Warm, informal and fun, BILL RUSSELL has been getting audiences involved and
participating since 1970. Starting his folksinging career at the Yellow Door
Coffeehouse in Montreal, BILL extensively toured Central and Western Canada
in the 70s, playing at many festivals, coffeehouses and folk clubs. He
settled in Toronto in 1977 to be part of Mariposa In The Schools (MITS),
Since 1997, BILL calls Quebec City home and still is active with MITS in
Ontario and tours annually in the southern United States.
Although some of his own compositions are widely known -- recorded by
Canadian children’s singers Raffi (“Spider on the Floor”, “Biscuits in the
Oven”, “Les Zombis et les Loups-Garou”) and Kathy Reid-Naiman (“I Like to
Ride my Horse”) and Frenchman Gérard Dalton (“Ouais ouais”) -- BILL uses in
his family and school performances mostly traditional material, much of
which comes from his own childhood.
BILL’s children's albums are all in French (with translations included), and
are based in the Cajun and Creole folklore of Louisiana, where he grew up.
In addition to performing and composing, BILL calls Old-time dances for
young and old alike and teaches how to make figures with a loop of string.
ZING Zang Zo!! and
Bon Appétit are available now!
Some of Bill's favourite links:
Mariposa In The Schools
CANSCAIP
Canadian Olde Tyme Square Dance Callers Association (COTSDCA)
