Bill Heid Performs in Monterey March 13

The Highland County Arts Council is presenting Bill Heid in concert Saturday night in Monterey.  Heid is a vocalist and keyboard player who does blues, jazz, funk and more.  He’s performed around the world and has worked with blues greats such as John Lee Hooker, Koko Taylor and many others.  Heid is happy to say he’s been at it for almost 56 years, as a full-time professional who’s never had a day job.

“I was just drawn to the music when I was a little kid, like in the early 1950’s,” says Heid.  “You know, I listened to the hits of the day, you know, watched the Lucky Strike Hit Parade.  And I was never really attracted to that music, but when rock and roll came in, what they’re now calling rockabilly, you know like the early Bill Haley and The Comets, Elvis Presley, that type of thing, I was drawn to that.  But then once I heard what I call authentic rock and roll, Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Little Richard, that type thing, that really flipped me out so to speak.  And then from there I heard older rhythm and blues, old doo-wops and jump blues and so on and so forth.  I just got into that. And then, of course, I head jazz.   Dizzy Gillespie and John Coltrane and all that great stuff by the time I was about 13 or 14 and it just got me in the gizzard, so to speak.  And by the time I was maybe 15, for a mere four dollars a night, and I only knew a few little boogie-woogie and blues patterns, I got my first gig in my hometown of Pittsburgh in 1965, when I was 16 or 15 and the rest is history, as they state,” says Heid.

Music cut from “It’s a Living”

“Major blues, minor blues, bebop blues, Delta blues, Chicago Blues, there’s so many different types, so that‘s sort of what I’ll be doing at the Highland Center,” says Heid.  “I won’t be doing too much jazz, but it’s so interrelated, because jazz came from the blues or vice versa.  I mean, I’m not that old to know going back into the 1920’s, but that’s sort of the history of it.  So that’s pretty much what I’ll be doing, accenting the blues and the different kinds of blues, but it’s very much jazz, some of it, that is.”

Bill Heid performs Saturday, March 13, at 7pm at The Highland Center in Monterey.   Cost is $10.  Audience size will be limited.  Visit the Highland County Arts Council’s Facebook page for more information and for tickets.  The performance will also be streamed live on the Arts Council’s Facebook page.

The Highland County Arts Council is a supporter of Allegheny Mountain Radio.