Will Campbell, Country Music Performer, Songwriter, Musician, and Graphic Artist, was born in Birmingham, Alabama.  His family moved to Orlando, Florida in 1943.  He graduated from Orlando High School in 1951, and attended the University of Florida on an Art scholarship.  While he was there he met a couple of fellow students who would eventually have a great influence on his interest in music.  They were Mel Tillis and Ernest Combee.

Will spent a lot of time listening to Mel play guitar and sing, while Ernest accompanied him on his trusty Gibson mandolin.  While they were playing, he was wishing he could join in.  About this time, two other students on campus wrote a song called "It's Almost Tomorrow," which later became a smash hit for Jo Stafford.  Will knew nothing about music, songwriting, or singing, so he decided to learn how to play chords on a guitar.  He went to a local music store and purchased a Gibson guitar, and persuaded Ernest to show him a few chords.  He quickly discovered that writing songs came easier for him than singing and playing an instrument.  He decided to start trying to write songs, even though he didn't know the first thing about it.

After about a year, Mel and Ernest departed and went into the military service. Will was on campus for another year before he was also inducted into the U.S. Army.  He was sent to Korea for 16 months.  During his tour of duty, he finally settled down and learned to play some chords on the guitar.  Songwriting became easier, and he even tried his hand at singing occasionally.

Will was discharged from the army in 1955, and went to work for the Orlando Fire Department.  It was during this time that his songwriting skills improved to the point that a few local country artists recorded some of his songs.  He even released a record of his own, and it got some local airplay.  During those days it was reasonably easy to get local radio stations to play independent records.

Will traveled to Nashville often and was fortunate enough to meet and get to know some of the better known country stars.  Some of them went into various studios and recorded some of his songs.

Before retiring from the fire department in 1979, Will built a new home, and equipped it with a small professional recording studio.  From 1980 until 1985, he wrote lots of country songs and recorded them in his own studio.  Many local artists also recorded in his studio.

In addition to recording and songwriting, he discovered that he had a great deal of interest in Filmmaking.  He joined a local Film Club, and for 10 years he made low-budget films.  He attended The University Of Central Florida to study video and film production.  Will has also written music for several low-budget productions.

He is now in the process of completing two books.  One is called "Composing Country Music," and the other is a cartoon book called "Fire Funnies."

In 1986, Will became a member of the Florida Country Music Association.  He has been very active promoting and performing traditional country music all over Central Florida.  In 1989, he received the Orlando Chapter’s President’s Award.  In 1992, he was inducted into the F.C.M.A. Musician’s Hall Of Fame.  That same year, he was selected as F.C.M.A. Songwriter Of The Year.

For the past several years he has concentrated on recording and releasing his own material.  Will has released several 45’s on independent labels, three 12-song cassettes albums, and a single 2-song cassette.

These days, Will uses computers to compose and record his music.  Using this method, he is able to hear the melodies played back immediately and in any key or tempo.  He can add everything he needs to a song in a matter of minutes, including drums, bass, violins, backup voices, rhythm, lead instruments, and vocals.  He readily admits that this method of recording isn’t for everyone.  Will also uses his computer to perform as a one-man band.

Will likes traditional country music.  His favorite country stars are: Eddy Arnold, Jim Reeves, Carl Smith, Merle Haggard, George Jones, Patsy Cline, Red Foley, Faron Young, and Ernest Tubb.

His favorite pastime is watching old B-western movies.  He openly admits that his biggest hero is William Boyd, who is better known as Hopalong Cassidy.  He has most of Hoppy’s films and videos in his collection.  He also collects videos by many of the other B-western stars; such as, Johnny Mack Brown, Lash LaRue, Bill Elliott, Rex Allen, Roy Rogers, and Gene Autry.

He believes that music is definitely the international language, and he will talk to you endlessly about it.  Over the years it has been a real stepping stone to fulfillment and enjoyment for him.