Born in St. Joseph, Michigan to parents of mixed American and Mexican ancestry, Billy Jarrett Contreras moved to Franklin, Tennessee with his family at the age of five.
[2] When he was eight years old, Contreras began studying with legendary Nashville session violinist Buddy Spicher, who taught him about Western Swing and familiarized the precocious young fiddler with jazz standards.
In the late 1990s Contreras also worked extensively with The Texas Playboys, performed with country star Hank Thompson, and played in Lionel Hampton's big band at the Chet Atkins Musicians Days Festival.
In the liner notes of Contreras' first LP as a leader, Wild Fiddler, jazz violinist and fiddle master Mark O'Connor observes: “He’s a natural musician, playing with ease the ideas he collects as he encounters new musical influences.”[6] From 1998-2000 Contreras studied with noted American classical violinist Rachel Barton Pine in Chicago, where he flew up for lessons from Tennessee every other weekend.
During his time at Miami Contreras recorded as a featured soloist on two electro-acoustic nu jazz albums produced by fellow student Scott Routenberg—Lots of Pulp[9] and Jazztronicus.
[10] He also performed the premiere of composer Maria Schneider's Grammy Award nominated "Three Romances" with the University of Miami's Concert Jazz Band, an extended work commissioned by the ensemble.
Contreras subsequently toured with the band and performed on NBC's Late Night with Conan O'Brien, the Bonnaroo Music Festival and the Grand Ole Opry.