William Patrick "Willie P." Bennett (26 October 1951 – 15 February 2008) was a Canadian folk-music singer-songwriter,[1] harmonica player, and mandolinist.

[4] In the early 1990s, Bennett was a member of Toronto-based Pat Temple's band, the High Lonesome Players, playing live and appearing on their albums.

In 1991 he joined Fred Eaglesmith's band, the Flying Squirrels, with whom he toured and recorded,[5] playing chiefly mandolin and harmonica and singing backup vocals, also serving as road manager, until shortly before his death.

[6] Bennett also played harmonica live and on recordings with Joe Hall, Doug McArthur, Sneezy Waters and many other country and folk artists.

Canadian country singer Corb Lund wrote a song for Bennett on his 2009 album Losin' Lately Gambler, entitled "It's Hard to Keep a White Shirt Clean".

Canadian songwriter Ian Tamblyn's 2009 album Gyre included a song he wrote for Willie called "Hurricane Heart".