Bill Vencil has been plying the craft of progressive acoustic guitar playing for a good while. He became interested in the instrument at the age of 13, playing a "green stamps" guitar before moving on to other better instruments.
He spent time in college studying theory and composition, which was a valuable learning experience. Ives, Copeland, Hindemith, Bach, Mozart, Beethoven opened new musical vistas. Ear training, vocalizing, inversions, rules of harmonization, atonality, polytonality, dueling perfect 5ths, polyrhythms all affected his music in his head.
His involvement in a Baltimore-based progressive rock band called Tetelestai (see John 19:31) was an important milestone in his musical experience. The band created a quirky brand of prog-rock, with a focus on Bill's emerging style and sound. In addition to many live shows, a significant recorded body of work was produced, including a vinyl album, and several cassette albums.
At length, a growing family necessitated a change in priorities, which is a musical rhythm all its own. During this time, Bill kept his musical passion alive, turning his focus back to his initial love, solo acoustic guitar.
Bill uses a unique combination of techniques, including fingerstyle, flatpicking and hybrid picking, weaving quirky melodies and harmonies against syncopated rhythms.
Bill's debut solo album "In the Wilderness" reintroduces a guitar player with a distinct sound and musical vision. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
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