IT’S A life of song. Spend 15 minutes with Billie Crowell, and tell me you don’t walk away with a song in your heart, a smile on your face, and a pep in your step. She says music is God’s gift to her; Crowell is God’s gift to us.
The piano has its place in many childhood memories. Some find practice and recitals a chore, while others, like Crowell, discovered a life-changing melody. It was a connection that grew stronger when Billie Crowell’s father, W.D. (Bill) Hayes, who operated Bill’s Grocery, received a piano as payment on an account. The ivory keys on that old Wurlitzer played more than scales; they played into Crowell’s future and set the trajectory of her life.
According to hellomusictheory.com, one of the many benefits of learning to play the piano is it improves your memory. Crowell is living proof and effortlessly recounts events in her life in song. She burst into song with lines from the first song she sang with her sister, Mary Jane. “There’s a gold mine in the sky far away. We will find it, you and I, some sweet day.”
Music and the piano are Crowell’s heartbeat, and Crowell and music are a dance. While the metronome of life ticks perfect rhythm as crescendos approach and gentle melodies evolve, Crowell can’t (and would never want to) separate herself from music.
That first Wurlitzer watched Crowell grow up. It patiently worked through scales, recital practices, and performance preparation. Like a doting parent, it watched as she left behind childhood toys and waked into young adulthood.
Also testifying to this season is a framed, yellowed newspaper. The Bedford County Times reminded its readers to tune in for Shelbyville’s AM 1400 WHAL first broadcast on Friday, December 20, 1946, featuring Ralph (Rat) Brantley and Miss Billie Hayes.
She said of that first broadcast, “The first sound ever [on WHAL] was Rat playing piano, and I sang, ‘If I Had My Way.’”
Other opportunities to perform during this time stirred memories of specific songs.
Crowell recalled, “In my high school days, we had one morning where everyone with a talent performed. ‘Dream (When You’re Feeling Blue).’ Remember that one?”
Indeed, piano playing sharpens and extends memory while simultaneously creating lifetime memories.
Crowell took her beloved music with her as she married Elmer “Coke” Crowell, and they began their family. You’ll find that handsome football captain pictured on the same yellowed front page newspaper, foreshadowing two lives that would become one.
While chauffeuring her children, Jackie, David, and Nancy, Crowell found ways to continue to make music a part of everyday life. She shared music with Bedford County’s school children as a music teacher in the ‘70s and ‘80s and taught private lessons. She briefly operated a dance studio in her home’s basement before moving on to playing piano and teaching dance at Nancy June Brandon’s School of Dance.
Brenda Ayers was one of Crowell’s dance students and remembered how important it was in her life.
“We were poor growing up, but dance was the one place I could go to and escape that reality,” Ayers said.
Crowell said, “My real joy was helping others learn to love music and have a part in it, even if they never played anywhere.”
But some still play and live with the joy their time with Crowell sparked.
Her first piano student, Bob Smith, plays piano and organ. Music has taken him from the center ring of the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration to church platforms, and he continues a life of music sparked at Crowell’s side on the piano bench.
He said, “I credit everything I’ve ever accomplished through my music to this super dear lady! She was so patient and worked with me to learn to play the piano; then, the organ came naturally. I owe my love of music to her, and, to this day, when I see her, it’s like seeing my idol. I’m so humbly thankful God allowed me to learn and study piano under her.”
Crowell has always shared her love of music by serving as a pianist at area churches.
She said, “I am still blessed to be able to play the piano and organ at my church, First Presbyterian, every Sunday morning in praise to our Lord God.”
The list of piano positivity states that learning the piano removes negative emotions. Another benefit of playing the piano is that it helps alleviate stress and reduce anxiety. Crowell agrees, saying she depends on it and God for strength and happiness.
Crowell adds her reason for learning to play the piano to this long list.
“It becomes a joy in your life like nothing else,” she said. GN
