the vocals, I'm very pleased with how it turned out. Thank you!
by Ron F.
Verified
This is my second collaboration with Billy Ray, and he is the best choice on soundbetter.com for a male baritone country rock song. I highly recommend him. He is friendly, consistent, and very talented!
by Holland N.
Verified
Best of the best! We are very pleased with Ray's excellent vocals and look forward to working with him again soon.
by Tom D.
Verified
Billy Ray Barnette exceeded my expectations!!! His voice is iconic, his turnover timely. Also, Billy is fun to work with!!!!
by Barclasion Music
Verified
This was my first time to use Billy on a project and he did an excellent job. He gave us a revise on the lead vocal without any hesitation. My client was extremely happy with the end results. I will definitely be using Billy again!

Interview with Billy Ray Barnette

Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?
A: In 2004 I co-produced an album with country artist Billy Dean. I also sang and played bass on the project. We had a top 40 single and a top 10 single from the album. In 2005 I co-produced a Christmas record with Billy and Dolly Parton sang a duet of Silent Night with us. Producing her vocal session was awesome. She is the real deal!
Q: Analog or digital and why?
A: Analog front end for warmth and digital recording for editing
Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?
A: My promise is to give my clients my best performance. I want them to be happy and I'll refund payment if I can't deliver.
Q: What do you like most about your job?
A: I love the freedom and mostly feel so lucky to be able to earn a living with my God given talent. That is a blessing.
Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?
A: My career path started as a 10 year old boy playing my hand-me-down Silvertone guitar (which I still have) to college studying voice (and making a deal with myself to never get a straight job) to night club work and road work to Nashville and more road work to the Nashville studio scene for the last 25+ years.
Q: Can you share one music production tip?
A: There are many ways to make recordings sound good in the digital space but there is no substitute for a great performance.
Q: What type of music do you usually work on?
A: Mostly country, folk, gospel but anything that needs a deeper voice.
Q: What's your strongest skill?
A: Authenticity and believability
Q: What do you bring to a song?
A: I bring 25+ years of performance and recording experience to every session plus an appreciation for every client. You never know which song is going to put a writer on the map so I give my full attention to every recording.
Q: What's your typical work process?
A: Typically a client sends me their lyric, a rough recording and an instrumental track along with a brief description of what they are looking for. I take it from there and send back a reference mix for approval. If there are any revisions needed, I make the changes and send back final tracks edited and ready for final.
Q: Tell us about your studio setup.
A: My studio set up consists of a Universal Audio LA610 mic pre, several vocal mics including a Lawson L47, an Audio Tehnica 40/33 and a Shure SM7B. I record in pro tools and have an excellent iso booth.
Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?
A: My favorite producer right now is Jay Joyce who is currently working with just about everybody having hits out of Nashville... Eric Church to Miranda Lambert to Lanco...
Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: Most of what I do is record lead and backing vocals for songwriters who want their songs to be heard by major label artists looking for material and considered for sync licenses in television and movie production. I write songs and create fully produced release ready recordings for my clients as well.