Bill Sheriff
Bill Sherriff may have been writing songs since before you were born. With a folky style all his own, Bill's songs range from the comedic to the darkly observant and are the children of a lifelong love affair with music. Aside from a brief flirt with fame as a drummer in a 1960's London-based rock band, Bill has resided quietly in Athlone all his life, playing guitar and writing more music than you can shake a stick at.
How did you get into writing?
The missus bought me a guitar to keep me off the drums.
What's your biggest concern as a writer?
Melody. I get the melody easy enough, but I find it hard to write words. I just leave it there if I get rubbish words and come back to it maybe 6 months later.
Any Plans for your music?
The only plan I have at the moment is to do the songwriters night . . . and to try play the guitar a little bit better. I've always concetrated on writing songs, not on learning any good techniques on the guitar. I write simple songs, that's what I do; it's relaxation for me. I've done the professional thing years ago and I've seen that end of it too, though I was only playing drums at the time.
Any thoughts on the local music scene?
Not really, I'm just glad to be playing when I can, playing with folks who know how to play. I enjoy all types of music, so I see it as a privilege just to be playing with other people. My only aspiration in writing music is just to keep writing songs.
