Bill Yates

Bill Yates is from Macon, Georgia. His professional background goes back 20 plus years, starting with playing the "Chitlin Circuit" throughout the south as a guitarist in various country bands.

His first recording group that he performed with was Doc Holliday for one album, "Live Song for the Outlaw".

Bill's next gig was with The Outlaws for about 2 years. He got to tour and perform with numerous acts including, Toy Caldwell, Marshall Tucker, Charlie Daniels, The Allman Bros, Nicolette Larson, The Band, Rick Danko, The Kentucky Headhunters, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Foghat, and many more. In between engagements, he would find himself in various recording sessions in Macon and Nashville.

Bill's current music projects include works recorded with his band, Halfway to Cleveland, which features performances by Buddy Miles & Chuck Leavell. At the same time, he owns and operates The Venice Amplifier Co. restoring vintage guitar amplifiers. Bill is also actively writing and recording his own material.

His influences include: Duane Allman, Django Rienhardt, Elmore James, Muddy Waters, Johnny Winter, Eric Clapton, Hank Garland, Art Blakey, Elvin Jones, Jimmy Smith, John Coltrane, Ry Cooder and others.