William "Bil" Vorndick

Music Row veteran Bil VornDick,72, died on Tuesday July 5, five days after being diagnosed with cancer.He was a producer/engineer who was renowned for his recording-studio skills, particularly in folk, bluegrass, Americana, and acoustic-music circles. Bil worked on albums in various genres that earned more than 40 Grammy nominations and nine wins. Growing up in northern Virgina, he was active in 4H club and was drum major of the Herndon High School marching band. He played guitar in local rock bands in Virginia while pitching songs to Cedarwood Publishing on Music Row. Observing his talent, Chet Atkins urged Bil to move to Nashville and enroll at Belmont University. Prior to moving to Nashville, Bil worked at the Washington Star Newspaper in Washington, DC, where he met the love of his life, Patricia. They married and moved to Nashville, so that Bil could attend Belmont’s music-business program (1979 grad). Country superstar Marty Robbins heard him working on demos for Loretta Lynn’s publishing company and hired him as his studio’s chief engineer. Over nearly 50 years, Bil was associated with the “new acoustic music” genre that emerged in the 1980s and worked with the who’s-who in Bluegrass and Americana, even mainstream Country. Outside of producing and engineering, Bil was a mentor and professor of recording techniques at Belmont and MTSU. He was active in AES, Folk Alliance, IBMA, and more. He was founder of music education exchange program with UNESCO. He was instrumental in founding an insurance program for the independent music community. More information can be found www.bilvorndick.com/

Outside of music, Bil was a Boy Scout Leader for Troop 87, as well as a 33rd-degree Mason and a Shriner. Bil was cherished for his personality as well as his studio skills. He was invariably kind, wise, welcoming, gentle and generous. A loving husband and father, he is survived by his wife Patricia, children Brittney and Wilson, five grandchildren and his sister Barbara and her family.  A celebration of his life will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, a donation can be made in Bil’s name to either Nashville Engineer Relief Fund (NERF) or MusiCares.