Marc Smerling and Zac Stuart-Pontier are two of the best storytellers in the podcasting space today. The two hosts are teaming up with Cadence13 for the second season of Crimetown Presents: The Ballad of Billy Balls. ADT will be the presenting sponsor of the entire season.
Smerling and Stuart-Pontier also host the great series Crimetown which digs deep into the dirty politics of Detroit and Providence. This new series is edited and produced by Smerling and Stuart-Pontier and hosted by activist and writer iO Tillett Wright.
To set the scene for The Ballad of Billy Balls: “Downtown New York, early summer, 1982. A man bursts into an East Village storefront apartment and shoots musician Billy Balls. The motive? Unknown. Billy’s body? It just disappears. Rebecca, Billy’s girlfriend, doesn’t know what to do and has no way to say goodbye. Now, thirty-seven years later, iO Tillett Wright helps give Rebecca the opportunity to let go. In Crimetown Presents: The Ballad of Billy Balls, Wright goes searching for answers and unravels a mystery of love and loss, the tender binds of family, and the stories we learn to tell ourselves just to survive.”
The first 2 episodes are already up and running.
“I would call it an experiment. To try to listen to a time and place many have never experienced,” said Marc Smerling. “We combined unique voices, music, and sound effects to bring the listener to a very emotional place. We want our audience to feel it.”
“It’s a crime story, but it’s more about love, loss, and the deep binds of family,” said Zac Stuart-Pontier. “The Ballad of Billy Balls may have the most heart of any podcast we’ve ever done.”
“This show is everything I’ve dreamed of,” said iO Tillett Wright. “True crime, no-bullshit storytelling, and a movie for your ears.”
“Marc Smerling and Zac Stuart-Pontier have raised the bar for investigative storytelling and continue to redefine the true crime genre in podcasting,” said Chris Corcoran, Chief Content Officer, Cadence13. “We are thrilled to continue our partnership with them for this intense, riveting story.”
