Virtual Tribute to Bill Staines Premieres February 6

The Woodstock Folk Festival will present a virtual tribute to Bill Staines, the revered New Hampshire-based traveling troubadour and prolific songwriter, on what would have been his 75th birthday — Sunday, February 6, 2022 at 1 p.m. CST/2 p.m. EST via the festival’s website (woodstockfolkfestival.org). Featuring words and music in pre-recorded performances of his songs, the tribute will also be available to view on demand after the premiere.

[Here’s a direct link to view the virtual tribute:woodstockfolkfestival.org/aiovg_videos/a-virtual-tribute-to-bill-staines-hosted-by-the-woodstock-folk-festival-premieres-sunday-february-6/.]

Staines, whom the late Nanci Griffith called “the Woody Guthrie of my generation,” received the Woodstock, Illinois-based festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016 and also performed at a couple of Festival concerts. He wrote such gems as “A Place in the Choir,” “Bridges,” “Child of Mine,” “Crossing The Water,” “River,” “Roseville Fair” and “Sweet Wyoming Home.” Although Staines recorded his songs for inclusion on nearly 30 of his own albums, a number of them have also been covered by Griffith and others, used in schools and camps, and featured in song manuals. He passed away on December 5, 2021 after battling an aggressive form of prostate cancer.

Staines wrote and sang songs about the places he visited, the people he met, and the experiences he had while logging millions of miles touring and performing at venues and festivals throughout the U.S. since his early years playing at Boston-Cambridge area coffeehouses in the 1960s. His final concert was at Cambridge’s famed Club Passim on November 21, 2021.

A Number of Talented Artists Will Perform Bill Staines’ Songs

The Passim All-Stars, a group of Massachusetts-based artists who began performing at Club Passim in the 1970s, joined Staines that night and will be among those paying tribute to him on February 6. The All-Stars include Mason Daring and Jeanie Stahl (a noted musician & composer and vocalist, respectively, whose scores and vocals are featured on many film and TV soundtracks), saxophone and clarinet player Billy Novick, finger-style guitarist Guy Van Duser, and multi-instrumentalist Stuart Schulman (who often accompanied Staines on violin on his albums). Also performing during the virtual tribute will be New York-based singer Priscilla Herdman (who has performed and recorded songs by Staines, among others), Illinois-based singer-songwriter Joe Jencks (who viewed Staines as a “storyteller par excellence,” opened for him on several occasions and shared stages at festivals with him spanning two decades), New Jersey-based song interpreter Mara Levine (accompanied by Long Island, NY-based folk-harmony trio Gathering Time with whom she has performed and recorded songs by Staines), Portland, Oregon-based singer-songwriter Tom May (who also created and hosts the nationally syndicated radio show River City Folk), and Illinois-based folk duo Small Potatoes (Jacquie Manning and Rich Prezioso, who have traveled and performed with Staines). At the end of the virtual tribute, a video of the Northern California-based folk duo Jaeger & Reid singing “Bridges” will be screened.

“I think Bill’s spirit and his songs will inspire people for generations to come,” asserts Carol Obertubbesing, president of the Woodstock Folk Festival’s board of directors, who organized the virtual tribute and has been a fan of the troubadour since she first heard him in 1974. “His voice, his writing, his ability to capture places, people, and events in a tuneful yet often deep and meaningful way have made him one of my favorite folksingers,” she told AcousticMusicScene.com. “I’ve always had an interest in exploring new places and Bill’s songs fed that desire. From “Sandstone Cathedrals” to “A Warm Wind on the Sitka,” he made me want to travel even more. I’ve been to every state and 42 countries and people would often ask me, “Why would you want to go there?” My response is because there is something to appreciate and learn from in each place, each person. In retrospect, I think that Bill’s songs not only reflected that feeling, but also contributed to it. Through his songs and stories he showed us America. Songs such as “River” and “Down the Road” are not only evocative of our land but they also give us a philosophy of life. Like Bill, I do believe, “There’s a song worth singing down the road . . . There’s a friend worth knowing down the road . . . There’s a day worth living down the road.” When I made a solo trip on Route 66 in 2012, I brought two of Bill’s CDs with me and never tired of hearing them. While Bill is no longer with us, his songs endure and a part of him remains in each of us who were touched by those songs.”

Obertubbesing considers herself “very fortunate” to have lived in the Boston area in the 1970s -1980s and to have had many opportunities to hear Staines — “sometimes solo, sometimes with Billy & Guy, sometimes with the rest of the Passim All-Stars.” She acknowledged that it was a Woodstock Folk Festival concert flyer featuring him that prompted her to get involved with the festival when she moved to Illinois nearly 30 years ago and noted that it was an honor to introduce him at a later concert and to present him with the nonprofit organization’s Lifetime Achievement Award. “Even after moving to Illinois, I sometimes flew back to Boston to hear Bill and the All-Stars,” she continued. “If not for the pandemic, I would have been at Passim on November 21 for what turned out to be his final concert. I am very grateful that Club Passim gave me the opportunity to watch that show virtually and has allowed the Festival to use a clip from it in our tribute.”

Noting that “so many diverse people have come together to hear his music across many miles and many years,” she referred to Staines as “one of those ‘Bridges’ he sang Never pedantic or preachy, he sang about human values and the value of “All God’s Critters.” He was a master at writing the singable chorus and bringing people together in and through song. We will miss the presence of this quintessential American troubadour but his music lives on.”

Because of her personal history with Staines’ music and his history with the festival, Obertubbesing wanted to do something to honor him. “We have been able to gather performers from around the country who performed with Bill, sang his songs, and/or knew him well to honor him with words and music… I think it’s a testament to Bill that they all made the effort, still in the midst of a pandemic, to be part of this. “ Among those artists are Mara Levine and Joe Jencks.

Two Participating Artists Reflect on Bill Staines

“Bill Staines was kind and encouraging of my work since our first time sharing the stage in 2010 for The Folk Project in New Jersey,” said Levine, who has covered his songs “Child of Mine” and “ River.” She recalled his reaction to a rough mix of her recording of “River,” which she recorded with friends Gathering Time and Bob Harris for her 2013 release Jewels and Harmony. “He told me that he was thrilled with the arrangement and wanted to send it off to Celtic Thunder, a popular Irish group that had recorded “Place in the Choir.” … Since I’m not a songwriter, it means so much to me that one of my folk idols was so happy with my interpretation of his work.”

Here’s link to listen to Mara Levine’s rendition of “River”:
soundcloud.com/mara-b-levine/river

Staines was an inspiration to Joe Jencks, an internationally touring singer-songwriter who was also a founding member of the folk trio Brother Sun.

“For Bill Staines, there is a global garden of flowers still blooming and the grass is still green in the hearts of those who know and love his music, sing his songs, and cherish his memory,” Jencks reflects in “A Place in the Choir: Remembering Bill Staines,” a heartfelt remembrance piece that appears on his website at joejencks.com/news/f/News/3141. “He was a man who gave himself to the muse with dedication. His spirit lives on in every camp counselor and camper who sings about, “…the Ox and the Fox and the Grizzly Bear.” And for each of us traveling on our own River, we too will and must travel that river until it carries us back to the great sea. Gratefully, we will have Bill’s music as our companion on the trip.,” Jencks continues. “ So, here’s to the song that’s within us now, Bill. We will sing it wherever we go, and bring part of you with us on the journey. Thanks for the songs, brother. Thanks for the memories and the kindness, the laughs and the tears, the spirit of hospitality and the creative spark that set so many others on their own path of discovery. Thanks for making a place in your choir for all of us.”

Donations In Bill Staines’ Honor Are Welcome

Although the Virtual Tribute to Bill Staines is free to view, donations in his honor may be made to The Staines Family Trust (Box 292, Dover, NH 03821) for use in covering final expenses or to Learning Skills Academy (1247 Wellington Road #3, Rye, NH 03870. Viewers are also encouraged to support the artists who lent their time and talent to the tribute by visiting their websites for information about upcoming concerts, recordings, and Patreon or other platforms for donations. The All-Sing Finales of the all volunteer-run 37th annual Woodstock Folk Festival on Sunday, July 17, 2022 will include a tribute to Bill Staines.