William Norman Edwards

Friday , June 14, 2002
12:00 am
Location: Elderly Instruments
in-store performance (free)

Detroit-born William "Billy" Norman Edwards was raised on the Motorcity’s rough and tumble east side where he grew up listening to the classic country records of his parent’s generation. He started out DJ’ing with his brothers 45’s at local parties and before long he was playing harmonica in garage bands all over the city’s east side. The teenager grew up with the sounds of sixties folk, Motown soul and classic blues ringing in his ears…….. Over the years, Billy’s ramblings took him all over the United States where he jammed with the likes of Slim Harpo, Lightning Slim, John Lee Hooker, and Baby Boy Warren. Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie were also a big influences on Billy, and this led to him discovering the music of Sonny Boy Williamson, Little Walter, Paul Butterfield, Taj Mahal, and The Band. He started playing at the famous Chessmate Café (home to Joni Mitchell, Tom Rush and Jesse Fuller) and soon after became a regular at The Blind Pig in Ann Arbor, Michigan. This led to an opening spot at the Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival and several years traveling the country playing small honky tonks, cafes, bus stations, anywhere he could find an audience and make a few dollars. Billy eventually returned to Michigan, where he began working in the local car factory, married and raised a family. In 1989 Billy headed to northern Wisconsin and ran through a myriad of occupations. He drove a truck, and even moved furniture. He also spent that time taking stock of his life, raising his family, and writing songs. He wrote songs of pain and struggle, and the triumph and joy of carving out a new life in an unkind and unfamiliar environment. He then returned to Michigan and began to share the songs and what he learned with the rest of the world. Jump ahead to the summer of 2000. Grammy award winning producer/guitarist Pete Anderson (Dwight Yoakam, Sara Evans, Michele Shocked) and his old friend Billy have a jam session in a Grand Rapids hotel room. This turns out to be a pivotal event in both men’s lives. Anderson brings Billy to Burbank, CA (home of his Little Dog Records label), calls up their old friend Michael Hooper in Germany, enlists the aid of engineer/mixer extraordinaire, Sally Browder, and an album is born. Titled "Down Here", this is the first solo recording William Norman Edwards has ever done. Released on Anderson’s Little Dog Records label, it is a love affair with blues, folk, rock and poetry woven into a tapestry that must be listened to again and again. It is the story not only of William Norman Edwards, but a testament as to how he got…..Down Here.

Check out recordings we carry featuring William Norman Edwards