Will Ackerman is a guitarist and composer of acoustic-based instrumental music. He founded and ran for many years the influential new age record label Windham Hill Records. Born in West Germany, he was adopted by a couple who lived in Palo Alto, California. A self-professed poet and musician who briefly studied guitar with Robbie Basho, Ackerman grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. After attending Stanford University, Ackerman dropped out to become a carpenter.