Bill Isles
The Shores of My Hometown
© 2006 Bill Isles (700261203706)
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Backed by Canadian fiddle master April Verch as well several of Minnesota's best, Isles' fourth release is a beautiful blend of his compelling lyrics, catchy tunes, warm vocals and delightful accompaniment.
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Bill Isles performed his first show of original songs in twenty-five years in February of 2000. Since that time, he has become one of the most well known singer/songwriters in the Minnesota acoustic scene and has begun to get national and international attention. His first UK tour was in March of 2003.
His songs are poetic reflections of life experiences and often explore adventurous spiritual courses. Admittedly a romantic, many of his lyrics describe emotional and sensual encounters. At the same time, just when you conclude that a song is about Michelangelo's first visit to scope out the project at the Sistine Chapel, you start to realize that, perhaps, this is also an artist's perception of entering the "chapel" of his/her audience. But then, again, it also hints at the intimate interaction of lovers. It is this multi-layering that has drawn fans to listen over and over again.
His love of life has strong roots in his childhood, but his urgency to tell these stories comes from an experience in 1993 when, with just enough warning to drive himself to the hospital, his heart stopped beating. He arrived with just ten minutes to spare. After being defibrillated, and before the doctors had time to detect and open a blocked artery in his heart, he made a commitment to himself that, if he survived, he would begin to write again. Those paddles restarted more than his heart...
Highlights ...
2001 - Winner of the 2001 Minnesota Folk Festival New Folk Songwriting Contest
2002 - Nominee for the 2002 Minnesota Music Awards Song of the Year for "I Can't Take You Home" a duet with Becky Schlegel (From "Weightless" 2001)
2003 - Nominee for the 2003 Minnesota Music Awards Acoustic/Folk Recording of the Year for "The Threshold" (June, 2003)
2004 - Semi-Finalist in Budweiser True Music Band Contest. The only solo act in an original field of 25 bands.
2004 - Finalist in the KRCL (Salt Lake City, UT) songwriting contest.
2004 - Song "Big Girl Now" placed on national compilation CD "Before Their Time"
2004 - Juried Showcase Artist, Northeast Regional Folk Alliance Conference, Catskills, NY
He has shared the stage with the likes of Buddy Mondlock and Carol Elliott, David Francey, Pete Morton, John Gorka, Lucy Kaplansky, Lynn Miles, Vance Gilbert, Christine Lavin, Rod Picott and Stacey Earle and Mark Stuart.
His first studio album, "Weightless", was released in December, 2001. His second, "The Threshold" was released in June, 2003. His third release, "The Calling" was released November 2nd, 2004. The album includes the song, "Hobos in the Roundhouse", which tells the first person account of his grandfather, who, when working as a railroad roundhouse mechanic on Minnesota's Iron Range, risked his job by letting hobos sleep indoors when he was on the midnight shift. "The Shores of My Hometown" was released October 23rd, 2006. It features Canadian master fiddler April Verch and is Isles' first completely self-produced, engineered and mixed album.