B ILL S TAINES HAS BEEN A MAINSTAY AT THE M E & T HEE since it opened its doors 33 years ago. A New England native, Bill has been singing his songs at coffeehouses, festivals, folk song societies, and concert halls since the 1960s and, for a time, emceed the Sunday hootenanny at the legendary Club 47 in Cambridge. One of the most popular folk singers on the circuit, Bill continues to play over 200 concert dates per year. His repertoire includes contemporary love songs as well as beautifully arranged traditional folk tunes. Staines can sometimes be cajoled into yodeling as well, since he is a former yodeling champion, an honor bestowed upon him at the Kerrville Folk Festival in Texas. He has recorded more than 20 albums and his songs have been covered by such artists as Nanci Griffith and Jerry Jeff Walker.

The Boston Phoenix proclaimed that Bill Staines was “simply Boston’s best performer.” He’s known as much for his wonderful songs as he is for the very gentle humor that he manages to entwine before and after every tune. Bill is Americana in the truest sense of the word. He sings as earnestly about adventures in the Yukon as he does about his roots in New England or about the prairie people of the Midwest. Bill drives about 65,000 miles a year as he tours the country and puts on shows in all kinds of places. A spokesperson for Folk Legacy Records says of Staines: “Any new song that can live comfortably beside the well-worn songs of folk tradition has a good chance of surviving the test of time. Such, we believe, are the songs of Bill Staines.” Just take a listen to “The Roseville Fair,” “River,” or “Wild Wild Heart” and you’ll know what this means. We guarantee that you’ll be singing and humming Bill’s song all the way home after this show!

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