Bill Houston
Placing his song,“Ojibway Country” in the giant IMAX film "NORTH OF SUPERIOR", had the effect of greatly boosting Bill’s professional music career and launching him out of the serenity and security of his Northwestern Ontario hometown, Sioux Lookout. Bill took up residence in Toronto where for almost a decade he wrote music for radio and television, while appearing on programs such as "Canadian Express", "This Country in the Morning", "Canada AM" and "Kaleidoscope". Between 1971 and 1973, fellow singer/songwriter Tom Kelly performed several of Bill's songs while hosting the popular coast to coast television show, "Singalong Jubilee". Bill also composed material for films, documentaries and commercials as well as contributing the song “Railroad Town” to Sylvia Tyson’s "Touch the Earth" compilation L.P., about which CBC’s Bruce Steele wrote:
"…this song was a perfect evocation of the feelings we all had aboard the train in the Northern Ontario wilderness. A number of musicians stuffed themselves into the small train compartment to help Bill out on this one including Tom Kelly, Bill Garrett and "Curly Boy Stubbs".
Also during his time in Toronto, Bill put out two 45 RPM singles, established a music publishing business, and in 1975, after developing his own small record company, released his first full length album "The King of White Otter Lake" produced by Shelby Gregory and containing the by then famous song "Ojibway Country" from the IMAX film "NORTH OF SUPERIOR".
That first album also featured the title song "The King of White Otter Lake" which tells the tale of Jimmy McQuat, a persistent and ingenious man who single-handedly built a "log castle" on the shore of White Otter Lake between Atikokan and Ignace, ON. The legend of Jimmy grew and the song became Bill’s most published and reproduced work. In addition to being performed on CBC television's nationwide "Singalong Jubilee" and on Canada's popular "Tommy Hunter Show", “The King of White Otter Lake” even made it into public school courses of study where like Ian Tamblyn’s “Woodsmoke and Oranges”, it is used to teach not only music but geography, history and comparative literature as well.
In spite of his success in Toronto and although his artistic vision had expanded to include the world, Bill realized his roots were in that great reservoir of the human spirit, the north. He decided to return. Marriage, two children and full time work grounded him in the city of Thunder Bay where he continued to write music and perform as opportunities arose.
Years later a series of events conspired to draw him back into the national music scene. In 1995, former Toronto roommate Grit Laskin did a cover version of Bill’s hit “Ojibway Country” on his CD "A Few Simple Words". Bill had also been receiving persistent requests for the re-release of “The King of White Otter Lake”. He had separated from his wife, so the time seemed right to get back into the action. He contacted musician/producer George Gregorovich and asked him if he would consider working with him on an album of new songs that would also contain up-dated versions of "Ojibway Country" and "The King Of White Otter Lake". George agreed to come on board, along with another longtime friend Joe Heath, who contributed much needed financial support to the project.
Together with George and a host of talented Thunder Bay musicians, including musician/arranger Sean Mundy, Bill released an 11 song CD "North of Superior" in 1997. Backed by a six piece band, he was quickly booked into venues all over Northwestern Ontario. People were eager to hear the mix of old and new material and to welcome him back to the stage.
Today Bill continues to play for appreciative audiences at house concerts, fundraisers, cafes, schools and festivals. But now, with only a small portion of the songs he has written available to the public, he has released a third album "Bring Back The Music" produced by the highly esteemed Paul Mills (Stan Rogers, Ron Hynes). Simultaneously, the long overdue re-issue of the classic 1975 vinyl album "The King Of White Otter Lake" containing the original recordings of "Ojibway Country" and "The King Of White Otter Lake", has been released in CD format.