Billington Sea

Billington Sea is the name of one of Plymouth's 365 ponds. Its namesake is also ours: a man named Francis Billington. As the legend has it, he was a bit of a drunkard, which was a problem for him because he lived among the puritan settlers. I heard he withstood weeks traveling on that stinking ship 'cause he killed a guy back in England, or he owed someone money. I can't remember. At any rate, one day, Mr. Billington finds himself drunk and lost in the woods. After hours on foot, he decides to climb a tree so that he can get a better view of his surroundings. In the distance, he spots an enormous body of water. Mr. Billington catches his breath, and thinks to himself, "Shoot, I must have just discovered the Pacific Ocean." The puritans decide to take this mix up as an opportunity to tease him for generations to come. They mark our map, a medium-to-large sized pond, with the name, "Billington Sea: in memory of his error." This anecdote really won us over while deciding what to name our project. The story itself, it's wonderful and very likely embellishments, being drunk in the woods, delusions of grandeur--all of these things resonated with us, almost as deeply as an old Towns Van Zandt song, or that new Kendrick Lamar single. Some good history, our own spin, combined with the modern experience brings you Billington Sea: two weirdos who like to write songs, and especially like writing them together. Plymouth MA based songwriters Hayley Sabella and Jake Hill join forces to make Billington Sea.