Bill Staines March 6th
Yes THE Bill Staines... I rarely use hero much, but this guy is one I so admire... I started listening to him after my tastes were honed on John Denver, Harry Chapin, and Jim Croce... and wow he was better, and accessible. Nanci Griffith called him today's Woody Guthrie, and he'll be at our house concert... yep expect it to be sold out, please get your name on the list early many have already.
I really love the use of Facebook Event planners, here's the link if you FB..
If you don't know Bill, well here a little press release:
After touring and playing
concerts for over 41 years, you would think that musician and songwriter Bill
Staines might think about slowing down, but that’s just not the case. Bill
continues to perform more than 175 shows a year and drives close to 70,000
miles getting to them. He is one of the
most durable and beloved singers on the folk music scene today.
Staines has twenty-six
recordings to his credit and has written over three hundred songs, many of
which have been recorded by the likes of Peter, Paul, and Mary, Makem and
Clancy, Nanci Griffith, Glen Yarborough, and Jerry Jeff Walker. His music is
sung at campfires and folk music gatherings, in homes and churches, all around
the country. Songs like “All God’s Critters,”
“The Roseville Fair,” “Child of
Mine,” and “River,” have become folk music classics. Composer David Amram once
described Bill as “a modern day Stephen Foster. His music will be around a
hundred years from now.”
On stage, Staines is an
intimate, compelling performer, out of the folk scene of the 60’s, encouraging
his audience to sing with him on his chorus songs. He will mix in traditional
tunes with his own contemporary folk ballads. His humorous tales of life on the
road and observations of everyday people provide an entertaining blend of story
and song.
“I have always wanted to bring something of
value to people with my songs. I think that is important, to try to write
beyond myself, to write to the great things that we all experience in our
lives.” For Bill, that is what folk
music is all about--a music rich in the human experience and spirit.
Bill has recorded two children’s
albums, The Happy Wanderer and One More River, both of which have won
the coveted Parents’ Choice Award. His music has appeared in a number of films,
including the HBO series, Deadwood, Return of the Secaucus Seven, John
Sayles’ first endeavor as a director, and Off
and Running with Cyndi Lauper.
Bill has done numerous radio
and television appearances and, during its early years, was a frequent
performer on Garrison Keillor’s “A Prairie Home Companion Show.”
Staines has released two
songbooks: If I Were a Word, Then I’d be a
Song published by Folk Legacy and Music
to Me published by Hal Leonard Corp. An illustrated book of his song All God’s Critters was published in 2009
by Simon and Schuster with illustrations by talented artist, Kadir Nelson.
Bill’s memoir, The Tour, was released
in 2003.
Nanci Griffith once wrote,
“Bill Staines has been my hero since 1977. He carries on where Woody left off-
carrying on the tradition of stories and characters you wish you knew.”
“When do you think it will be time to retire?”
someone once asked Bill. He answered, “In the words of my old friend, Tommy
Makem…about ten o’clock tonight.”
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