Will Atkinson (musician)
Encyclopedia
Will Atkinson started off as a player of the English diatonic accordion, but became a harmonica
Harmonica
The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...

 player and a contributor to the Music of Northumbria
Music of Northumbria
Here Northumbria is taken to mean Northumberland, the northernmost county of England, and County Durham. The region possesses a distinctive style of folk music with a strong and continuing tradition...

. He was also the author of several tunes that have entered the moothie tradition and are played at gatherings and sessions.

When compiling The Voice of the People
The Voice of the People
The Voice of the People is an anthology of folk songs sung by Traditional singers and musicians of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.There are 511 recordings on 20 CDs, compiled by Dr Reg Hall, a historian at Sussex University...

, Reg Hall selected several pieces by Will.

Atkinson recorded many times, chiefly with producer Geoff Heslop
Geoff Heslop
Geoff Heslop is an English record producer and musician-Career:After training as a recording engineer, Geoff turned to record production, producing albums for the Rubber Records label in Newcastle upon Tyne....

. The first release was Harthope Burn MWM Records 1024 [with his friends Joe Hutton and Willy Taylor) (1983), next came a compilation of Northumbrian Music and Poetry From Sewingshields to Glendale MWM Records MWM 1033 (with Kathryn Tickell, Alistair Anderson, Mike Tickell, Hutton and Atkinson, etc.) (1986) and in 1989 Heslop and Alistair Anderson recorded a solo album called simply Will Atkinson - Mouthorgan (Common Ground CGRCD002). This included tunes from various sources, including five of his own compositions; "Sharon Davis", "Alistair Anderson's Favourite", "The Early Morning Reel", "Kyloe Burn" and "Pippa Sandford".

According to the sleeve notes, Atkinson was born in Crookham
Crookham, Northumberland
Crookham is a village on the River Till in Northumberland, in England. It is situated approximately to the east of Coldstream and northwest of Wooler. It has two farms, which are both west of the village. They are called Crookham Eastfield and Crookham Westfield...

, Northumberland
Northumberland
Northumberland is the northernmost ceremonial county and a unitary district in North East England. For Eurostat purposes Northumberland is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "Northumberland and Tyne and Wear" NUTS 2 region...

in 1908. He died on 30 July 2003.

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