Bill R. Staines
Posted By Direct Cremation of the Seacoast On December 6, 2021 @ 1:36 pm In | 36 Comments
William Russell Staines, Bill, of Rollinsford, New Hampshire, left this life aged 74 on December 5, 2021, the result of very aggressive prostate cancer. He was born on February 6, 1947, in Medford, Massachusetts, to William Henry and Dorothy Trask Staines.
Bill is survived by his wife of forty-five years, Karen Elrod Staines, their son, Bowen Keith Staines, daughter-in-law, Andrea Collins Staines, his brother Stephen Staines and his wife Sherri and their two sons, Benjamin and Joshua, his loving mother-in-law Nancy Smith Elrod, his Springer Spaniel, Lily, and countless friends and fans.
Bill was proud to say that he had been a musician for 57 years, singing his songs and delighting audiences at colleges, clubs, and coffeehouses. He wrote and recorded too many songs to count and gained an international reputation as a gifted songwriter and performer. He wrote his autobiography, ‘The Tour’, which detailed his life on the road. His song, “A Place in the Choir”, is a popular children’s book, and has touched the hearts of millions; his several songbooks allowed others to play and sing, too.
Bill’s music is a slice of Americana, reflecting his feelings about the prairie people of the Midwest, the adventurers of the Yukon, the on-the-road truckers, or the everyday workers that make up this land. Bill has been described as a modern-day Stephen Foster. His songs, which have been recorded by many artists, will still be around 100 years from now.
In 2015, Yankee Magazine published an edition which included Bill as one of the 80 gifts New England has given to America. This was a true honor for the veteran folksinger.
Most importantly, despite his long weeks, years, and three million miles on the road, he always came home to his family.
In lieu of flowers, Bill would be deeply honored if donations may be made to The Learning Skills Academy [1] in Rye, NH, in remembrance of his love and support of the students that attend the Academy, and his wife Karen’s work.
Condolences for the family of “Bill R. Staines”
So sad to read of Bill’s passing.
He and I used to do a weekly live folk music hootenanny that was broadcast on WBUR, Boston, in 1969-1971. It was from the Sword in the Stone coffee house on Charles Street. He would host from the stage, and I would do interviews with him and the other musicians.
He was a fine singer and a great guy.
What a shock to learn just now of Mr. Staines’s death. A sad, sad loss for the family he always came home to: may you find comfort and solace. And a loss for the countless people around the world, like me, who cherished and were uplifted by his voice and lyrics. I remember driving once with one of his cassettes playing, rivulets of tears down my cheeks. Somehow it seemed I was listening to a beloved, long-ago friend. I am so proud to have been able to attend one of his performances near Kalamazoo MI. So kind, so down to earth, so generous with requests, such beauty from his heart. He was truly a gift to humanity, and left a radiant trail. I am grateful for his life.
Sending lots of love and peace from Minnesota!!!
Bill and his music was a gift!!! He will be missed and remembered ❤️❤️😢❤️❤️
Adrienne
I am heartbroken. I only met Bill in person once, when I emceed a live radio broadcast with him in Oklahoma City in 1985. But his songs have touched my soul in so many ways for my entire adult life, and one day his “Spirit Song” will be played at my own funeral. All the best to the family, and to his legions of fans all over the world. Thanks, Bill.
Bill has taken part of our hearts with him, but left us with so much more. His music has been a part of my life for over four decades. I had the supreme pleasure to consider him a friend and the supreme honor to have been able to accompany him often back in the 1970s and 1980s at folk festivals and coffeehouses in the northeast. I always had a predilection for playing bass for singer/songwriters, and I considered Bill the gold standard.
Bill was a frequent visitor to the Spencertown Academy Coffeehouse in the Hudson Valley of New York, which I ran for many years. He often stayed with us and his stories of his annual treks to Alaska were a part of my decision to visit there many years later. He also spoke often of his devotion to Karen and Bowen.
Bill’s distinctive voice still rings clearly in my ears and that, along with his legacy of some of the best songs I have ever encountered, will keep him alive forever.
Karen and Bowen,
I am so sorry to hear about Bill passing. Bill was a very dear long time friend and I will miss him so. I have known Bill since the 80’s, he did so many wonderful concert at Latitude 62. Karen and Bowen I feel like I know you well and that we are friends. Bill talked about you both and Bowen he was so proud of you and your music. Bill will live on forever in his music but he will be missed here on earth. He left a hole in my heart with his departing.
My deepest condolences to both of you.
Nancy
Karen and Bowen, please accept my condolences on Bill’s passing. He was one of the major influences on my love of folk music. Like the rest of us at the old Moon In Virgo Coffeehouse at Northeastern University, I will miss Bill terribly. He was also one genuinely nice person.
Karen and Bowen, please accept my sincere condolences on Bill’s passing. He was a major influence on my love of folk music. Like the rest of us at the old Moon In Virgo Coffeehouse at Northeastern University, I will miss him terribly. He was also one genuinely nice person. Sorry if this got posted twice.1
I had the pleasure of hosting Bill in my home on Salt Spring Island when he came to perform here 20 years ago. Paul Evenden arranged for his visit. Bill was happy to have my daughter, a budding singer songwriter at the time as his “opening act”. It was an honor to have met Bill and have had the opportunity to hear his music. My sincere condolences.
Thank you, Karen and Bowen, for sharing Bill with us for all these years. We were all part of his universal family who welcomed his return each year, carrying his bag of songs, his kindness, his humor, and his genuine interest in everyone he met. Bill played my television show and was our house guest after we met him at the Fox Hollow Folk Festival in the 1970s. It was a visit we’ve never forgotten. I hope the avalanche of love and concern you’ll receive from those of us in the cheap seats will be a lasting part of your memories of him.
Dear Karen and Bowen and Extended Family:
I knew and worked with Bill as a fellow musician and as community arts producer for most of his performance career … Starting in the late 1960s at Moon In Virgo Coffeehouse where his yodel song was recorded for his album plus the Sword and Stone and Turks Head Coffeehouses on Charles Street where I also performed. I worked with Bill at area festivals I helped produce in the 1980s and 1990s, then in 1995 when Bob and Rae Anne Donlin retired from Passim I hired Bill to perform at the revitalized Club Passim. Bill skills and integrity was always the heart of these cultural endeavors. I sang Bill’s songs for people across the entire country. The gifts of kindness and joy that Bill and you his extended family gave is a treasure beyond compare. I send my deepest gratitude and condolences for this tragic loss.
Bill’s illness, last weeks, and passing have been a sad time, but the memories I have are uplifting: from when I first met Bill with Karen, then their wedding, attending Bill’s concerts, and listening to his albums and then CDs. He will be missed, but not forgotten. Extending condolences and sympathy to his family.
Dear Karen and Bowen,
My deepest condolences on the loss of your husband and father. I had a friend that was a folk music enthusiast and I remember him playing some of Bill’s music prior to me working at LSA. My prayers and thoughts are with you.
Rick R
We never missed a performance when Bill visited The Me And Thee coffeehouse and he did that often❤️ His songs became part of our family songbook from the kids singing about God’s critters to all of us ushering my husband into the hereafter with “River”. Condolences to the family as we continue to sing Bill’s songs and recall his warmth and humor onstage
Not only talented but supremely admirable.
Dear Karen and Bowen,
I am thinking of you and your extended family with my deepest sympathies. The musical legacy left by Bill is vast and incredible, treasured by not just me, but by so many of my friends across the country.
My deepest condolences.
Donna Landers-George ‘72
Enjoyed his music several times at the Linden Tree Coffeehouse in Wakefield Mass. A gifted musician!!
My thoughts and love go to Karen and Bowen especially, in this sad news of Bill’s passing. He touched so many lives and brought great joy to all through his music and for the man that he was. Thinking of you with love,
Raegan
Please accept my sincere condolences for the loss of your beloved Bill, a man of great talent, who touched the lives of so many throughout the years and was much appreciated by all. May the wonderful memories of Bill continue to provide his family with comfort, especially during this difficult time. In God’s loving care, he now rests. Isaiah 26:19; Psalm 37:11, 29
I had the great privilege of meeting Bill before one of his concerts at Uncle Calvin’s Coffeehouse in Dallas. I was a nervous kid, eager just to see the man whose music changed my life; I never realized I’d get the chance to meet him and take a picture with him, too! He was genuinely kind and inspired me to love nature, as well as the great American life! His “Old Dogs” album got me out of a long, depressed period of my life!
I am very sad to hear that Bill passed away. But grateful for the lifetime of memories and music. Music that will undoubtedly live on forever. May God bless the memory of Bill Staines. My deepest condolences to Karen, Bowen, Andrea, and the whole family.
So sad to hear of Bill’s sudden passing. I remember with delight seeing and hearing him. He stayed a night with us in Houston in the early 1970’s. My husband and I sing his songs and especially marvel that Lost Mine of the Chisos, such a wonderful Texas song, was written by a man from New Hampshire! Rest easy, dear Bill.
Bill sang in our Minnesota living room for well over a decade, as we hosted house concerts for 17 years. We didn’t understand at first that once you were on Bill’s schedule, you could count on his return year after year like clockwork and he always had a following that never failed to miss his concerts. It was an honor to host him. We last saw Bill at the remembrance for Jerry Rau who first introduced us to Bill so many years ago (and which started Bill’s annual concert at our home). Jerry’s death preceded Bill’s death by only weeks. What a treasure Bill was, they both were, and I hope they are singing together in heaven right now. As a hospice music therapist, I sing Bill’s song River frequently, as well as A Place In the Choir, Child of Mine, and Roseville Fair. He leaves a mark that can never be erased. “A singer lasts a season long, but the song it lasts forever”. Karen, Bowen, and all of Bill’s family….our deepest condolences. Becky Pansch and Ron Germundson
Bill’s music is the sound track of a very important part of my life, – teaching environmental science and community to kids outdoors, in southern NH. I’ve carried it with me all the decades since then, and share it with my grandkids. I’m very sorry for the loss of his presence for his family and friends.
Dear Karen, Bowen & Family~With sadness and joy for a life so very well lived, we send our Deepest Sympathy, Love & Prayers to you for your loss of Bill. Maureen & Johann Brentrup
Bill was the brother I never had. He graced the Green Apple Folk Music (N.E WI) 23 times & I emceed every one of ’em. Just before intermission he’d allow me to come on stage & play a song with him using my washtub bass. During the after parties we’d play music into the wee hours, I first met Bill at the Extemp in Minneapolis, then again at the Blue Whale in U.W.- Green Bay (on a snowy evening). Ecstatic when I found out he’d play @ Green Apple & a friendship evolved. I will miss Bill’s smiling face as he came up on stage but
will always have him near because we have every cd Bill ever made + his book + calendars. The world has lost another treasure & we shall all miss him. I am better for having known him.
Lots of great memories knowing Bill. My thoughts go to his family and friends. Bill soloed a plane and I was glad he did that.. we did some flying up here in Alask.. great times just sitting and picking guitars, learning new songs, and having many opportunities to open shows and perform with him up here.. needless to say he will be missed.. but his music will go on and on.. what a gift he gave us all.. Bill will always be Music. To Me…
Dear Karen,
Like thousands of Bill’s fans all across this country, I was devastated to learn of his death. I don’t know how many folks who loved his concerts and looked forward each year to his return performances have actually reached out to you, but I know from the sadness and sorrow expressed online that there are many, many of us who feel this loss as though Bill were part of our family– which if you extend the meaning of family to mean musical community– he certainly was, for decades.
I am 67. I first heard Bill half a century ago, when I was in high school. As a college student I ran a campus coffeehouse at Connecticut College, and brought Bill there to perform. I sang on Just Play One Tune More, in Sandy and Caroline Paton’s barn in the winter of 1977. In 1982 when Bill played Greenwich Village for the first time, we were there to cheer him on.
What I love most about Bill’s music , besides the ever-present warmth in his voice and humor in his stories, is the way he could evoke very real people and their life stories with the stroke of a pen. I could listen to his stories many times over, and they were still funny. That long-ago porcupine having a nocturnal monologue smack in the middle of your campsite still makes me giggle, even if I’ve heard it a couple dozen times.
I hope you and Bowen can draw comfort from the memories shared here, and know that Bill touched many thousands of lives, and his music, along with those memories, will live on for a very very long time.
We are so sad to find this news.
Our family had dinner with him a couple of times, and he was always so kind to our two children.
We all loved him!!!
Karen and family – I saw Bill dozens of times when he played around New England – the first was in 1970 at Passim’s in Cambridge. I was a beginning guitarist and wanted to learn the chords to his songs. When I showed up and saw him playing upside down and left handed, I could only laugh, sit back and enjoy the music. In 2006, on the last day of a week-long songwriting class with Bill, as he told us about the joy and privilege it was for him to write songs and live a life of music, he teared up – and so did we. Such authenticity and heart – such a beautiful soul. The world is a smaller place without him… I hope that knowing the joy and sweetness that he brought to so many, gives you some solace and peace.
Dear Karen, Bowen, and Family,
We just found out about Bill’s death yesterday. This is so sad and disheartening.
Bill was an important part of our lives for over 40 years – we saw him in New Hampshire over 20 times and took him with us when we traveled. We enjoyed his book, following the narrative with a map.
On one trip with my daughter driving across country we detoured to Cedar Falls Iowa to sit with a small audience at Bill’s radio concert. I greeted Bill, “Well, we’ve driven a long way to see you!” He sang all our favorites including “Child of Mine”. Our daughter, bound for California, met her future husband there. A few years later Jen and I did our “Father/Bride Dance” to “Child of Mine”.
As many others have written, he meant so much to us – his wonderful voice, poetic lyrics and melodious tunes will be with us all our lives. His “life on the road” may have been difficult at times – please take consolation in the joy and meaning he gave to all of us.
With heartfelt condolences,
John and Joanne Barrett
My family was so influenced by bills songs I loved sweet Wyoming home. My kids loved his folk influence. But he will be a component of our memorial service when we pass away. God bless him.
As many have said, Bill’s music has meant so much to my family. Whistle of The Jay was playing in my home since before I can remember, and I’ve since collected the majority of his records. Last year I promised myself I would make it to one of his shows when quarantine lifted, and deeply regret I did not make the time to earlier. I recently released a record named after one of his songs and had hoped to foist it on him at a show, or at least get to blab about how much his music meant to me, and to my connection with my own family. I wish endless strength and peace to Karen, Bill’s children, and his family and friends. I hope the many people who loved his music so dearly reenforces that his time on earth was meaningful, and reverberates past his death. Thank you for sharing him with us.
My husband and I were so saddened to learn of Bill’s passing. We have followed his music over the 45 years of our marriage, attending many concerts in Michigan. We first started listening to him when we were young marrieds. Our children hummed along as we took family vacations listening to his CDs and they listen to him now as adults. Now approaching our 70s, we feel he traveled along with us throughout our lives.
He was a treasure to us and his music will remain in our hearts always. I was lucky and bold enough to ask Bill to pose with me for a photo the last time he was in East Lansing, MI. I am ever so glad I had the courage to ask him for now I will have this photo to cherish.
Thank you, Karen, for sharing Bill with us. It feels he had many songs left within him, now left unsung. It is our hope that there might be a few yet to be released.
RIP, Bill. Job well done, good and faithful servant.
Laurie Stirling
We continue to “Dance All Night to the
Fiddle and the Banjo…” and all of cyber rest of his music that we listen to often and fondly with great smiles and love in our hearts for him!
Dear Karen, please except my condolences. I only learned of Bill’s passing yesterday. I was doing a search online to see what of his latest albums I might not have yet, when I read of his passing. Not what expected to read, for sure! My brother-in-law Robert Gordon a New England artist and my sister Dawn. Introduced my wife Helen & I to Bill and his music many years ago at the Me and Thee in Marblehead, MA. I remember after the show, Bill did a meet and greet and an opportunity to buy some of his LP records. My wife and I bought one of every album that he had with him. I remember Bill wouldn’t let us leave with them without him first signing each record cover and adding a personal note. Bill has been woven into the fabric of my life for over forty years. Thank you Karen for sharing Bill with us his fans. I pray that our Lord will guide you and comfort you through this difficult time!
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To Karen and Bowen, please accept my condolences on the passing of Bill. I have known him for over 50 years and will miss him and his live performances tremendously. His music will live on in my heart and in the heart of his fans.