Fitzsimmons was born the youngest child of two blind parents and was raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[3] He is said to have developed his multiple instrumental abilities from his mother and father, both of whom were recreational musicians. His childhood home even housed a fully functional pipe organ, hand-built by his father.[citation needed] He was taught the piano and trombone during elementary school and began teaching himself guitar while in junior high. He is also proficient at the banjo, melodica, ukulele, and mandolin,[4] and is known for mixing folk music with electronica in some of his production. In addition to performance abilities, Fitzsimmons is credited as the engineer and producer of his first two releases. He is often compared to contemporaries Iron & Wine, Sufjan Stevens, and Elliott Smith.[5]
Fitzsimmons career in music came only after completing a master's degree in counseling at Geneva College and working as a mental health therapist. During a summer break in the midst of graduate school, he recorded a collection of songs on home recording equipment, which would subsequently become his debut album.[citation needed]Until When We Are Ghosts was released in 2005.
Fitzsimmons' writing often includes references to personal and family subject matter. His 2006 sophomore album, Goodnight, also self-produced and recorded at home, is said to have been based largely on his parents' divorce during his adolescence, and his 2008 work, The Sparrow and the Crow, his first recorded in a studio, was written entirely about and following his own divorce.[3] Fitzsimmons revealed on the syndicated music program eTown that he recorded the album with a collaborator who he later learned was having a relationship with his wife while they were working on the recording. He stated that this caused him to delay the release of this work.[6]
On February 8, 2011, Fitzsimmons released a music video for a song called "The Tide Pulls from the Moon", from his upcoming album, Gold in the Shadows.[7] The album came out in March, and Fitzsimmons toured in Europe to promote it.[8]
His next album, Lions, was issued on February 18, 2014.
On May 12, 2015, Fitzsimmons published the first of a pair of mini-records concerning his family, titled Pittsburgh. On April 1, 2016, he released the second of the pair, his eighth album, entitled Charleroi: Pittsburgh, Vol. 2. The record is about the grandmother he never knew—"Charleroi is the second half of the Pittsburgh story. The Pittsburgh album was about the grandmother I knew. Charleroi is about the one I never did."[9] Fitzsimmons embarked on a European tour to support the release in April 2016, visiting nine countries along the way.[10]
On October 21, 2016, he issued his first live album, titled William Fitzsimmons Live. It showcases songs spanning the singer's career, recorded live at performances in Chicago, Amsterdam, and Paris. The record also features a cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Everywhere", recorded live in Cologne, Germany, a video of which was published on October 19, 2016.[11] Abby Gundersen (sister of singer-songwriter Noah Gundersen, with whom Fitzsimmons toured in 2012),[12] is featured on violin and vocals, and additional instrumentation is contributed by Jake Philips (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, banjo, and vocals) and Adam Popick (drums, synthesizer, Rhodes, and acoustic guitar).[13]
In 2018, Fitzsimmons released the album Mission Bell. This was followed in 2021 by Ready the Astronaut and No Promises: The Astronaut's Return. In 2022 and 2023, he published Covers, Vol. 1 and Covers, Vol. 2, respectively.[14]
iTunes US Best Singer-Songwriter Album 2008: The Sparrow and the Crow[citation needed]
iTunes Australia Best International Singer-Songwriter Album 2009: The Sparrow and the Crow[citation needed]
iTunes UK Best of 2009 Singer-Songwriter: Goodnight[citation needed]
Beards NOW honorable mention in the category Bushrangers Beards on non-Australians 2010[citation needed]
The poster for Fitzsimmons' 2009 European tour, designed by Stefan Guzy and Björn Wiede, has been awarded for typographic excellence by the German Art Directors Club[15] and was selected among the 100 best posters of 2009 in Germany.[16]
