Durst, Bill

Websites:  https://www.facebook.com/billdurstmusician/wall/?filter=12, https://billdurst.com/
Origin: London, Ontario, 🇨🇦
Biography:

Bill Durst, always an audience favourite, 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, Loverboy, Edgar Winter Group, Jeff Healey, Burton Cummings, Johnny Winter, Rick Derringer, Jack de Keyser, April Wine, L.A. Guns, David Wilcox, Bob Seger, Sly And The Family Stone and more. Mr. Durst has toured across North America and in Europe and tours extensively in Canada.

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, 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), Bill Durst Live (‘12) and Hard And Heavy (’13) Good Good Lovin ('15).

Awards & Nominations
Awarded - Blues Artist of the Year 2022, Forest City London Music Awards
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 Blues Awards 2014
Awarded - Blues / R&B Artist of the Year, London Music Awards 2013
Fan Voted - “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 2011s 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