The Billies to perform at UMPI, UMFK

The life of a traveling musician isn’t always as crazy as the stories make it out to be. The Billies know that for a fact.

“I wish we had some Motley Crue debauchery stories, like Ozzy urinating on the Alamo. We don’t. It’s nothing very glamorous,” said Craig Smith, drummer and singer for the New Jersey-based duo.

“The most exciting thing that has happened en route was when we were recording in Nashville,” said Chrisie Santoni, the guitar playing half of the group. “There was a turtle in the middle of the road. Craig took the turtle and scolded it and said ‘What are you doing? You shouldn’t be out in the road.’ Those are the things we consider to be excitement in our life.”

What the Billies lack in wild road stories, however, they make up for in charm and candor. Santoni and Smith have played together for three years, she on guitar and vocals and he on percussion and backing vocals, playing sweet, sensitive, laid-back, country-inflected acoustic pop. Their association started long before that, however.

“Way back in 1993 I interviewed Craig for my college radio station for a band he was in,” said Santoni. “All these years later, we’re performing together.”

The Billies have played all over the East Coast, but one of their most memorable experiences was the series of events that led up to their performance in Aroostook County last year. Smith’s old college friend, Patrick Quinlan, a writer based in southern Maine, suggested the Pine Tree State.

“We were thinking of trying to go somewhere different. Northern Maine seemed like a polar opposite to the New York-New Jersey metropolitan area,” said Smith. “Chrisie jumped on it, and we ended up opening for Buffy Sainte-Marie in Presque Isle.”

That Buffy Sainte-Marie concert also goes on the Billies’ list of exciting moments, as the reception the duo received at University of Maine at Presque Isle was almost overwhelming. It was so good that they’re coming back, when they perform tonight at the University of Maine at Fort Kent, and Saturday night at the UMPI.

“Everyone came up after that show, and they were so kind and interested in us,” Smith said. “I love this area because there’s no kind of pretense at all. The word ‘real’ is overused, but I think it’s appropriate. There’s no BS. They love to laugh, and they love to get to the point. We enjoy their company so much.”

This return trip to the County is just the Billies, in their stripped-down essence. Santoni’s quirky yet soulful voice melds with Smith’s harmonies, creating a distinctive, catchy vocal style. It brings to mind Edie Brickell, Dave Matthews and Ani DiFranco, but in some ways it also brings to mind the band’s New Jersey compatriot, Bruce Springsteen, when he’s in an acoustic mood.

Santoni writes the songs, and then Smith helps to flesh them out. It’s their friendship that’s the bedrock of the Billies – they do just about everything together.

“We’re either running, watching movies or playing music,” Santoni said. “We share a certain worldview or something. We like to complain about the same things. It just works.”

The Billies will play at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 28, at the Bengal’s Lair at the University of Maine at Fort Kent, and at 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 29, in the Multi-Purpose Center at the University of Maine at Presque Isle. Both shows are free for students and $5 for the public. For more information, visit www.myspace.com/thebilliesmusic. Emily Burnham can be reached at eburnham@bangordailynews.net.