Rick Taylor made his first major appearance as a singer, songwriter and guitarist at the famed Mariposa Folk Festival in 1971 and went on to become a regular at many Canadian festivals and clubs. Blues, jazz, country, rock, roots, world, and contemporary music all influenced Rick's early years on the club and festival circuits and he established himself firmly in the 1970’s southern Ontario roots music scene. As a singer-songwriter and guitarist, Rick has been a 3 time Road To Memphis Finalist, a recipient of the Jimmy Lewis “Life Time of the Blues Award”, and he has been featured on several CBC television and radio programs
Bill Durst is a Canadian Blues- Rock- Roots guitarist, singer, songwriter, entertainer who has written and recorded over 125 songs on 12 albums with 7 national radio chart hits. Bill has opened for or shared the stage with Rush, Areosmith, BTO, Yardbirds, John Mayall, Savoy Brown, Bobby Rush, Little Feat, George Thorogood, Bad Company, Edgar Winter Group, Jeff Healey, Steve Strongman, Johnny Winter, Rick Derringer, Jack de Keyser, Ted Nugent, Monkey Junk, L.A. Guns, David Wilcox, Bob Seger, Slade, Downchild, David Clayton Thomas, Sly And The Family Stone and more. Mr. Durst has toured across North America and in Europe and tours extensively in Canada.
Other highlights of Rick's career include opening act for Bruce Cockburn and appearing in New York City as a multi-instrumentalist in Leonard Cohen's musical production The Sisters of Mercy, as well as lead guitarist in the Vancouver production of Hank Williams, The Show He Never Gave. Rick Taylor is well know for his high energy live performances, rich, expressive baritone voice, and his quirky and novel song writing styles such as the cult classics "Black Leather Diaper" and "Drunkards Lullaby" as well as his delicately, haunting, well crafted ballads, and unforgettable "guitarnastics". Rick's early chart hit classics "Letters From Jane" and "Soldier in the Rain", released internationally in 1989 on Volunteer Records, remained in "gold rotation" on many radio stations around the world for several years. Rick’s 2005 international CD release entitled Clown River contains 13 original solo guitar compositions. It is a beautifully woven instrumental story where Rick has reached deeply into his influences of the great finger style guitar traditions. Clown River caught the attention of Borealis Records and Rick was invited to be a featured artist on their guitar compilation CD - Six Strings North of the Border Volume 3, released internationally in Feb. 2006 and now available as a 3 CD boxed set. This compilation includes many of Canada’s finger style guitar greats such as Bruce Cockburn, Colin Linden, Amos Garrett, Stephen Fearing, Don Ross, Kevin Breit, Harry Manx and more. After living 23 years in Vancouver where Rick performed, recorded and produced, he relocated back to his home province of Ontario in 2007 and released his long awaited and critically acclaimed CD “The Wonky Years” in 2008. This raucous 10 song collection was recorded over a 10 year period with his band and runs the range of blues, roots rock, bluegrass, rockabilly, country swing and folk - displaying the immense breadth of Rick’s song writing, guitar playing, vocal abilities and styles. Rick’s most recent CD release of “Lucky Room” is a collection of 11 songs that covers the road from Mississippi to Chicago, paying homage to the blues masters from the late 1920’s to the early 1950’s that have helped shape Rick’s music over a 40 plus year career. This critically acclaimed work has garnered heavy rotation spending 75 weeks on the charts achieving radio hit status, reaching #3 on Roots Music Report charts Canada and #10 on the USA Roots Music Report - Blues charts.
As a kid growing up in Wingham and then London, Ontario (which is halfway between Toronto and Detroit), Bill was heavily influenced by Motown R&B and Toronto Psychedelic Soul music as well as the British Blues Invasion and Jimi Hendrix. Bill’s entrance on the national/international stage was with his classic rock band Thundermug formed from London R&B groups in 1969. By the summer of 1972 the band had a number one hit and a fan following in Eastern Canada. The band went on to record a total of 5 albums, (3 albums in the early/mid 1970s and two CDs in the mid 1990s) releasing records in the US and Europe. Bill put out his first two solo releases in the mid eighties but it wasn’t until the early 2000s that Durst got some real career momentum.
In 2004 he proclaimed his intention to start up a “little, fuzzy, psychedelic blues band” and since then Bill and his co-writer Joe DeAngelis have produced 5 full length CDs; The Wharncliffe Sessions (’05), The Great Willy Mammoth (’09), Live (‘12) and Hard And Heavy (’13) Good Good Lovin (15).
Bill Durst Awards and Nominations
Awarded - Best Canadian Blues Rock Album (Artist) 2014, Blues Underground Network Awarded - Top 10 Blues Rock Albums (International) 2014, Blues Underground Network Fan Voted - "Hard And Heavy" CD voted #2, Top 20 Canadian Blues Albums 2014, Blind Lemon Blues Awarded – Blues / R&B Artist of the Year, Jack Richardson Music Awards 2014 Nominated – Blues / R&B Artist of the Year, London Music Awards 2014 Nominated – Electric Act of the Year, Maple Blue Awards 2014 Awarded - Blues / R&B Artist of the Year, London Music Awards 2013 FanVoted - “Bill Durst Live” CD voted #5, Top 20 Canadian Blues CDs, Blind Lemon Blues 2013 Nominated – Blues / R&B Artist of the Year, Jack Richardson Music Awards 2013 Awarded – Best Canadian Live Blues CD “Bill Durst Live” 2013, Blues Underground Network Awarded - Blues / R&B Artist of the Year, London Music Awards 2012 Nominated - Blues / R&B Artist of the Year, Jack Richardson Music Awards 2012 Nominated - Blues / R&B Artist of the Year, London Music Awards 2011 FanVoted – “The Great Willy Mammoth” CD into the Top 20 Canadian Blues CDs 2011 Blind Lemon Blues Nominated - Blues / R&B Artist of the Year, London Music Awards 2010 Nominated – Blues / R&B Artist of the Year, Jack Richardson Music Awards 2010 Nominated - Blues / R&B Artist of the Year, London Music Awards 2009 Nominated – Blues / R&B Artist of the Year, Jack Richardson Music Awards 2009 Nominated - Blues / R&B Artist of the Year, London Music Awards 2008 Nominated - Blues / R&B Artist of the Year, Jack Richardson Music Awards 2008 Nominated – Blues / R&B Artist of the Year, Jack Richardson Music Awards 2007 Inducted – Jack Richardson Hall of Fame, Jack Richardson Music Awards 2006 Nominated - Blues / R&B Artist of the Year, Jack Richardson Music Awards 2006
Keep Up to Date
with the latest news and shows by joining our mailing list
