Born in rural coal mining country in Pennsylvania, Bill's first influences were his mother's love of Gospel music and his father's (a harp player), love of bluesy rhythms.
After moving to Chicago as a youngster, Bill found nighttime AM radio that carried live broadcasts from the blues clubs on Chicago's East Side. About the same time the forces of Rock & Roll and Rock-a-Billy arrived. The styles of Bill Haley, Scotty Moore, Muddy Waters, Cliff Gallup, and Albert King added to the mix.
As a kid at a family picnic he remembers a band called "Frankie Deaton and the Mad Lads" with a Fender Stratocaster echoing through a dance hall......
And that did it!
Over the past 50 years Bill has played many venues with groups such as the Vibratones, Montereys, King and the Cobras, Steve Dutchman Quartet, Past and Present, and The Cruisin’ Dogs....

Bill says, “John Lee Hooker says it best in the tune Boogie Chillin' ... ‘the music's in him and it's got to come out... Let that boy Boogie Woogie.’"