Bill Perkins has been playing guitar since 1971. From 1974-1978, he played in the 8 piece rock band Crosswind in Chapel Hill, NC. He then switched to jazz and played with Durham and Raleigh musicians David Feinmann, Joe Roark, Pat Madden-Roth, and Chet Thomas. He moved to Johnson City in 1982. Here, he played guitar duets with Steve Sheehan, then formed the Mirage Jazz Quartet with Sam Burke, Vincent Dial, and Bruce Beverly, later joined by  singer Carolyn Dowd. In 1989, he recorded an album of his compositions with John King, Dick Thompson, Rick Simmerly, Sloan Hill, Bruce Beverly, Bill Scarlett, George Naff, Allen Smith, and Sam Burke. He has been known to play some blues on occasion with such as Bleu Jackson, Bobby Knight, and Champ Young.  On upright bass, he played with the John King Trio and then the jump band The Groovemasters. Later, Burke and Perkins played as a duo every Wednesday at Generations Cafe & Bookstore, occasionally joined by Jason Roller on drums.  The first Bill Perkins Quartet was Roller, Perkins, Burke, and Jim Pisano on sax, later replaced by Matt Richmond on vibes. The group recorded two CDs of original material. Then The Bill Perkins Qunitet  was formed with Burke on bass, Jose Castillo on congas, Candra Savage on vocals , and Justin Stanton on piano and trumpet.  The later  Bill Perkins Band had vocalist Linda Brimer and Mark Thie on piano, playing funk and R&B as well as jazz. While living in Nuernberg Germany, Bill plays with Georg Rosenbauer, Curtis Carter, Norbert Eisner, and Johannes Frauenknecht. Bill has appeared on stage in the USA, Germany, Malta, Brazil, and Mexico. 

"As a composer, the most important thing is to follow your imagination wherever it leads. You can always revise things later, but never try to control an idea as it is being born. Let it go where it wants, no matter how unexpected that may be."

For bookings, contact Bill Perkins: (423) 975-0171 perkjazz@hotmail.com