On February 18, William Fitzsimmons will release Lions, his follow-up LP to 2010's well-received Gold In The Shadow. Produced by Chris Walla (guitarist for Death Cab For Cutie with previous production credits with Tegan and Sara, The Decemberists and The Postal Service among others), Lions is a career-defining album that explores Fitzsimmons' personal transformation over the last few years.
"The last couple of years have been wonderful, painful, long, incredibly brief, and more educational and rewarding than any I've ever lived before. 'Lions' is something I'm terribly proud of and utterly connected to," says Fitzsimmons.
In anticipation of the album, Fitzsimmons premieres an acoustic performance of the one of its tracks, "Centralia." Watch the "Centralia" acoustic performance here:
Fitzsimmons' music has been shaped by his unique upbringing and life experiences. Born to two blind parents, he grew up in a home where sound - particularly music - was integral to communication. His parents had an assortment of guitars, pianos and other instruments, and introduced young William to the music of James Taylor, Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen, among others.
For many years, armed with a Master's degree in counseling, he worked as a mental health therapist; he only began recording his songs during graduate school breaks. Fitzsimmons' music has been licensed to a wide variety of networks, including ABC, NBC, MTV, Lifetime and CW. Fitzsimmons' 2010 release, Gold In The Shadow, landed at #3 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart, as well as #3 on the Folk Albums chart.
Acoustic Nation is written by Laura B. Whitmore, a music industry marketing veteran, music journalist and editor, who has contributed to Parade.com, Guitar World, and others. She has interviewed hundreds of musicians and hosts the She Rocks Podcast. As the founder of the Women’s International Music Network, she advocates for women in the music industry and produces the annual She Rocks Awards. She is the Senior Vice President of Marketing for Positive Grid, making the world safe for guitar exploration everywhere! A guitarist and singer/songwriter, Laura is currently co-writing an album of pop songs that empower and energize girls.
