DENVER, COLO. (5/13/08) -- Anyone not familiar with the music of Bill Staines is in for a special treat. Swallow Hill is pleased to present him on their Daniels Hall stage on Saturday, June 7 at 8 p.m.

For more than 35 years, Bill has traveled back and forth across North 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, quickly becoming a popular performer in the Boston area. In 1971 a reviewer for The Phoenix stated that Staines was "simply Boston's best performer." From 1980-81, the annual Reader's Poll of The Boston Globe selected him as a favorite performer.

In 1991 he entered his fourth decade as a folk performer with an international reputation as an artist. Singing mostly his own songs, he has become one of the most popular singers on the folk music circuit today and averages around 200 concert dates a year. He weaves a magical blend of wit and gentle humor into his performances, and as one reviewer wrote, "he has a sense of timing to match the best stand-up comic." His music is a slice of Americana, reflecting his feelings about the prairie people of the Midwest or the adventurers of the Yukon, all with the same ease.

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

A number of his songs have been recorded by other artists including Peter, Paul, & Mary, Makem and Clancy, Nanci Griffith, Mason Williams, The Highwaymen, Glen Yarborough, Jerry Jeff Walker, Grandpa Jones, and Priscilla Herdman, among others. Over the course of his career, he has recorded 22 albums and has made numerous radio and TV appearances, including A Prairie Home Companion, Mountain Stage and The Good Evening Show.

Nick Annis, an award-winning songwriter known for his storytelling talent that makes for memorable performances, will open for Bill Staines.