FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
June 27, 2010
Contact: Debra Chesman, Valley Folk Music Coordinator
607-962-4461

Valley Folk Presents Bill Staines on a New Date

When: Saturday, July 17, 2010, 7:30 PM Concert
Where: Drake House at 171 Cedar Arts, Corning NY (Corner Cedar and First Streets)
Admission: $12 cash or checks at-the-door only; Children 14 and under free with adult; half-price Students (Full-time College/High School) and Wheelchair Occupants.

The much anticipated Bill Staines concert which was originally postponed from April will finally take place on Saturday July 17, 2010 and everyone, young and old is invited to sing along on the lovely choruses that Staines writes and sings. Audiences throughout North America are always inspired and welcome to harmonize together. "There is nothing like a bit of community singing to lift the spirit," says Debra Chesman, the organizer of Valley Folk Music concerts.

"Folk music is rich in the human spirit and experience. I've always wanted to bring something of value to people through my songs." With these thoughts, Staines has spent more than 40 years as a performer traveling the highways and back roads of North America. 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, the on-the-road truckers, or the everyday workers that make up this land. Weaving gentle wit and humor into his concerts and singing mostly his own songs, he has become one of the most popular and durable singers on the folk music scene today, performing nearly 200 concerts a year and driving over 65,000 miles annually. Introducing audiences to the characters and landscapes he encounters on his travels.

A New England native, Staines became involved with the Boston-Cambridge folk scene in the early 1960's and for a time, emceed the Sunday Hootenanny at the legendary Club 47 in Cambridge. Staines quickly became a popular performer in the Boston area. From the time in 1971 when a reviewer from the Boston Phoenix stated that he was "simply Boston's best performer", Staines has continually appeared on folk music radio listener polls as one of the top all time favorite folk artists.

Many of Bill's songs have appeared in grade school music books, church hymnals, and scouting campfire songbooks; he is one of only a few songwriters to have eight songs published in the classic song collection, Rise up Singing. Composer David Amram recently described Bill as "a modern day Stephen Foster--his songs will be around 100 years from now." He is a prolific songwriter with 26 recordings to date. In addition to recordings, over 100 of Bill's songs have been published in three songbooks: If I Were a Word, Then I'd Be a Song, Movin' It Down the Line and Music to Me, the latter published by Hal Leonard Corporation. His song, All God's Critters, has been recently released as a Simon and Schuster children's book illustrated by Caldecott honor-winning artist, Kadir Nelson.

Over the decades, one may have heard Bill Staines singing on Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion radio show, HBO's award winning series Deadwood, and Public Radio's Mountain Stage. Additionally, his music has been used in a number of films including Off and Running, with Cyndi Lauper, and The Return of the Secaucus Seven, John Sayles' debut as a writer- director.

In 2007 the Boston Area Coffeehouse Association, recognized Staines‚ contribution to New England folk music with The Jerry Christen Award. Previously, in 1975, Bill won National Yodeling Championship in Kerrville Texas, although Staines has not been teaching his yodeling workshop in recent years.

To mention a few of the 26 recordings, The Happy Wanderer and One More River were winners of the prestigious Parents' Choice Award, taking a gold medal and silver medal respectively. His songs have been recorded by many artists including Peter, Paul, and Mary, Tommy Makem and Liam Clancy, The Highwaymen, Mason Williams, Grandpa Jones, Jerry Jeff Walker, Glen Yarborough and others. Nanci Griffiths reportedly cites him as one of her heroes, taking over where Woody Guthrie left off. Come to hear him live ˆ his songs have beautiful choruses that inspire people to sing.

There will be a pre-concert jam session from 6 PM until concert time. Bring unplugged instruments and voices to make music in the gallery before the show while the rest of the volunteers set up the theater.

Press Photos: Visit www.acousticmusic.com/staines/ and click on the photo for Hi-Resolution version.

The 2010-2011 concert season will commence in the autumn on October 2 with the very entertaining Michael Smith and a much sought-after teacher and performer on hammered dulcimer and fiddle, Ken Kolodner, with special guest Brad Kolodner for a concert and instrumental workshops.

Visit  www.valleyfolk.org and our Facebook page for more info about the Valley Folk concert series, directions, contact details to volunteer on our new committees for publicity, hospitality and sound, including an opportunity for free concert sound training.

For more information contact Debra Chesman, 607-962-4461 or

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
April 13, 2010
Contact: Debra Chesman, Valley Folk Music Coordinator
607-962-4461

Valley Folk Announces 2010 Concert Season in Corning

When: Monthly Jan-May, July, October and November, all on Saturday nights at 7:30 PM.

Where: Drake House at 171 Cedar Arts, Corning NY (Corner Cedar and First Streets).

Concerts: Admission $12 on the door only, cash or checks. Half price for full time students and wheel-chair occupants; 14 and under free with adult.

The 2010 concert season begins on Jan 30th with a rare duo appearance by Claudia Schmidt and Sally Rogers followed by Little Toby Walker playing the blues on Feb 20. Next is the beautiful folk singing and original songs of Anne Hills on March 20 as part of the Festival of Women in the Arts. On April 17th Phil Shapiro and Carrie Shore will bring their delightful brand of American folk music. The sweet harmonies of the new folk trio Gathering Time are on May 8. Valley Folk will be running the jamming tents at the Old Time Fiddlers Gathering in Watkins Glen on June 19 and 20 in conjunction with the Arts of the Southern Fingerlakes. July 17 brings prolific traditionally-styled songwriter Bill Staines.

October opens with the superior songwriting and entertaining of Michael Smith and the much sought-after hammered dulcimer and fiddle workshops taught by Ken Kolodner, culminating in a concert with his son Brad on banjo.

“Valley Folk will implement a few small changes along with our decision to remain in Corning at the 171 Cedar Arts’ Drake House Studio Theater for 2010 while we present a season of eclectic folk music,” according Debra Chesman, the coordinator of Valley Folk Music.

The first small change is the price. The cost of admission is going up slightly from $10 to $12 for general admission. However, there is a new half price admission for high school and full-time college or university students, as well as for wheel chair occupants. Children 14 and under (middle school and under) can still attend for free with a supervising adult. When compared with other similar folk concert series, presenting some of the same performers, this is very good value for money. Valley Folk concerts are partially grant-supported in order to keep the prices affordable. (These concerts are made possible, in part, by a Decentralization Grant from the NY State Council on the Arts, administered locally by the Arts Council of the Southern Fingerlakes.)

As is the new custom at Valley Folk, one can arrive early (while they set up the concert hall) to sing and play instruments with other audience members in another room. All acoustic instruments and voices welcome. The pre-concert jam begins at 6 PM. The door opens at 7 PM for the 7:30 concerts.

For more information contact Debra Chesman, 607-962-4461 or

For more information...
Contact: Debra Chesman, Valley Folk Music Coordinator
607-962-4461