He was a member of the Boston Blues Society, which staged concerts by Son House, Mance Lipscomb, Johnny Shines and other first-generation bluesmen.
In 1978, he and author Peter Guralnick edited live Boston Blues Society tapes to produce the Johnny Shines' album, Hey-Ba-Ba-Re Bop.
Over the years, he has produced Charlie Rich, Solomon Burke, Johnny Adams, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Soul Rebels Brass Band, Irma Thomas, James Booker, Tangle Eye, Girl Authority among other artists on Rounder and other labels.
As a harmonica player, Billington has recorded with Irma Thomas, Boozoo Chavis, Sleepy LaBeef, Johnette Downing, Theryl deClouet and others.
He played harmonica on the soundtrack to the Henry Fonda/Myrna Loy ABC-TV film, Summer Solstice, and on the PBS-TV series Zoom and Nova.