Will Atkinson (musician)

Will Atkinson (31 January 1908 – 30 July 2003) was a noted traditional musician from northern Northumberland. He started off as a player of the English diatonic accordion, but was best known as a harmonica or moothie player. His playing was distinguished by a very clear sense of rhythm, with a definite lilt. He was a major figure in Northumbrian music. He was also the composer of several tunes that have entered the tradition and are played at gatherings and sessions.

Atkinson was born in Crookham, Northumberland in 1908. He worked as a shepherd and as a rabbit-catcher until his retirement, also working at times maintaining road signs. From his youth, until the end of his long life, he was very active and influential in traditional music circles, on both sides of the Border. He had twin sons, of whom George, who died in 1987 aged 53, was also a musician, a noted Northumbrian piper. Will died on 30 July 2003.

He came from a musical family - his maternal uncle Geordie Armstrong was, according to Will's cousin Willy Taylor, 'the best fiddler around'. After Will's father was killed in France in 1916, Will and his mother lived with Armstrong, her brother. The musical tradition continued in the family - Will's son George, who died before him, was widely respected as a player of the Northumbrian smallpipes. In the 1930s he began playing melodeon for dances with Geordie Armstrong and Joe Davidson playing fiddles. He was a founder member of the Alnwick Branch of the Northumbrian Pipers' Society in the 1930s; the Alnwick branch later became the Alnwick Pipers' Society, and Will was its president for many years. Later he formed a band The Northumbrian Minstrels with Jack Armstrong playing fiddle and smallpipes, Jack Thompson on fiddle, Bob Clark on drums and Peggy Clark on piano. This group made some broadcasts for the BBC, including one from Alnwick in 1942 - a press cutting relating to this is at Woodhorn Museum website, where he is shown with a melodeon. They made some recordings at Powburn in 1944 - since rereleased in a compilation by Saydisc SDL 252, together with the piping of Jack Armstrong. These Powburn recordings, together with later recordings, are also available on the FARNE archive.

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