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Billie Eidson
Since: 2026 | Position: Contributor | Location: Portland | Page Views: 83 
About Me
Portland-based jazz vocalist and 25-year trial attorney completing her memoir, Miles Ahead: A Jazz Road Trip.
I'm a Portland-based jazz vocalist, bandleader, and songbook interpreter — and, in my other life, a trial attorney with 25 years in litigation, including a stint as an Oregon Assistant Attorney General. Music and law have always run in parallel for me: both are about listening closely and telling the truth of a story well. I've spoken nationally on this theme in ”In the Key of Justice: What Musicians Can Teach Trial Lawyers,” a CLE presentation for trial attorneys. I released my debut album, Sometimes I Love You, in 2021, and have continued building a catalog rooted in the Great American Songbook — including Autumn Nocturne (2025), recorded with pianist Greg Goebel (formerly of Gino Vannelli's touring band), bassist Phil Baker (Pink Martini, since 2003), and drummer Todd Strait (a four-time Grammy nominee). Along the way I've had the privilege of working with some extraordinary Pacific Northwest musicians, and stepping in as a featured guest vocalist on projects like Todd Strait's Fun House, arranged and composed by Bill Mays — a veteran LA studio pianist who has recorded with artists including Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughan, and Peggy Lee. Right now I'm in the middle of my next project, Moon and Sand: Songs of Love and Illusion — an album unfolding in real time, released and shared as it comes together rather than all at once. Each chapter traces a different corner of love, memory, and longing: it opens in illusion, moves toward the quiet moment when we start to see clearly — not with bitterness, but with compassion — and asks what remains once the story changes. I'm also at work on a memoir, Miles Ahead: A Jazz Road Trip, chronicling a solo six-week road trip taken with my dog through the world of jazz — clubs, festivals, and encounters along the way, including one with John Clayton at sea. Whether it's a courtroom or a bandstand, I'm still learning the same lesson: pay attention, serve the story, stay out of the way.
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Editorial Transparency. Your "Editorial Involvement" page is unusually candid about what happens to a piece after submission — they explain the three levels of intervention, keep a visible "Editorial Comments" thread on each submission, and explicitly say they'll preserve a writer's "personal idiosyncrasies" and individual voice rather than flattening everyone into house style. That's a level of process visibility a lot of outlets don't bother with.SUGGESTION
Not sure I can thoughtfully respond to this at this time. Need to think about it. Generally - just appreciate what you do.This page was last updated on 2026-09-08.
