Bill Stevenson (born 1947) is a Canadian

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

pianist, vocalist and songwriter, originally associated with the band

Earth Opera Earth Opera was an American psychedelic rock group, active between 1967 and 1969 and featuring Peter Rowan and David Grisman. History Both Rowan and Grisman were virtuoso folk and bluegrass performers in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, ...

, whose career in music has spanned over forty years.

Biography

Stevenson commenced his music career in Ottawa, Ontario, where he spent his childhood and adolescence. While still in his teens, he joined the band

, originally based in Boston. Stevenson left the band in 1968, after the release of their first album. During Stevenson's time with Earth Opera, the band frequently opened for

The Doors The Doors were an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most controversial and influential ro ...

, being fellow recording artists on

Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the 1 ...

, as well as having

Jac Holzman Jac Holzman (born September 15, 1931) is an American music businessman, best known as the founder, chief executive officer and head of record label Elektra Records and Nonesuch Records. Holzman commercially helped launch the CD and home video form ...

as producer. After leaving Earth Opera, Stevenson returned to Ottawa, where he continued to play locally for a number of years. One of his associations was as an early member of Heaven's Radio, considered to be one of the best bands to come out of Ottawa in the 1970s. As of the mid-1970s, Stevenson relocated to

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348,634 people in its urban area. The ...

, from which his career has been based since. During his career, Stevenson has worked with many notable artists, including

John Lee Hooker John Lee Hooker (August 22, 1912 or 1917 – June 21, 2001) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. The son of a sharecropper, he rose to prominence performing an electric guitar-style adaptation of Delta blues. Hooker often ...

Amos Garrett Amos Garrett (born November 26, 1941) is an American-Canadian blues and blues-rock musician, guitarist, singer, composer, and musical arranger. He has written instructional books about music and guitar. Garrett holds dual citizenship and was rai ...

and

Tom Rush Thomas Walker Rush (born February 8, 1941) is an American folk and blues singer, guitarist and songwriter who helped launch the careers of other singer-songwriters in the 1960s and has continued his own singing career for 60 years. Life and ...

. Stevenson is the 2008 winner of the

East Coast Music Award The East Coast Music Association is a non-profit association that hosts an annual awards ceremony based in Atlantic Canada for music appreciation on the East Coast of Canada. Its mission is to develop, advance and celebrate East Coast Canadian mus ...

for Jazz Album of The Year.Biography of Bill Stevenson
www.billstevensonmusic.ca With Tom Easley and Geoff Arsenault, he is also a 2009 East Coast Music Award nominee for Blues Album of The Year.

Discography

Earth Opera

*1968 ''

'' ( Elektra)

Featured performer

*1994 ''Shall we call it a night'' (Independent, with Tom Easley) *2006 ''For The Record'' (Independent; with Tom Easley) *2009 ''Nine Steps'' (Super High; with Tom Easley and Geoff Arsenault)

Contributions to others

*1972 Tom Rush, '' Merrimack County'' ( Columbia) *2003 Hot Toddy, ''Salty Sessions, Vol. 1'' (Independent) *2004 Dutch Mason, ''Half Ain't Been Told'' (Pig Productions/ CBC) *2004 Hot Toddy, ''Salty Sessions, Vol. 2'' (Independent) *2005 Soundtrack contributions, ''The Life and Hard Times of Guy Terrifico'', starring

Kris Kristofferson Kristoffer Kristofferson (born June 22, 1936) is a retired American singer, songwriter and actor. Among his songwriting credits are "Me and Bobby McGee", " For the Good Times", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and "Help Me Make It Through the Nig ...

*2008 '' Dancing Alone: Songs of William Hawkins'' (

True North True north (also called geodetic north or geographic north) is the direction along Earth's surface towards the geographic North Pole or True North Pole. Geodetic north differs from ''magnetic'' north (the direction a compass points toward the ...

)A tribute album, on which Stevenson performs two of Hawkins' songs, including a version of Hawkins' best-known song, "Gnostic Serenade". Stevenson's version is described by one reviewer as a "stark, voice-and-piano confessional'
Review of ''Dancing Alone: Songs of William Hawkins''
The

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

, October 14, 2008. *2015 Joel Plaskett and the Park Avenue Sobriety Test

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stevenson, Bill 1947 births Canadian blues pianists Canadian jazz pianists Living people Musicians from Halifax, Nova Scotia Musicians from Ottawa 21st-century Canadian pianists Earth Opera members