Will Gillespie: A king of summer!

Will Gillespie is a throw-back to a simpler time, where music was about having a good time, and putting on your dancing shoes for the night out! Originally from South Porcupine in Northern Ontario, a former resident of Sudbury who now calls Hamilton home is making his return to the Nickel City to promote his latest solo tour The Kings of Summer. Will is performing this weekend as part of the Craft Beer festival and a follow up performance at the famed Townehouse to close out the weekend. In advance of those performances, we got have a quick chat with him to get to know what makes him tick!

Where did it all begin for you as a musical artist? Were you inspired by a particular artist? 

I’ve been writing and performing in one form or another my whole life.

I learned what a song was from singing old Jazz standards as a kid with my grandmother at the piano. I learned how to play guitar to “Neil Young: Unplugged” jamming along with the CD and how to sing by singing along to “U2: Zooropa” and “This is Tom Jones” all self-taught in my parents’ basement.  I learned about lyrics and poetry from reading Cohen and paying attention to John Lennon and Neil Young, especially how they all wrote in plain English, simple lines, and not too many syllables, straight to the heart and from the gut. In Sudbury I really got into Tom Waits. Though I grew up listening to classic “Golden Age of Rock & Roll” music like the Drifters, the Platters, Elvis and Bill Haley, Chuck Berry and those guys. So there are a lot of different influences coming together in my music, that’s why I play in a number of different genres, depending on the mood and idea of a song. Different ideas and feelings sound like different genres to me, though it’s not a calculated formula. Sometimes it takes five minutes, sometimes it takes five years. 

Your style is very unique, if you had to compare it to a specific style genre or previous artist what would that be? 

I’m a Singer-Songwriter. Something I like about my shows is how when people come up to me afterwards and compare my sound to someone else, it’s always someone different. I guess that means I sound like Will Gillespie.

With that in mind, what can we expect from your performances this weekend? 

I would describe my genre as “Alternative Folk-Rock.” People can expect a night of original songs, finger-picking acoustic and electric guitar, sometimes whimsical/ quirky sometimes straightforward. I want to put on a dynamic and engaging, entertaining experience of a show, unique each time

 

Visit Will’s website to keep up with him and his latest tour dates and to get a taste of his music and check out some of his music videos! http://www.willgillespie.ca/