Hi all
I had the pleasure of knowing Bill personally for over 20 years. I knew his music since the early '80s and maybe saw him in concert in Bellingham once or twice back then. About 2000, my wife had just passed the year before and I saw Bill was performing in Seattle so I told my daughter, then 12, we're going to see him. First time I'd heard Child of Mine, sitting with my daughter, a year after her mom just died.... She remembers that night too! After that I was able to bring Bill up to the Vancouver area for about 4 years to do shows. He would stay with us, travel a bit in Southern BC, share stories and had a great time hanging with one of my music 'heros'. One of my fun memories is being on the BC Ferries going to the Gulf Islands. We were on the outer deck and they had just announced the horn would be sounding, I told Bill, "Cover your ears, they're sounding the horn", He grabs his hat!! Looks at me and grins... oops! Most recently my wife and I would go down to Oso, Washington where he played at the Rhodes River Ranch (a beautiful location!) where there would be about 15 of us enjoying his music. I would always 'drag' some friends down to join us for the shows. Then we would all join Bill for supper and a few drinks and swap stories... The last time we saw him (2019) we could see he was getting tired and stiff... but the music was always there.
His music will always be a part of my life and many others, his memory will live on in the music he created.
RIP Bill....