A native of Southern California, Bill Edwards discovered ragtime when he was six years old, and hasn’t been able to leave it alone since. He started his professional career in California in the late 1970s then resided in Durango, CO, through the first half of the 1980s, where he took up residence at the famous Diamond Belle Saloon at the Strater Hotel. Bill has lived and worked in Virginia since 1986, applying his slightly unbalanced personality and passion for ragtime to his stage performances.

For many years Mr. Edwards was a featured entertainer at the Fish Market in Alexandria. Since 1996, Bill has been applying his passion for the music on his website, which includes biographies of over 300 ragtime era figures. He has attended all of the major US and Canadian ragtime festivals and competitions, particularly the World Championship of Old-Time Piano, where he holds the 1991 title and has consistently finished in the top five since his initial appearance there in 1987. Bill was recently a featured performer in the multi-award winning documentary, The Entertainers, and the Artist in Residence for the Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival in 2014. He frequently accompanies silent films at events where he plays, and has presented seminars on over 20 ragtime-related topics. Mr. Edwards has 43 different CD titles and 20 published compositions available for your enjoyment, a detailed book on the life of composer and publisher E.T. Paull, and an upcoming encyclopedia on over 530 female composers of popular music from the ragtime era.