We'd like to get you that album and get you on the mailing list, but first here's what you need to know about Willie!

Willie's roots are in the rolling hills of northern lower Michigan, home to Amish communities and simple farmers who migrated to the city for jobs at the new horseless-carriage factories early in the 20th century. Willie's family settled in that icon of today's automobile depression: Flint, the newest home of the blues!

He began playing guitar as a teenager and in the 1980's released one record with the punk rock band "Toll". In the 90's he had a commercial success as front man for the blues/rock show band "Cidy Zoo". Their "Something for Everyone" release, included the single "Talk Louder", the classical crossover instrumental "25 Strings", and the popular "Buick City Blues". All three received airplay. "Talk Louder" eventually charted at #15 on the AAA charts. After that success, the band went on hiatus for several years and Willie found other work as an artist and actor. Cidy Zoo eventually released a new single titled "Waitin' On You".

Then an accident left Willie's left hand paralyzed.

Though he never missed a performance date, Willie depended on a brace to hold his fingers in place on the guitar as he learned to play the piano and harmonica. After a long year as a one-handed musician his arm suddenly began to mend and Willie was able to "relearn" how to handle the guitar. This sobering year of uncertainty inspired Willie to "never take a moment of life or music for granted".

He decided to focus exclusively on recording and playing the blues.

In 2009, a chance meeting in the Key West airport with a musician/luthier who had two "cigar box" guitars led to Willie's discovery of a musical genre he'd never explored. It opened up the gates to the simple, hypnotic melodies of early American music and it's primitive instruments.

He had found his musical muse.

In the tradition of the original minstrels of early America Willie began performing as a one-man-band. That format allowed him the freedom to experiment in ways that were not possible in the more traditional blues/rock ensemble format.

The unexpected popularity of the home-made demo of his unique one-man-band style, brings him back to the studio to complete his album of original and traditional "Americana" music for the WB Record label.

We'd like to get you that album and get you on the mailing list.

Willie says, "You can help me by please buying a copy of the CD, even if you have the demo. Then I can get out to more venues; get to places to offer the music to new fans. Keep this kind of music alive."

You liked the demo? Well the new record has been digitally mastered and is a great improvement sonically over the rough demo that is circulating now. It's a better recording with more original songs, and more re-creations and re-interpretations of some of the the greatest blues and Americana music.

While he still performs with the blues/rock show band "Cidy Zoo", Sweet Willie can now be found performing traditional blues and original songs as a "one-man-band". Willie's shows feature historical facts about the instruments including turn-of-the-century cigar box guitars, dobros, diddley bows, a variety of other acoustic guitars, plus harmonica and, of course, his unique self-accompanying percussion.