Calendar

William Fitzsimmons

William Fitzsimmons’ songs quickly find their way into your heart, if not through your head then through each song’s subtle exposé of life’s emotional tribulations. Fitzsimmons is life-tuned to sensing the nuances that many people miss but whose telling truths are immediately evident in the first listen. Fans and most of his critics embrace his works for their expressive originality and courage.

William was raised in the outskirts of the steel city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the youngest child of two blind parents. Due to the family’s inability to communicate through normal visual means, William’s childhood home was filled with a myriad of sounds to replace what eyes could not see. The house was suffused with pianos, guitars, trombones, talking birds, classical records, family sing-a-longs, bedtime stories, and the bellowing of a pipe organ, which his father built into the house with his own hands.

When his father’s orchestral records were not resonating through the walls, his mother would educate him on the folk stylings of James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, and Simon & Garfunkel. By the completion of his youth and schooling, Fitzsimmons had become well-versed at a variety of instruments, at the minor expense of social standing, interactional skills, and a knowledge of proper shaving technique.

Fitzsimmons’ path into music was likewise unusual, forsaking the hobby for many years to work with the mentally ill and pursue an education in the field of mental health. It was during his last semester of graduate school that William pooled money from past birthdays, holidays, and snow shoveling outings, and bought cheap home recording equipment to begin creating songs again (the first collection of which eventually became his debut album).

Read more

Tickets and info: http://www.botanique.be/en/activity/william-fitzsimmons-20062011

Disclaimer: text from Last.fm // The U.S. Embassy to Belgium is not responsible for the content of this text.