WIL
Wil was born to parents who were both musically proficient. On Friday nights he would sit and listen while his parents played and sung along to the old crooners and guitar legends such as Johnny Cash, Chet Atkins and Hank Williams.
By the age of 13 he was seriously refining and defining his playing style unknowingly blending his love of “old school country” with new diverse new influences. He subsequently landed his first paying gig in 1992 and spent a number of years honing his musicianship while finding his true voice.
Wil wrote his first album, titled Both Hands, in 2001. The title track, “Both Hands” was written by friend and writing partner, Jeff Leitl. It sold over 6000 copies off stage and allowed him to tour with artists such as Colin James, Matthew Good, Joel Plaskett, Xavier Rudd and Gomez among others. It was here, while touring relentlessly that Wil began earning fan admiration for his intense and thrilling live performances. One review quotes “The man works a guitar so hard, it inches toward igniting during a set. Often times, it relents to the strain of such fierce play by popping off a string or two, as if to wave a white flag of surrender if only for a moment, until Wil conducts it back into motion.” The album earned him 4 nominations at the 2005 WCMA’s including producer and “entertainer of the Year”. Both Hands has since gone on to sell over 16,000 copies.
For Wil’s sophomore release titled By December he collaborated melodically with some of Canada’s most respected musicians; producer and multi-instrumentalist Dave MacKinnon (FemBots), ” 54-40’s Neil Osborne and Broken Social Scene’s Jason Collett among others. In October 2008, Big Life, a beautiful track from the album was featured in a pivotal hospital scene in the ABC TV series, Eli Stone (Johnny Lee Miller).
After the album’s release Wil toured with other Canadian artists such as Serena Ryder and Canadian music darling, Leslie “Feist”.
Wil was recently featured in a White Iron Films, Rosie Award-winning documentary entitled, Music Is The Message: Wil, which detailed Wil’s ongoing journey within music. The doc was aired on MuchMoreMusic last September and scooped three awards at the recent ‘Rosies’, including best Best Music or Variety Show.
On Wil’s third album,“In This Together” (March 2010) he found a lighter stride- he moved away from the heavier side of life and love while retaining his very direct lyrical and vocal style. He made every effort to let the songs drive the arrangements and instrumentation without trying to appease or work to a specific genre, audience or market. Wil says, “The recording process has given me the opportunity to work with a wonderful collective of people; open, honest and loving people who are involved for the sheer love of music and art… I discovered news ways to open up my mind and heart to experiences which allowed the writing and collaboration process to flourish. As well, I concentrated on finding new ways of improving as a live performer and song writer,” reflected Wil. “I don’t hate making records — that’s something I feel the need to clarify after reading a few interviews,” he says. “What I get to learn from the people I make them with is amazing. The act of doing it in a controlled environment — you’re just not performing. And that’s something I’ll never be good at. I’ll keep making records but I love performing live.”
So why doesn’t he just make live records, you ask? They’re just not the same, he says, “Live shows are meant to be felt — they’re not meant for a four-inch screen on YouTube,” he says. “They’re meant to be experienced and then its over-to be remembered… to be experienced again someday. I’ll always make records, but I prefer writing songs and developing them in front of people.”
On that note, Wil spent the fall of 2010 writing and developing songs for his new album "Heart of mine"which he recorded and self produced with drummer Jason Cook. . Those who have heard it feel it is his best work to date, honest and raw; a studio album yet defiantly capturing the energy of Wils famous live performances. A Western Canada tour has been set to begin November 2nd in Vancouver BC in support of the release which is due out this October.
Read more...