Photo by Glenn Bewley                            

Bill Burton  

Bill Burton grew up in New Orleans, where he began playing toy drums at an early age. When his family moved to Atlanta in 1971, Bill was elevated to a Ludwig Sparkle kit. Upon graduation from high school, he toured regionally (and briefly) with Joe Tex, the late Soul pioneer. In the late 70s/early 80s, Bill was the drummer for Eddie Ray and Confunkshun, US Kids (with Bruce Smith, currently of Georgia Satellites), The Love Offenders (featuring Chaz Westbrook of The Razor Boys, an early Atlanta punk group) and The Reflectors, in which he played with future Swimming Pool Q’s bassist, J. E. Garnett. Bill has played with The Q’s since he joined the group in 1982.

In the early 90s, Burton performed as a stand-up comedian. He graduated Summa Cum Laude from Georgia State University with a Master of Communication in Film and Video, and he was a Woodruff Fellow. In 1999, he was named Best Local Filmmaker by Atlanta Creative Loafing magazine. He has served as Director of Photography on nine feature films, twenty-five TV commercials and an equal number of music videos. His most recent projects include music videos for the rock bands Jackyl (which won a Telly Award for Creativity) and Travesty Theory; his short film for Lil Bow Wow opened Wow’s recent arena tour. See below for more complete filmography.