Bill Usher is a Canadian

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one mem ...

and

percussionist A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

. During the 1970s he was a member of the rock group

Truck A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construction ...

Background

He played on Bob McBride's ''Sea of Dreams'' album that was released in 1973. He produced artist Mark Rust, whose recording won Calf Audio their 3rd Crown PZM competition. In 1986, he became a member of the

CARAS The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) is a non-profit organization responsible for promoting Canadian music and artists. It administers the Juno Awards, the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and the MusiCounts music education cha ...

nominating and voting committee. He was also the president of Kids Records, a Toronto-based

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

Career

1970s

For a brief period he was a member of

and played bongos and congas on their 1973 self-titled album. In March, 1977, Usher was part of Bruce Cockburn's band which also included musicians, Vob Bouchier on string bass and Pat Godfrey on keyboards. Cockburn and his band had embarked on a two and a half month Canadian tour beginning at the Playhouse in Fredericton on the 20th of February that year. The tour which was described by ''Billboard'' as extensive was completed prior to June that year. He played on Cockburn's ''Circles in the Stream album''. In the ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' February 28, 1978 issue, the reviewer said that percussionist Usher supplies the spice.

1980s

He produced The Travellers' ''Merry Go Round'' album which was recorded at The Grange in Toronto and released on elephant Records LFN-80-03 in 1980. In 1985, he was in the group Tuin which also Cheryl Hurwitz, Dave Maddox and Christopher Woitach. According to the June 28, 1986 article in ''Billboard'', his company Kids Records had decided to cut its distribution deal with

A&M Records A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...

because it was more economical for their office to handle it themselves due to its emphasis on libraries and specialty stores. In 1987 he won the

Juno Award for Children's Album of the Year The Juno Award for Children's Album of the Year has been awarded since 1979 in recognition of the best quality children's performance album released in Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories ...

. In 2014, he received the Presenter of the Year award at the Pacific Contact booking conference and trade show in Burnaby.''The Golden Star'', Apr. 22, 2014
KHC’s Bill Usher takes Presenter of the Year honours
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References

External links

ArtistInfo: Bill Usher

Discogs: Bill Usher
{{DEFAULTSORT:Usher, Bill Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Canadian percussionists Canadian rock drummers Canadian record producers Truck (Canadian band) members