The Bills

In 1996 on Canada's Vancouver Island, five acoustic multi-instrumentalists (Marc Atkinson, Chris Frye, Adrian Dolan, Glen Manders, and Jeremy Penner) came together to blend the music they loved and create a "folk world fusion" that would eventually earn them the 2003 Western Canadian Music Award for Outstanding Roots Release. Originally called the Bill Hilly Band, the five-piece spent four years perfecting their fun and rootsy sound in front of live audiences before stepping into the studio to record their self-titled debut for Borealis Recording. All Day Every Day followed in 2002 and was praised by almost every folk-leaning critic who heard it. After winning the Outstanding Roots Release award, the bandmembers changed their name officially to the Bills at the end of 2003. Their first release under the new name, Let Em Run, originally appeared on Borealis in 2004 but was picked up by Red House Records in April of 2005. ~ David Jeffries