Biography

Bill McQuaid is a Cambridge, Massachusetts based country blues performer who plays songs primarily from the 1920s and 1930s on a clunky old 1931 National Steel guitar. Bill covers Son House, Skip James, Robert Johnson, Tommy Johnson, Mississippi John Hurt, Blind Blake, Willie McTell, and Blind Lemon Jefferson, to name a few. Bill has studied country blues with Paul Rishell, Ernie Hawkins, Mary Flower, Bertrand Laurence, Scott Ainslie, and Robert Jones.

Bill performs solo, duo, and with a band at Boston area venues including Club Passim, Johnny D's, Toad, and Sally O'Brien's. He has opened for Luther "Guitar Junior" Johnson, Otis Day & the Knights, Chris Smither, Rory Block, Paul Geremia, Steve Forbert, Paul Rishell and Annie Raines, Geoff Bartley, and Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes. Bill played at the 2006 Boston Blues Festival, 2006 and 2005 Boston Folk Festival, 2004 Lowell Folk Festival, performed live on the radio on WGBH with Brendan Hogan and on WMBR with Jason Beek, competed in the Boston Blues Society 2004 Solo/Duo Blues Challenge, and has featured at several open mics including the Cantab and TCAN.

Bill released his debut CD, Passing It On, in February of 2004. The CD, produced by Frank Coakley, features Boston musicians Jim Fitting, Paul Kochanski, Johnny Mac and Steve Sadler. It has received airplay on WBOS, WERS, WGBH, WMBR, WSRK, WMFO, and WUMB so far.  Bill has recently been performing in with a band including local area musicians: Michael Dinallo, Washtub Robbie Phillips, John Cohan, Johnny Mac, and Steve Sadler. 

Bill released his second CD "Love Changing Blues" in December 2007.  It was co-produced by Michael Dinallo and mixed by Ducky Carlisle.  It features hard working Boston area musicians: Steve Sadler, Dana Price, Jim Fitting, Johnny Sciascia, Dinty Child, Michael Dinallo and Robbie Phillips.  It received a rating of 10 out of 10 from Fran Leslie of Blues in Britain Magazine (March 2008 issue).  It has received airplay on several Boston area radio stations and additionally on WLRH/WJAB Huntsville, AL.

In addition to playing music, Bill has worked on the other side of the glass as a producer and engineer. He has recorded Spider John Koerner, the Jellyrollers, Fishken & Groves, and the Rolling Stones as an audio assistant for the Four Flicks DVD.

Bill became a dad for the first time in October 2007 and spends most of his free time these days playing guitar, banjo and ukulele for his boy Sammy.  Sammy accompanies his dad on the "hop and pop".