Bill Stewart – The search for tone

Throughout his long and varied career, whether it’s on his beloved Bourgeois acoustic guitar or his cherry-red Fender Stratocaster, Bill Stewart, like all great guitarists, has sought to find the absolute perfect Tone.  

Tone, or more formally, intonation, is that bewitching combination of wood, string, tuning, and signal chain that makes a guitarist distinctive and memorable. It is that elusive pallet that every master instrumentalist strives for. In whatever role the player is expected to perform, no matter genre or style, Tone elevates an inner quality in music that is unmistakable, whenever it is heard.  

In many ways, it is a search for self or at least that self that has the talent, endurance, and capacity to grow and learn. Some say it is Balance. Manipulating the variables that a master needs to control – volume, high to low-frequency ranges and colours, delay, reverb, distortion. Knowing the sweet spot on a particular amplifier’s settings, command over a set of pedals each meant to achieve a defined texture, and sound shape. Some may even categorize Tone as the soul of a player and his or her chosen instrument.

That’s what makes Bill such a treasure to hear and listen to. Beyond the fact that he is an accomplished journeyman who has worked the Huntsville circuit since the seventies, often racing to as many as four shows, all differing in styles and genres, in a single working day. Few musicians have to face that level of professionalism, but when you are a valued sideman, capable of taking solos, setting the groove, singing harmony, as well as a walking encyclopedia of modern song, then it falls on the shoulders of those few with the chops to pull it off.  

Music was almost instinctive for Bill. Growing up in a musical family, he found his way behind the drum kit in his father’s band. His father, a semi-pro fiddler, directed a successful weekend band. Soon Bill was playing guitar with his friends, enamoured with Beatles songs. Quickly Bill graduated to a stage guitarist at Deerhurst Resort providing background for the Shania Twain shows among many others. While working Deerhurst, Bill also became a guitarist in Loose Boots a popular country band, fronted by Tina Turley. Along the line, Bill caught the attention of Ronnie Hawkins, legendary rockabilly celebrity, managing a short tour as a Hawkins bandmate, touring Europe.    

Providing for a family on musician’s wages proved challenging, so Bill emigrated to the oil fields in Northern Alberta in and around 1983. The oil rigs gave him financial security but kept him away from live stage work, briefly. Bill was soon enough in another band, travelling the backroads of Alberta, setting up in bars and legions, with a mixed set of classic country to modern rock hits. Bill describes this period as one of the most influential on his style. For a decade, he plied his craft, refining his feel and grace on the strings, developing a technique that would become his calling card upon his return to Ontario.

Reestablishing and resituating himself in Huntsville in the early ’90s, Bill Stewart began to teach and do repair work on guitars, a trade he had become increasingly proficient in. He continued as a sideman at Deerhurst and sat in with several local bands. During his accreditation program for teaching at Humber College, Stewart dived deeply into jazz chord repertoire, which completely altered his understanding of the fretboard that subsequently technically opened up another avenue for him to earn an income. 

Stewart never chose a path as a songwriter or solo performer, he did not seek the spotlight preferring to reside in the back line, which many might consider beneath his prodigious talents. Still, he had his family to support and he had steady work.  

In 2005, Bill was recruited by the Bluegrass band, HoneyGrass, a popular quintet that graced many festival stages. Comprised of renowned violinist Marion Linton, Graham Stone on banjo, Karen May on stand-up bass, Bill Stewart on acoustic guitar, and Marie Gustafson on mandolin, HoneyGrass generated an uplifting, silky approach to traditional bluegrass often blending blues, jazz, and country into their stellar interplay, trading solos, and harmonies. Stewart thrived in the band, his flatpicking incorporated techniques he garnered and shaped from years on the road and endless practice. 

HoneyGrass – Storms Up Ahead 

Despite their popularity, HoneyGrass disbanded in 2014 and Bill went on to perform in Pulling Strings a trio with his partner Joanne on bass and Linton on violin.  During this period Bill took advantage of his fastidious live sound engineering skills and began to provide and work as a sound mixer for local festivals and conventions. 

Although Bill has not performed as often as he did over his career, he frequently sits on local shows, particularly in his home in Burk Falls.  His main work is doing live sound, a talent specialized in knowledge. Like all other working musicians the pandemic restricted work opportunities. During that period, Bill built a venue to host live music designed specifically to deliver the highest sound quality.  

Launched for concerts in June 2022, About Live Music at 60 Ontario Street, Unit 1, Burk’s Falls, Ontario, (https://www.aboutlivemusic.com), has hosted some highly attended concerts for artists Suzie Vinnik, J.P. Cormier, Madison Violet, Boreal, Rick Fines, and others.  The wood-paneled comfortable setting is conducive to intimate personalized concerts that most performing artists love. 

Bill beams with pride as he walks a visitor through the space. It culminates his life pursuit to capture, with the most sophisticated equipment possible, the real heart and soul of music – the deepest, richest tone. About Live Music will host a wide range of artists over the coming months including Valdy on April 23, and Ian Tamblyn on March 18, 2023.    

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