Willie P. Bennett

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Willie P. Bennett
Willie P. Bennett at the Roots of Heaven festival at Patronaat in Haarlem, Netherlands (2006)
Background information
Birth name	William Patrick Bennett
Born	October 26, 1951 (1951-10-26) (age 56)
Origin	Toronto, Ontario
Died	February 15, 2008
Genre(s)	Alternative country
Occupation(s)	singer/songwriter
Years active	1971 – 2007
Associated acts	Fred Eaglesmith
Website	http://www.williepbennett.com

Willie P. Bennett (born William Patrick Bennett 26 October 1951, Toronto, Ontario - 15 February 2008) was a Canadian folk music singer-songwriter. He died of a heart attack on February 15, 2008, at his home in Peterborough, Ontario.^[1]

Bennett was part of the 1970s folk music scene in Canada, alongside figures such as Bruce Cockburn, Stan Rogers and David Wiffen. His early albums were produced by David Essig; the recording engineer for his 1977 album Hobo's Taunt was Daniel Lanois.

While commonly regarded as a major talent, Bennett did not become as famous as his contemporaries until 1996, when Stephen Fearing, Colin Linden and Tom Wilson formed Blackie and the Rodeo Kings, a supergroup named for Bennett's 1978 album, to record a tribute album of Bennett's songs. Bennett's first subsequent album of new material, Heartstrings, won a 1999 Juno Award for Best Roots & Traditional Album - Solo.

Bennett also performed frequently with singer-songwriter Fred Eaglesmith, playing mandolin and harmonica.