ROCK SPRINGS – Acclaimed folk singer/songwriter/guitarist Bill Staines will give a free concert at the White Mountain branch of the Sweetwater County Library in Rock Springs on Monday, Oct. 26, beginning at 7 p.m. This event is sponsored by the Wesswick Foundation and Western Wyoming Community College.
For more than 40 years, Staines has traveled across North America, singing his songs and delighting audiences at festivals, folksong societies, colleges, concerts, clubs, and coffeehouses. He has become one of the most popular and durable singers on the folk music scene today, performing close to 200 concerts a year. The New England native weaves a blend of gentle wit and humor into his performances, and his songs capture scenes and livelihoods along the nation’s highways and byways, mixing romance and history with infectious choruses.
Some of Staines’s songs, such as “My Sweet Wyoming Home,” “Roseville Fair,” “River,” and “All God’s Critters,” have become modern folk classics, and he has recorded a few dozen albums. His compositions have been recorded by a variety of well-known folk and country artists, including: Peter, Paul, and Mary; Nanci Griffith; Jerry Jeff Walker; Celtic Thunder; Tish Hinojosa; Mason Williams; and Grandpa Jones.
Staines has played such major folk festivals as Kerrville and Philadelphia, and he has appeared at many premiere venues, including Passim in Boston, the Ark in Ann Arbor, Mich., and Swallow Hill in Denver. He was also a regular guest on “The Prairie Home Companion” radio show in its early years.
Western is proud to join the Wesswick Foundation in bringing Bill Staines to Rock Springs for a free public concert at the White Mountain branch of the Sweetwater County Library on Monday, Oct. 26, at 7 p.m. For more information about this event, contact Associate Professor of Communication Chris Kennedy at [email protected]. For more information about Bill Staines and his work, visit his website at http://www.acousticmusic.com/staines/bsbio.htm.
Photographed: Bill Staines