Some would call Bill Durst a Canadian blues rock icon.
The Ontario resident has recorded over 100 songs on 11 albums, seven of them charted Canadian radio hits with his band Thundermug.
The albums saw success throughout North America and Europe.
Durst has opened for the likes of Bob Seger, Jeff Healey and Sly and The Family Stone, but one performance that stands out in his mind was opening for Aerosmith at Massey Hall in Toronto.
“We got an encore as the opening act, which is highly unusual,” he said. “It completely blew us out of the water, I can tell you that.”
Durst has been taking music seriously since he was about five, he recalls, writing his first song at age10. But it was when the Beatles came on the scene that he really got bit by the music bug.
“I was kind of at the age where I was like ‘Holy crap, I’ve got to do what they’re doing.’”
Today Durst is hailed as a legendary, virtuoso guitarist and top Canadian songwriter by music critics, and has been inducted into the London Music Hall of Fame.
Although he has taken a break from touring out B.C. way for some years, the province is back on his roster as of last summer and he’ll be performing in Parksville’s Rod and Gun Pub promoting his latest CD The Great Willy Mammoth on August 26.
The show starts at 8:30 p.m. and there is no cover charge.
For more information on Durst visit his website http://www.billdurstband.com.