Folk Matters Multi-talented Bill Staines opens PFS season

by J. Michael Kearsey

The Portland FolkMusic Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting folk music and arts in the greater Portland area. The mission of the organization is to preserve, present and promote folk music and arts. This is the 13th season for the PFS concerts; this month Bill Staines performs a full night of music on Friday, Oct. 10, at 7:30 p.m. The concert is at Carvlin Hall, located at 1636 S.E. Hickory St., just north of S.E. Division at 16th, near the New Seasons Market.

For over 35 years, Bill Staines has traveled back and forth across America, singing his songs and delighting audiences at festivals, folksong societies, colleges, concerts, clubs and coffeehouses. A New England native, Staines became involved with the Boston-Cambridge folk scene in the early 1960s and, for a time, emceed the Sunday hootenanny at the renowned Club 47 in Cambridge.

Staines quickly became a popular performer in the Boston area. In 1971, after one of his performances, a reviewer for The Phoenix stated that Staines was "simply Boston's best performer."

A decade later, both in 1980 and 1981, the annual Reader's Poll of The Boston Globe selected Staines as a favorite performer. In 1991, he entered his forth decade as a folk performer with an international reputation as an artist. Vocalist Nanci Griffith praises him thusly: "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."

Staines has become one of the most popular singers on the folk music circuit today, singing mostly his own songs. He averages around 200 concert dates a year. A Portland favorite for many years, Staines weaves a blend of wit and gentle humor into his performances. His music is a slice of Americana, reflecting, with the same ease, his feelings about the prairie people of the Midwest or the adventurers of the Yukon.

Interspersed between original songs, Staines also includes songs ranging from traditional folk tunes to more contemporary country ballads. He delights in having the audience participate in many of the numbers. He may even do a yodeling tune or two, winning the National Yodeling Championship in 1975 at the Kerrville Folk Festival in Texas.

A number of Staines' songs have been recorded by other artists including Peter, Paul, & Mary, Oregon's Mason Williams, The Highwaymen, Glen Yarborough, Jerry Jeff Walker, among others. Staines has recorded 22 of his own albums, 15 of which are still in print, mostly on Red House and Philo-Rounder records. Additionally, Staines' songs were published in four songbooks. Two of the books contain nearly 100 of his songs. Staines has also written a memoir that is quite compelling. The Tour is a book that takes two journeys, one past and one present.

Each fall, Bill Staines leaves his home in New England and sets out on a five-week tour of North America, playing his music for fans and friends, covering almost 15,000 miles of open highway. On the 20th anniversary of the tour, he began writing this narrative. When you read these pages, you will journey with Staines and get to know some of the people and places that make his story worth telling.

Radio and TV appearances have included A Prairie Home Companion, Mountain Stage, The Good Evening Show and a host of local programs on PBS and network TV.

Staines continues to drive over 65,000 miles a year, doing what he loves, bringing music to people. "Bill Staines is one of our very best folk and country singer/songwriters. He's a New Englander who dreams of open plains and vast, Western skies, and damn his soul, he writes better cowboy songs than anybody in the Southwest." - The Houston Post

Admission for the show is $10 for PFS members, $12 general admission, $5 ages 12-18. Kids under 12 are free. There are no advance sales, just tickets at the door. There is no smoking and no alcohol, but food and beverages available and it is a relaxed and enjoyable spot to bring the family or meet friends-or make new friends who love folk music!

Membership in the Portland FolkMusic Society offers a variety of experiences. Details can be found at the PFS website (www.portlandfolkmusic.org), a fascinating site that will help amateur and professionals interested in Portland’s diverse folk scene see what is going on every week of the year.