Bill Castle
Musician
Best known for
Songwriter
Bill Castle was an eastern Kentucky songwriter whose plainspoken bluegrass and gospel songs were picked up by the Lonesome River Band and other modern traditional acts. He learned the craft in the army and worked at it around a factory job for most of his life.
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- Born William Lewis Castle on January 6, 1934, in Fleming County, in eastern Kentucky.
- Learned the rudiments of songwriting while serving in the army in Okinawa during the Korean War.
- Back home he joined the Country Boys, a bluegrass band that worked regional radio including WMOR in Morehead and WFTM in Maysville.
- Moved north to Indiana for steady work, spent close to twenty years there, and started the Bill Castle Band.
- Wrote “Swing That Hammer,” recorded by the Lonesome River Band on Talkin’ to Myself (2000).
- Also wrote “Working In The Vineyards,” cut by Sam Wilson and Five for the Gospel, and “Kneel Down and Pray Up,” cut by Lou Reid, Terry Baucom and Carolina.
