Bill Sheffield
Woodstock, Georgia, United States | INDIE
Music
Press
"Though a native of Atlanta, the Mississippi Delta flows through blues musician Bill Sheffield's veins." - David Owens
"Bill Sheffield often gets billed as a blues artist, and for good reason -- he built his career on songs by masters of the genre. But don't make the mistake of thinking that's all he has up his sleeve. Over the past several years, his growing catalog of original material includes everything from gospel to bluegrass to soul."
- Steve Wildsmith of The Daily Times Staff
"As always, I'm gonna give you the straight skinny, the righteous 411. No holds barred, nothing which is worth even a passing observation or comment will go unobserved or uncommented upon. Truth be told, when I first picked up Bill Sheffields 2006 “Journal on a Shelf” and the 2007 follow-up “Got a Gig, Gotta Go” I thought , “cripes, this guy looks kinda like me!”. Now I want to tell you that while that might not be the best recommendation for buying a CD, it certainly was enough to get me to pop that disc into the ol' player and fire the bad boy up. Take me now Lord. I've never experienced such bliss as the moment the first strains of “Cherry Blossom Time” floated from my speakers like a audio cloud of the afore mentioned blossoms. And it just kept coming!"
- Bill “Big Dog” van Elburg
"If you are looking for an amazing American roots CD .. this man is the master of it. I could not stop listening to his storytelling songs. There are upbeat, fast and good dance tunes on this collection, as well as some knee-slapping, crowd participation, sing-a-long tunes, combined with humorous lyrics and very serious melodramatic sad reflections of life songs. Bill Sheffield is no beginner in the world of music. He has been at this for some time and it shows." - Bev Moser
"As our devoted editors continue to spread their musical wings into the wild blue yonder, we are introduced to Bill Sheffield’s new work. Now, this ain’t country, but it’s genuine grassroots stuff. Blues--and Blues done darn well, I might add--in old style acoustic guitar with earthy or nearly no percussion and harp to speak of. This guy has really done his homework on old blues [like 1940‘s and 50’s stuff]. His vocals are meaty with good tone and inflections." - Macon & Cleveland
"This is a man who loves life, loves to make music and loves to get your feet tapping and a smile tugging. Sheffield’s own stuff is irreverent and funny, performed so effortlessly that its beauty could be easily overlooked. But make no mistake, his musicianship is strong.In the midst of the good times he’s laying out some gutsy emotion, always underscored powerfully by that lyrical guitar."
- Kevan Breitinger
"Sheffield has been playing the blues for nearly 3 decades and has riffed with the greats (Muddy Waters, T-Bone Walker, B.B. King, Big Mama Thorton, Stevie Ray Vaughn) and it shows. His blues, folk, gospel and even rockabilly chops are unassailable. The interesting thing to me, after listening to him for the first time, is that all the while he was playing with the greats, he seems to have become one himself."
- Dave Terpeny
Discography
In Other Words
Gotta Gig Gotta Go
Journal On A Shelf
Hearing Things
One Hot Night in Atlanta
Tuesday Night Madness @ The Northside Tavern
1¢ Penny Candy
Live! at The Blue Raccoon
Real Time
The XL'S featuring Bill Sheffield
Photos
Bio
Everything about Bill Sheffield is authentic. It's there in the intense, transcendent way he finger picks his guitar with hints of John Hurt and Blind Blake flashing through. It's there in his songs that wrestle with earthly pleasure and the need for redemption.
"I play a fairly rare style," he says. "It's a finger picking style inspired by John Hurt and Blind Blake. It dances by itself. You can sit there and play guitar and it just dances. Sometimes when I'm really swinging it feels like my hands are disconnected from my body."
He was playing in coffeehouses and bars around Atlanta by the time he was 18. Not much of a folk-blues town at that time, Sheffield was one of the only authentic blues players in the city. That led to opening slots for such greats as Big Mamma Thornton and Muddy Waters.
He began performing his own tunes at time when roots music was coming back into favor. Texas-blues stars like Stevie Ray Vaughan, who was guitar slinging his way to national fame, helped make the blues cool. Vaughn, in fact, once opened for Sheffield. Bill has also performed in concert with a who's who of music greats including Muddy Waters, T-Bone Walker, B.B. King, Delbert McClinton and Bonnie Raitt.
Over time his style has evolved, melding the pure emotionalism and great guitar work of the blues with country, gospel and soul. Categories don't do justice to Sheffield because he effortlessly transcends genres to create what can only be called great American music.
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