William Fitzsimmons (musician)
Encyclopedia
William Fitzsimmons is an American singer-songwriter
, based in Illinois
, perhaps best known for his songs "Passion Play" and "Please Don't Go", which aired during pivotal scenes in ABC's
medical drama Grey's Anatomy
. His first two full-length albums, Until When We Are Ghosts (2005) and Goodnight (2006) were completely self-produced and recorded by Fitzsimmons at his former home in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
. His The Sparrow And The Crow (2008) was his first studio record. In addition to the above, his music has also been featured on ABC
's Brothers & Sisters and Grey's Anatomy spin-off Private Practice, MTV
's Life of Ryan
and Teen Wolf
, The CW
's One Tree Hill
, ABC Family
's Greek
, and Lifetime's Army Wives
, and he has been given reference in Billboard
, Rolling Stone
, Paste
, Spin
, Musikexpress, Uncut
, Q Magazine, and Performing Songwriter Magazine.
. He is said to have developed his multiple instrument abilities from his mother and father, both of whom were recreational musicians. His childhood home even housed a fully functional pipe organ
, built by hand by his father. He was taught the piano and trombone during elementary school, and began teaching himself guitar while in junior high school. He is also proficient at the banjo
, melodica
, ukulele
, and mandolin
, and is known for mixing folk music
with electronica
in some of his production. In addition to performance abilities, Fitzsimmons is credited as the engineer and producer of his first two releases. He is often compared to contemporaries Iron & Wine
, Sufjan Stevens
, and the late Elliott Smith
.
William's career in music came only after completing a Master's Degree
in counseling at Geneva College
, and working as a mental health
therapist. Prior to his graduate studies, Fitzsimmons worked with the mentally ill for several years. It was during a summer break in the midst of graduate school
that Fitzsimmons recorded a collection of songs on home recording equipment which would subsequently become his debut album.
Fitzsimmons' writing often includes reference to personal and family subject matter. His 2006 effort, Goodnight, is said to have been based largely on his parents' divorce
during his adolescence, and his 2008 work, The Sparrow And The Crow, was written entirely about and following his own divorce.
Fitzsimmons' music was noticed initially largely through MySpace
, and touring with fellow artists Ingrid Michaelson
, Brooke Fraser
and Cary Brothers
among others, and from several featured song placements on popular national television programs such as Grey's Anatomy
. William currently resides in Jacksonville, Illinois
.
A video for "The Tide Pulls From The Moon" was released on the 8th February 2011. In June 2011 Fitzsimmons was touring in Europe, presenting his recent album Gold In The Shadow, which was released March 22 via Nettwerk.
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
, based in Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, perhaps best known for his songs "Passion Play" and "Please Don't Go", which aired during pivotal scenes in ABC's
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
medical drama Grey's Anatomy
Grey's Anatomy
Grey's Anatomy is an American medical drama television series created by Shonda Rhimes. The series premiered on March 27, 2005 on ABC; since then, seven seasons have aired. The series follows the lives of interns, residents and their mentors in the fictional Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital in...
. His first two full-length albums, Until When We Are Ghosts (2005) and Goodnight (2006) were completely self-produced and recorded by Fitzsimmons at his former home in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
. His The Sparrow And The Crow (2008) was his first studio record. In addition to the above, his music has also been featured on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's Brothers & Sisters and Grey's Anatomy spin-off Private Practice, MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
's Life of Ryan
Life of Ryan
Life of Ryan is a reality show following the life of pro skateboarder Ryan Sheckler. Each episode is 22 minutes long and follows Ryan, his family, and friends through the various twists and turns of life as a skater. Most episodes were filmed in and around the Sheckler household in San Clemente,...
and Teen Wolf
Teen Wolf (2011 TV series)
Teen Wolf is an American television series that currently airs on MTV, and in reruns on TeenNick. The series premiered on June 5, 2011, following the 2011 MTV Movie Awards. Teen Wolf is a supernatural drama series that follows Scott McCall , a high school student and social outcast who is bitten by...
, The CW
The CW Television Network
The CW Television Network is a television network in the United States launched at the beginning of the 2006–2007 television season. It is a joint venture between CBS Corporation, the former owners of United Paramount Network , and Time Warner's Warner Bros., former majority owner of The WB...
's One Tree Hill
One Tree Hill (TV series)
One Tree Hill is an American television drama created by Mark Schwahn, which premiered on September 23, 2003, on The WB Television Network. After its third season, The WB merged with UPN to form The CW Television Network, and, since September 27, 2006, the network has been the official broadcaster...
, ABC Family
ABC Family
ABC Family, stylized as abc family, is an American television network, owned by ABC Family Worldwide Inc., a subsidiary of the Disney-ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company...
's Greek
Greek (TV series)
Greek is an American comedy-drama television series, which follows students of the fictional Cyprus-Rhodes University , located in Ohio, who participate in the school's Greek system...
, and Lifetime's Army Wives
Army Wives
Army Wives is an American drama series that follows the lives of four army wives, their families, and an army husband whose wife is in the army. The series, shot at ABC Studios, premiered on Lifetime on June 3, 2007...
, and he has been given reference in Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
, Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
, Paste
Paste (magazine)
Paste is a monthly music and entertainment digital magazine published in the United States by Wolfgang's Vault. Its tagline is "Signs of Life in Music, Film and Culture."-History:...
, Spin
Spin (magazine)
Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard...
, Musikexpress, Uncut
UNCUT (magazine)
Uncut magazine, trademarked as UNCUT, is a monthly publication based in London. It is available across the English-speaking world, and focuses on music, but also includes film and books sections...
, Q Magazine, and Performing Songwriter Magazine.
Biography
Fitzsimmons was born the youngest child of two blind parents, and was raised in Pittsburgh, PennsylvaniaPennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
. He is said to have developed his multiple instrument abilities from his mother and father, both of whom were recreational musicians. His childhood home even housed a fully functional pipe organ
Pipe organ
The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air through pipes selected via a keyboard. Because each organ pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ranks, each of which has a common timbre and volume throughout the keyboard compass...
, built by hand by his father. He was taught the piano and trombone during elementary school, and began teaching himself guitar while in junior high school. He is also proficient at the banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
, melodica
Melodica
The melodica, also known as the "blow-organ" or "key-flute", is a free-reed instrument similar to the melodeon and harmonica. It has a musical keyboard on top, and is played by blowing air through a mouthpiece that fits into a hole in the side of the instrument. Pressing a key opens a hole,...
, ukulele
Ukulele
The ukulele, ; from ; it is a subset of the guitar family of instruments, generally with four nylon or gut strings or four courses of strings....
, and mandolin
Mandolin
A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
, and is known for mixing folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
with electronica
Electronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
in some of his production. In addition to performance abilities, Fitzsimmons is credited as the engineer and producer of his first two releases. He is often compared to contemporaries Iron & Wine
Iron & Wine
Samuel Beam , better known by his stage and recording name Iron & Wine, is an American singer-songwriter. He has released four studio albums, several EPs and singles, as well as a few download-only releases, which include a live album...
, Sufjan Stevens
Sufjan Stevens
Sufjan Stevens is an American singer-songwriter and musician born in Detroit, Michigan. Stevens first began releasing his music on Asthmatic Kitty, a label co-founded with his stepfather, beginning with the 1999 release, A Sun Came...
, and the late Elliott Smith
Elliott Smith
Steven Paul "Elliott" Smith was an American singer-songwriter and musician. Smith was born in Omaha, Nebraska, raised primarily in Texas, and resided for a significant portion of his life in Portland, Oregon, where he first gained popularity...
.
William's career in music came only after completing a Master's Degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
in counseling at Geneva College
Geneva College
Geneva College is a Christian liberal arts college in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, United States, north of Pittsburgh. Founded in 1848, in Northwood, Ohio, the college moved to its present location in 1880, where it continues to educate a student body of about 1400 traditional undergraduates in...
, and working as a mental health
Mental health
Mental health describes either a level of cognitive or emotional well-being or an absence of a mental disorder. From perspectives of the discipline of positive psychology or holism mental health may include an individual's ability to enjoy life and procure a balance between life activities and...
therapist. Prior to his graduate studies, Fitzsimmons worked with the mentally ill for several years. It was during a summer break in the midst of graduate school
Graduate school
A graduate school is a school that awards advanced academic degrees with the general requirement that students must have earned a previous undergraduate degree...
that Fitzsimmons recorded a collection of songs on home recording equipment which would subsequently become his debut album.
Fitzsimmons' writing often includes reference to personal and family subject matter. His 2006 effort, Goodnight, is said to have been based largely on his parents' divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
during his adolescence, and his 2008 work, The Sparrow And The Crow, was written entirely about and following his own divorce.
Fitzsimmons' music was noticed initially largely through MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
, and touring with fellow artists Ingrid Michaelson
Ingrid Michaelson
Ingrid Ellen Egbert Michaelson is a New York-based indie-pop singer-songwriter. Her music has been featured in episodes of several popular television shows, including Scrubs, Bones, Grey's Anatomy The Big C and One Tree Hill, as well as in Old Navy's Fall 2007 Fair Isle and Opel's/Vauxhall's...
, Brooke Fraser
Brooke Fraser
Brooke Gabrielle Fraser Ligertwood, better known as Brooke Fraser is a New Zealand award-winning folk-pop and Christian music artist...
and Cary Brothers
Cary Brothers
Cary Brothers is an American indie rock singer-songwriter originally from Nashville, Tennessee. After moving to Los Angeles and becoming a regular performer at the influential Hotel Cafe venue, Brothers first gained national attention with his song "Blue Eyes" on the Platinum-selling,...
among others, and from several featured song placements on popular national television programs such as Grey's Anatomy
Grey's Anatomy
Grey's Anatomy is an American medical drama television series created by Shonda Rhimes. The series premiered on March 27, 2005 on ABC; since then, seven seasons have aired. The series follows the lives of interns, residents and their mentors in the fictional Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital in...
. William currently resides in Jacksonville, Illinois
Jacksonville, Illinois
Jacksonville is a city in Morgan County, Illinois, United States. The population was 18,940 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Morgan County....
.
A video for "The Tide Pulls From The Moon" was released on the 8th February 2011. In June 2011 Fitzsimmons was touring in Europe, presenting his recent album Gold In The Shadow, which was released March 22 via Nettwerk.
Awards
- ITunes US Best Singer/Songwriter Album 2008: The Sparrow and the Crow
- ITunes Australia Best International Singer/Songwriter Album 2009: The Sparrow and the Crow
- ITunes UK Best of 2009 Singer/Songwriter category: Goodnight
- Beards NOW (Aust. publication) Honorable Mention in category 'Bushrangers Beards on non-Australians' 2010
- The tour posterPosterA poster is any piece of printed paper designed to be attached to a wall or vertical surface. Typically posters include both textual and graphic elements, although a poster may be either wholly graphical or wholly text. Posters are designed to be both eye-catching and informative. Posters may be...
for the 2009 European tour designed by Stefan GuzyStefan GuzyStefan Guzy is a German poster artist living in Berlin.He graduated in visual communication at the Berlin University of the Arts in 2007, having studied with professors like Stefan Sagmeister and Daniela Haufe/Detlef Fiedler...
and Björn Wiede has been awarded for typographic excellence by the German Art Directors Club and was selected among the 100 best posters of 2009 in Germany.