THE BEGINNINGS:
Born in Mississippi in the beginning of the World War II era, Bill grew up in a time when family and religious values were still extremely important. His family taught him a strong faith in God and in integrity and truth. Those values have sustained him throughout his life.

THE CAREER:
(GRAPHIC)
In the early 1960’s bill joined St. Regis Paper Company in Pensacola, Florida and at age 25 became one of the youngest department heads in company history. Throughout the years, Bill has been a creative director and art director for several companies and has handled promotional material for several notable people and organizations. In the 1980’s Bill was the creator of most of the promotional material (including tour books, t-shirt designs, calendars, etc.) for several artists including ALABAMA, (3 years of tour books, etc.), RAZZY BAILEY, DOLLY PARTON, CONWAY TWITTY, FRIZZELL & WEST, CHARLIE DANIELS BAND, RONNIE McDOWELL, BRENDA LEE, REBA McINTYRE, etc.

He has in recent years, through his own company, worked on projects for Altissimo Records (U.S. Army Band, U.S. Marine Band, U.S. Navy Band, U.S. Air Force Band and several other services), The Department of the Interior, Broadman & Holman Publishing, LifeWay, National Weather Service, The Department of Agriculture, MADACY Canada, Wonder Workshop, Warner Brothers Records, Time-Life, Wal-Mart, NOAH, The Nashville Sounds (Baseball Team), Etc. Bill’s design firm does an average of one dozen CD and cassette cover designs each week providing covers for artists like Roy Clark (4 projects, one of which was nominated for a Grammy in 1999), Dash Crofts (Seals & Crofts), the Benson Company, CNI, The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, The Chattanooga Aquarium and many more.

1999 marked completion of a 478 page full color Children’s Bible which includes 5 CD’s of narration and music for Broadman & Holman Publishing. This project was coordinated through Wonder Workshop of Nashville and is the largest Children’s Bible of its type in print. In 2001, he completed a 10 book project for B&H which was released during the 2001 - 2002 season.

THE CAREER:
(MUSIC)
During his early years (While still in high school), Bill was part of the music scene around Tupelo, Mississippi and Memphis, TN. His first song was published in 1958 and while still in high school he was recording in Memphis at Sun Records, Hi Records, Play Me Records which were all dominant record companies in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. In 1998 and 1999 three (3) of the tracks Bill played on at Sun Records in 1957 were included on a CD of Sun tracks released world wide. In the 1950s Bill toured with Gene Simmons (Haunted House), and several other major groups. In those years, he played dates with Charlie Rich, Carl Perkins, Carl Mann, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bo Diddly, etc. In the late 1960s he played on records by Blues Greats Sir Latimore Brown, Mighty Joe Young, Freddie Hubbard, Afro Soul Review and several other Detroit Groups and Artists.

In the early 1970’s Bill moved to Nashville and continued his dual career. His first day in Nashville, Bill played on 3 record sessions and throughout his tenure he has played on hundreds of record projects. In 1985 alone, he recorded on almost 80 album projects, including at least one number 1 record in the Southern Gospel market. In 1997 and 1998, songs written by Bill were recorded on at least 14 recording projects by other artists and the trend continues. In 1997, 1998 and continuing into 2005, the Desert Fire project which Bill recorded with his son Craig, was receiving continual airplay in Europe, Australia, England and several other areas (Poland, Germany, etc.). In addition to the recording career, there was considerable road and concert work. While still actively working from Nashville, Bill played bass for over three years with Grammy winner Jody Miller. He still plays keyboards with Country/Blues great Razzy Bailey. He has also worked with Grand Ole Opry stars Billy Walker, Billy Grammer, Ray Pillow, Jan Howard, Connie Smith and others. He was occasionally on the road over a 10 year period with Don Gibson, Ronnie Robbins (Marty’s son), Jerry Wallace (Primrose Lane, etc.), Stella Parton, Jerry Clower, George “Goober” Lindsay and many others. He produced two recording projects with Grandpa Jones and worked many network and syndicated TV shows. In 2001, Bill played on the Georgia Music Hall of Fame Annual Award 2 hour television special broadcast from the CNN facility in Atlanta. (Broadcast on PBS) Bill continues to write both music and books and several of his songs are recorded each year.

THE CAREER:
(MISCELLANEOUS)
Serious art and writing have always been a part of Bill’s life, so he uses the spare time he has available to create art for limited edition prints and writing short stories, children’s books and novels. “The Chair”, a mystery was published in 2006. His love for the West has prompted Bill and his wife Martha to open a Southwestern Art Gallery in Nashville which deals almost exclusively in Native American art from the New Mexico area. They visit that area at least 4 times each year to buy. They usually attend the Indian Market in Santa Fe and have made several friends among the Natives.

PERSONAL:
Bill finds satisfaction in having raised three children who are responsible citizens. He also greatly enjoys his function as a teacher of doctrinal issues in the Sunday School at Two Rivers Baptist Church in Nashville. Kay, Bill’s first wife of 29 years, died after a brief illness in 1989 and in 1992 Bill married his current wife, Martha. He feels very fortunate to have found two wonderful women. “Most men never find one,” he remarks.

Bill lives and works in Hermitage, Tennessee, a suburb of Nashville although he and Martha also own a home in Deming, NM where they plan to retire.