His original songs have many themes: blacksmiths, bikers, Charles Atlas, woolly mammoths, fishermen, and love.
"[3] Venues range from Roy Thomson Hall to barns[2] and from the Glenn Gould Studio to rural church basements[3] and art galleries.
[4] In 1978, Ian Bell, Kate Murphy, and Anne Lederman joined up to form Muddy York, to play the traditional songs and dance music of Canada, especially Ontario.
[2] In 2004 Bell performed in the "Roots of American Music" Festival at the Lincoln Center in New York City.
[2][3] In July 2005, Bell and Anne Lederman travelled to Estonia to perform at the Viljandi Folk Festival.
Marie at an Algoma Traditional Music concert with Jeff Beck of the Cowboy Junkies and the O'Schraves.
[2][3] He plays guitar, button accordion, harmonica, mandolin, smallpipes[clarification needed], and fiddle.
Over the years, Bell appeared several times on Peter Gzowski's Morningside as well as these CBC programs:[1][2][3] Contributions to Canadian television shows: Bell has contributed to many film scores and performed period music for the TV series, The Road to Avonlea and appeared in some episodes.
[13] For forty years, the program has been bringing performed art into Toronto schools: instrumental music, song, storytelling, puppeteering, and drama.
[14] Bell has been part of it for years and has developed several programs that share traditional music with young people.