Bill Staines is an American folk musician and singer-songwriter from New England, who writes and performs in a traditional vein. He has also written and recorded children's songs. Raised in Lexington, Massachusetts, Staines began his professional career in the early 1960s in the Cambridge area. He began touring nationwide a few years later. In 1975 he won the National Yodeling Championship at the Kerrville Folk Festival. He performs about 200 times a year and has appeared on A Prairie Home Companion, Mountain Stage, and The Good Evening Show. Staines's songs include "Bridges", "Crossing the Water", "Sweet Wyoming Home", "The Roseville Fair", "A Place in the Choir", "Child of Mine", and "River". His songs have been recorded by many other artists, including Peter, Paul and Mary, Makem and Clancy, Nanci Griffith, Mason Williams, The Highwaymen, Glenn Yarbrough, Jerry Jeff Walker, Schooner Fare, Grandpa Jones, The Grace Family, Coty Hogue and Priscilla Herdman. Staines has recorded 22 of his own albums, 15 of which were still in print as of 2005. 

February 6th, 1947 in Portsmouth  /  Died:   Dec 5th, 2021 - prostate cancer - aged 74