His Childhood Years:At the age of two in his home in the miner's houses in Smithstone Row, Croy, Will attempted to play his first tune, 'Poor Old Joe', on a melodeon belonging to his father, Joseph Starrs. He was a child prodigy.His family recognised the musical potential in young William and encouraged him to continue playing the melodeon. Later he progressed from the melodeon to the chromatic button accordion and began to develop a method of playing which suited his style and personality. Although, as a two year old toddler, he started his musical life playing the family melodeon, his ultimate choice of instrument was the chromatic button accordion, which he continued to play all his adult life. As the years passed, his playing technique developed and he quickly acquired a growing repertoire of tunes in the Scottish tradition. Soon he became confident and accomplished enough to enter the local accordion competitions and at the age of ten he became Scottish accordion champion.
Together with his younger sister, Rosie, who sang, Will would frequently play at local events, social functions and go-as-you-please competitions. Sometimes they would compete at more than one event on any night, often travelling as far afield as, Larkhall, Motherwell or Cowie. However, it was soon accepted by the other competitors, that if Will and Rosie had entered, they did not stand any chance of winning. Prize money for the winner in these days was £3.00 per event. In one particular season, Will is known to have won at least 13 individual events and together he and Rosie won 9 events. At this time of his life, not only did Will develop his accordion playing to an advanced level, but he also taught himself to play the piano and the coronet and to read and write music. In an attempt to improve his musical ability, Will attended music lessons with a teacher, Mr Serafino Arcari, at the Arcari family home in Main Street, Lennoxtown. (Serafino had a Paolo Soprani accordion made specially for him at the factory in Italy. It had square buttons.) The lessons cost £1.00 per hour, but after a month, Serafino Arcari took him aside and declared that these lessons were a waste of time and money, as he could not teach Will anything. During his primary education, Will attended the local Holy Cross School in Croy. From there he progressed to St Ninians School, Kirkintilloch, but was allowed to leave school at the age of 14 to pursue a stage career. |
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