A few years ago I acquired a collection of records my great grandfather recorded in Phoenix in the 50s and 60s. I have been recovering what I could, trying to clean up some of the fuzz and static on the old records. This album is the first release I’ve assembled from that collection. There are a few other tracks, including some by my great uncle, that didn’t quite fit with this collection. I hope to release those in the future.

I did technically meet my great grandfather, he passed away the year after I was born. I had never heard his music until I received these records. Listening to these tracks while I was working on this project created some surreal moments; there are things Bill does vocally that sound like things I do when I sing. I’d like to record a companion album of me covering some, if not all, of these songs, just to see the comparison. My Granny has the guitar most of this was recorded on I think, it could be interesting to try to play these on that for the recording.

Update – Bill Mershon Sings is now available on all streaming platforms as well as bandcamp.