Billy Ruegger

Billy Ruegger is a musician born and raised in Fairfield, CT. Equally capable as a vocalist, guitarist and pianist, he performs regularly as a solo act and as a guitarist with Mystic Bowie's Talking Dreads.

Born into a musical family, Billy began his formal musical training at age 12 with guitar lessons. With the encouragement of his instructor, he began teaching himself to play piano as well. In high school he performed with various groups, most notably Funk/Fusion group Prophets of Funk and Rock group The Stereo Police. His involvement with Prophets of Funk exposed him to jazz and the art of improvisation. In the Stereo Police, Billy learned how to craft catchy, pop-oriented songs and gained valuable singing experience as the group's backup vocalist.

By the time he graduated high school, Billy was certain he would go on to pursue a career in music. He enrolled at the University of Vermont as a music major, completing a few years of study before transferring to The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York City. It was at the latter where he would graduate and earn his degree. During his time in New York City, he studied and performed with some of the most acclaimed jazz musicians in the world. He also had the opportunity to perform at Jazz at Lincoln Center as the guitarist of the New York Youth Symphony Jazz Band in the Spring of 2014.

After he graduated from the New School, Billy returned home to live in Fairfield. This was a valuable opportunity for him to enjoy some space and reevaluate the course of his career. After many years of exposure to different genres and assimilating different sounds into his musical vocabulary, he felt a growing urge to create a sound truly his own and dedicate his energy to its development. At this time, he also began to perform as a solo act and grow into the role of a lead singer. He performed at Fairfield's Chef's Table as many as four days out of the week for two years developing his voice and expanding his repertoire.

Chef's Table provided him a platform to play for and meet many people, including local musician Mystic Bowie. In the Spring of 2018, Billy was asked by Mystic to join his reggae group Talking Dreads as their guitarist. That summer, Billy would embark on his first tour with Talking Dreads, gaining valuable experience during their five week stint on the road.

Billy currently resides in Fairfield, CT, performing locally as a solo act and nationally with Talking Dreads.