William Ackerman (born November 16, 1949) is an American guitarist and record producer who founded

Windham Hill Records Windham Hill Records was an independent record label that specialized in instrumental acoustic music. It was founded by guitarist William Ackerman and Anne Robinson (née McGilvray) in 1976 and was popular in the 1980s and 1990s. The label was ...

Career

Early years

Ackerman was born in Palo Alto, California. His adoptive father was a professor of English at Stanford University. He grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and attended

Northfield Mount Hermon School Northfield Mount Hermon School, often called NMH, is a co-educational preparatory school in Gill, Massachusetts, in the United States. It is a member of the Eight Schools Association. Present day NMH offers nearly 200 courses, including AP and ...

in western Massachusetts. He returned to Palo Alto to study English and History at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

. His life took a turn when he discovered he had a fondness for carpentry. He was five credits short of graduating when he left Stanford to work as an apprentice to a Norwegian boat builder. In 1972, he founded Windham Hill Builders in Palo Alto while playing music for Stanford theater productions and performing impromptu concerts in town.

Windham Hill Records

With money borrowed from friends, he recorded his first album, ''The Search of Turtle's Navel'', later changed to '' In Search of the Turtle's Navel'', on his own label,

in 1976. His second album, It Takes a Year. he released in 1977. Shortly thereafter, Will recorded and produced an album entitled Turning:Turning Back by his cousin, guitarist Alex De Grassi. This was followed by

Robbie Basho Robbie Basho (born Daniel R. Robinson, Jr., August 31, 1940 – February 28, 1986) was an American acoustic guitarist, pianist and singer. Biography Basho was born in Baltimore, and was orphaned as an infant. Adopted by the Robinson family, ...

whose music had inspired Ackerman for years. He left carpentry to pursue music full time in 1980. During that year, the label received national attention via the success of a piano album by

George Winston George Winston (born December 26, 1949) is an American pianist, guitarist, harmonicist, and record producer. He was born in Michigan and raised mainly in Montana ( Miles City and Billings), as well as Mississippi and Florida. He is best known fo ...

entitled ''

Autumn Autumn, also known as fall in American English and Canadian English, is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September ( Northern Hemisphere) or March ( Sou ...

.'' He then discovered guitarist

Michael Hedges Michael Alden Hedges (December 31, 1953 – December 2, 1997) was an American acoustic guitarist and songwriter. Early years The son of Thayne Alden Hedges and Ruth Evelyn Hedges Ipsen, Michael Hedges was born in Sacramento, California. His l ...

at a concert in Palo Alto and immediately signed him to the label. Other musicians in the catalog were

Darol Anger Darol Anger is an American violinist and founding member of The David Grisman Quintet. Career Darol Anger entered popular music at the age of 21 as a founding member of The David Grisman Quintet. Anger played fiddle to David Grisman's mandol ...

, Mike Marshall, Liz Story, and the band Shadowfax. In time the genre associated with Windham Hill was called

New-age music New-age is a genre of music intended to create artistic inspiration, relaxation technique, relaxation, and optimism. It is used by listeners for yoga, massage, meditation, and reading as a method of stress management to bring about a state of ecs ...

. In 1982,

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 ...

became Windham Hill's distributor. The label was selling millions of albums, and Ackerman became a wealthy man. Despite outward signs of success, he was diagnosed with depression. By 1984, Ackerman no longer wanted to run a large corporation. He left California for Vermont. He built Imaginary Road Studios in

Dummerston, Vermont Dummerston is a town in Windham County, Vermont, United States. The population was 1,865 at the 2020 census. It is home to the longest covered bridge still in use in Vermont. Its borders include three main villages: Dummerston Center, West Dumme ...

and has continued to work as a producer. The walls of his studio are covered in more than 20 Gold and Platinum records from US and overseas sales.

Awards and honors

Grammy Awards ** Best New Age Album, ''Returning'', 2004 **Nominated, Best New Age Album, Brothers, 2021 Zone Music Reporter Awards ** Album of the Year, ''The Gathering'', 2012 ** Best Contemporary Instrumental Album, ''The Gathering'', 2012 ** Lifetime Achievement Award, 2013 ** Album of the Year, ''Flow'' by Flow with Fiona Joy, Lawrence Blatt, and Jeff Oster, 2017 ** Best Contemporary Instrumental Album, ''Flow'' by Flow with Fiona Joy, Lawrence Blatt, and Jeff Oster, 2017

Discography

* 1976: '' In Search of the Turtle's Navel'' (

Windham Hill Windham Hill Records was an independent record label that specialized in instrumental acoustic music. It was founded by guitarist William Ackerman and Anne Robinson (née McGilvray) in 1976 and was popular in the 1980s and 1990s. The label was ...

) * 1977: ''It Takes a Year'' (Windham Hill) * 1979: ''Childhood and Memory'' (Windham Hill) * 1981: ''Passage'' (Windham Hill) * 1983: ''Past Light'' (Windham Hill) * 1986: ''Conferring with the Moon'' (Windham Hill) * 1988: '' Imaginary Roads'' (Windham Hill) * 1992: ''The Opening of Doors'' (Windham Hill) * 1998: ''Sound of Wind Driven Rain'' (Windham Hill) * 2001: ''Hearing Voices'' (Windham Hill) * 2004: ''

Returning In retail, a product return is the process of a customer taking previously purchased merchandise back to the retailer, and in turn receiving a refund in the original form of payment, exchange for another item (identical or different), or a sto ...

'' (

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label * Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label * Decca Studios, a recording facility in W ...

) * 2008: ''

Meditations ''Meditations'' () is a series of personal writings by Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor from AD 161 to 180, recording his private notes to himself and ideas on Stoic philosophy. Marcus Aurelius wrote the 12 books of the ''Meditations'' in Koine ...

'' (Lifescapes) * 2010: ''New England Roads'' * 2017: ''Flow'' *2019 Flow Promise (LMB Music) *2019 Four Guitars https://www.fourguitars.com/ *202
Brothers
(Retso Records) *2022 Positano Songs (West River Records)

Compilations

* 1993: ''A Windham Hill Retrospective'' (Windham Hill) * 2006: ''Pure Will Ackerman'' (Windham Hill)

References

External links

*
Innerviews, 1998

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ackerman, William 1949 births 20th-century American guitarists A&R people American acoustic guitarists American adoptees 20th-century American composers American male composers American male guitarists Chamber jazz guitarists Fingerstyle guitarists German emigrants to the United States Grammy Award winners Living people New-age guitarists Northfield Mount Hermon School alumni People from Dummerston, Vermont Windham Hill Records artists 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians 21st-century American guitarists 21st-century American male musicians