![]() “By 1900, everything in America was ragtime,” Edwards said. It originated in African-American communities in the southern and midwestern states and some of its most celebrated composers and performers were African-Americans, including Scott Joplin, known as the “King of Ragtime.” Ragtime, which today many associate only with silent films, old cartoons or maybe a Woody Allen movie, is a genuinely American genre of syncopated music that swept the country from the late 1890s into the early 1900s. It was an unusual choice of music for a boy growing up in the era of the Beatles. By the time I was 7, I decided I was going to be a piano player – that would be my thing.” THE PRODIGY “Sometimes I would put on a Disney record or something, but I always went back to those great ragtime albums. When you listen to those tracks, it’s impossible to not be happy,” he said. “To escape the chaos around me, I would go to my room and bury myself in that music. The old records – including tunes from legendary musicians such as Frankie Carle, Joe “Fingers” Carr and Paul Lingle – brought joy and comfort to young Edwards as he adjusted to family changes. ![]() “I discovered ragtime music when I was just 5 and have not been able to leave it alone since,” said Edwards. Ashburn musician Bill Edwards was a child living in California’s San Fernando Valley in 1964 when he discovered his life’s calling in an unlikely way – listening to a stack of worn 10-inch vinyl records his father left behind when his parents divorced.
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