There
is something about Bill Staines’ songs that makes them
instant classics and it’s not surprising that so many
of them slide so easily into the folk music canon. He writes
lovely, infectious melodies, and his story-filled lyrics recall
with compassion and depth the landscapes and characters he’s
known. His songs evoke a remarkably strong sense of emotional
and physical place, and in the words of the Austin American
Statesman, they have the “ability to translate the common
details of common lives into songs of uncommon eloquence and
beauty.”
Bill
Staines has spent over three decades on the road singing his
songs and entertaining audiences. A New England native, Staines
became involved in the Boston-Cambridge folk scene in the early
1960s and, for a time, emceed the Sunday hootenanny at the
renowned Club 47 in Cambridge. He
quickly became very popular in the Boston area. In 1971, after
one of his shows, a reviewer for the Boston Phoenix insisted
that Staines was “simply Boston’s best performer.” A
decade later (in 1980 and 1981) the annual Reader’s Poll
of the Boston Globe named him one of Boston’s favorite
artists. In the meantime, his reputation as a songwriter and
troubadour grew across North America. Staines also made his
mark yodeling. He learned the traditional art by studying the
recordings of great yodelers such as Jimmie Rodgers and Montana
Slim. He won the National Yodeling Championship at the Kerrville
Folk Festival in Kerrville, Texas in 1975, and has become a
perennial instructor of yodeling workshops.
With
his wonderful songs, his warm, smooth baritone, his prowess
on guitar, his charm and his gentle humor,
Staines is consistently one of the most popular singers on
the folk music circuit today. He’s also a favorite of other folk singers
and a significant influence on many. His songs have been recorded by other musicians,
including Makem and Clancy, Nanci Griffith, Mason Williams, Grandpa Jones, Priscilla
Herdman and Jerry Jeff Walker. Over eighty of Staines’ songs have been
published in three songbooks: If I Were a Word, Then I’d Be a Song; Music
to Me: The Songs of Bill Staines; and All God’s Critters Got a Place in
the Choir. His radio and television appearances have included A Prairie Home
Companion, Mountain Stage, The Good Evening Show, and he has hosted local programs
on PBS and network television. Staines has recorded twenty-four solo albums (four
of them on Mineral River Records, his own independent label). Many have been
critical favorites. He has recorded two children’s recordings,
an obvious step for someone who had been a favorite family performer
for decades. The
Happy Wanderer topped Pulse’s yearly Children’s
Music and Folk Top Ten lists in 1993, and was honored with
a Parents Magazine Parents Prize as well. One
More River (1998) followed in the same vein. October’s
Hill (2000)
included a collection of Staines originals and well-loved favorites,
and with his latest release, Journey Home, Bill has
assembled a collection of songs (originals and covers) that
take him back to the “places” he
has called home throughout his rich and full career. A veteran
performer, Staines can be considered a model for artistic longevity
and vitality. He continues to satisfy his huge nationwide fan
base with great new albums and performances (he plays over
200 road dates every year), while continuing to write the classic
songs that have always won him praise.
