Bill Perry Sr.

Bill Perry, Sr. a/k/a Bill Howl-N-Madd Perry, was born in 1947 near Abbeville, MS in Tula, on land where his ancestors had worked as slaves. He was the son of moonshiner and farmer. His father gave Bill his first guitar which had been won game of dice. Bill went to the same one-room school that his grandparents attended. Bill was fourteen when his family moved to Chicago. Bill hit the road as a professional musician at the age of seventeen. His travels have carried him all over the US, throughout the world and then back home again to Mississippi. Bill has been playing his music for over forty years. In his early career in Chicago Bill wrote for musicians such as Lil Johnny Taylor, Ted Taylor, and Cash McCall. He worked for Phil Chess as a studio musician and for Stan Lewis where he wrote for Jewel Paula Records. He did a stint writing for J.J. Taylor on a Willie Dixon Label. For a while Bill was on the road in Little Milton's band. He credits Milton with encouraging his to start his own band. Bill Howl-N-Madd Perry and the Howl-N-Madd band have performed in festivals and clubs throughout the United States and Internationally. Bill returned to Mississippi to raise his family and lives the family homestead. He and Pauline have been married for 44 years. Sharo Perry and Bill Jr. each are accomplished musicians who tour with the Howl-N-Madd band. Bill is noted on two Mississippi Blues Trail Markers the marker in front of Po Monkey Juke Joint in Merigold, MS and the marker on the square in Oxford, Mississippi. The Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale, Mississippi features a display on Bill's career which includes photos and memorabilia. Bill Howl-N-Madd Perry is in the Rock and Blues Museum in Clarksdale, MS. Bill is no stranger to movies, TV and documentaries. He played a major part as the Bluesman in a movie with Cuba Gooding, Jr. In The Way of War, Bill played the Devil at the Crossroads in a television segment about the Blues featured on The Gene Simmons Family Jewels show. Voice of America Video Passing Down the Blues Through the Ages features Bill Howl-N-Madd Perry. True Delta premiered at Mountain Film Festival features Bill Howl-N-Madd Perry and Delta musicians.