Bill Ackerbauer profile picture

Bill Ackerbauer

About Me

I’m a writer, editor, teacher, parent and musician from Johnstown, N.Y., a small city in the foothills of the Adirondacks.
As a solo act, I mainly play acoustic guitar and harmonica, with a little banjo, mandolin, fiddle, etc., thrown in for variety. My repertoire includes hundreds of traditional and contemporary songs in the roots-music genres of folk, vintage blues, bluegrass, early country, maritime and Irish drinking songs -- and original songs stemming from these traditions.
Samples of my music are available here or at my homepage: Smokin’ Bill’s Digital Depot
For bookings, call 210-6181 or e-mail me at smokinbill(at)aol.com.

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 07/08/2006
Band Website: http://hometown.aol.com/smokinbill
Band Members:
Influences: Country Blues Cats of Yesteryear: Mississippi John Hurt, Rev. Gary Davis, Blind Blake, Furry Lewis, Pink Anderson, Lightnin' Hopkins, Robert Johnson, Son House, Charley Patton
Contemporary Acoustic Blues Folks: Roy Book Binder, Paul Geremia, Steve James, Keb ' Mo, Corey Harris, Guy Davis, Jerry Ricks, Jim Mathus
Fingerstyle Guitar Gods: John Fahey, Stefan Grossman, Duck Baker, Leo Kottke, Joseph Spence, Dave Van Ronk
Old-Time Old-Timey Musicians: Hobart Smith, Roscoe Holcomb, Clarence Ashley, Tommy Jarrell
Modern Old-Timey Musicians: Doc Watson, Mike Seeger, Jody Stecher & Kate Brislin, Old Crow Medicine Show, Foghorn Stringband, The Mammals
Folk Singers, Songwriters and Performers: Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger, Steve Earle, Dan Bern, Todd Snider, The Be Good Tanyas, Geoff Berner, Jolie Holland, The Duhks
Misc. Country and Bluegrass Acts: Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Jimmie Rogers, Lefty Frizzell, Vassar Clements, The Delmore Brothers, The Carter Family, The Stanley Brothers, Lyle Lovett
Irish and Irish-American Folkers etc.: The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, The Pogues, Ron Kavana, Woods Tea Co., The McKrells, Brendan Nolan
Others: The Howard Fishman Quartet, The Greatful Dead, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, The Who, Bob Marley
Sounds Like:
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Record Label:

My Blog

I Don't Want to Spoil the Party

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Am-zS-WfpAM
Posted by on Tue, 10 Mar 2009 22:09:00 GMT

Leaving Home - Bill Ackerbauer covers Charlie Poole classic

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ga2xOG8YgKw Just fooling around with an old-timey tune. The chorus is really difficult to get out clearly.
Posted by on Sat, 10 Jan 2009 12:46:00 GMT

Musical musings

I put up a few random music-related thoughts today on my Leader-Herald blog, "Bill's Broadsides." I mention this here for the benefit of my MySpace readers who wouldn't normally be caught dead over at...
Posted by on Thu, 20 Nov 2008 20:14:00 GMT

The Bentwood Rockers

My buddy Roland and I recently decided to give ourselves a name and start playing a few gigs as a two-man old-time/jugband/country blues act. We've been playing together for fun for a few years, and i...
Posted by on Sun, 12 Oct 2008 18:44:00 GMT

Ex Mentis has moved

Just an update for anyone looking for my AOL blog, "Ex Mentis Bill Ackerbauer." AOL shut down its hosting services, so I transferred the content over to the following site: http://billackerbauer.blogs...
Posted by on Sun, 12 Oct 2008 15:46:00 GMT

Dr. Stanley backs Barack

From The Washington Post: Bluegrass Legend Ralph Stanley Endorses ObamaAnita Kumar Bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley endorsed Democrat Barack Obama for president tonight while the Illinois senator was on...
Posted by on Thu, 18 Sep 2008 03:58:00 GMT

New Book about Johnstown, N.Y.

I have finished putting together a 120-page book on the history of my hometown. It will be published by The Leader-Herald, the newspaper company where I work as an editor. You can read about the book ...
Posted by on Wed, 17 Sep 2008 05:46:00 GMT

Did you see this? RE: Gov. Palin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anxkrm9uEJk
Posted by on Thu, 11 Sep 2008 13:31:00 GMT

Flash fiction

I recently came across a cool Web site, an online literary journal with a unique niche: It publishes short (wicked short) fiction: stories that are exactly 55 words long. A story of mine, "Good ...
Posted by on Sun, 31 Aug 2008 20:07:00 GMT

Tooting Ye Olde Horn

"Bill's Broadsides," my blog over at www.leaderherald.com, recently was awarded the first place NYSAP award in the newspaper's circulation category. The thrill of the victory was somewhat deflat...
Posted by on Tue, 12 Aug 2008 18:36:00 GMT