The son of Mohican-German parents was born on the Stockbridge-Munsee Reservation in northern Wisconsin. His Mohican name is Fush-Ya Heay (meaning "bird song") He learned to sing traditional songs at an early age and at age 12 got his first guitar. After leaving the reservation to study art at the Layton School of Art and Design in Milwaukee (he later attended the University of Wisconsin at LaCrosse), Bill moved to Nashville to pursue a career as a singer/songwriter. Bill's best known songs are Ghostdance, Raven in the Snow and Tumbleweed which was co-written with Peter Rowan. Bill has an equally active career as a painter. His work has been shown and sold in prestigious galleries around the country, and he maintains a studio at his Nashville home, where he lives with his wife and children. "Prayers For The Truth," states all that the Native American Indian community hold sacred, while offering forgiveness to those that nearly annihilated an entire people.