Hosted by Fizz Kizer, the first monthly singer-songwriter showcase of the season will start at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2008, at the River Falls Golf Club, River Falls, WI, and offer the music of Fizz Kizer and Jonathan Earl, and special guests Chris Silver, and Bill Staines!

Tickets cost a mere $15 for three wonderful hours of music and are available at the Whole Earth Grocery, 126 S. Main St. in River Falls, phone 715-425-7971. All ages are welcome, and the event is smoke-free.

Chris Silver

Chris Silver plays bluegrass, but it doesn’t stop there…

Chris has created a new sound with traditional roots music at the core. As a musical risk taker, he has added layers not usually found in traditional music, providing a rich texture to his songs, including slide guitar and intricate global rhythms. His eclectic approach in playing bluegrass blues, folk, and old-timey music has shaped Silver’s musical maturations to the point that they could be compared to Ry Cooder’s early ’70s recordings. In a given set, you are as likely to hear a song by Lowell George as a tune by Doc Watson. One thing is for sure, his energy is infectious and he’ll leave you wanting more.

Chris spent five years touring with the acclaimed bluegrass band Stoney Lonesome, and When Kate MacKenzie left the band in 1994, she asked Chris to tour with her. Chris and Kate toured coast-to-coast for three years playing major festivals including The Strawberry Music Festival in California, The Delaware Valley Bluegrass Festival, and numerous appearances on National Public Radio’s A Prairie Home Companion. In addition, he has performed internationally at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, Nightclubs in Austria, Germany, and Mexico. In September, Chris won the adult division and the overall title in the Minnesota Flatpicking Guitar Championship held at the Minnesota State Fair.

Bill Staines

Anyone not familiar with the music of Bill Staines is in for a special treat…

For over thirty five 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, Bill became involved with the Boston-Cambridge folk scene in the early 1960′s and, for a time, emceed the Sunday hootenanny at the renowned Club 47 in Cambridge. Bill quickly became a popular performer in the Boston area. In 1971, after one of his performances, a reviewer for The Phoenix stated that Bill was “simply Boston’s best performer.” A decade later, both in 1980 and 1981, the annual Reader’s Poll of The Boston Globe selected him as a favorite performer.

In 1991, Bill entered his forth 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.

Bill 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 with the same ease, his feelings about the prairie people of the Midwest or the adventurers of the Yukon.

Interspersed between original songs, Bill also includes songs ranging from traditional folk tunes to more contemporary country ballads and delights in having the audience participate in many of the numbers.

A number of Bill’s 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, Priscilla Herdman, and others. Bill has recorded twenty-two of his own albums, fifteen of which are still in print. Additionally, Bill’s songs have been published in four songbooks, If I Were A Word, Then I’d Be A Song, River, Music To Me, The Songs of Bill Staines, and All God’s Critters Got A Place In The Choir.

Radio and TV appearances have included A Prairie Home Companion, Mountain Stage, The Good Evening Show, and a host of local programs on PBS and network TV.

Honky Tonk Cafe performances are typically sold out by the night of the concert, so it’s a good idea to get your tickets right away!

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