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An Evening with Bill Harley

January 13, 2004

CARROLLTON, GA - Grammy-nominated storyteller, singer, songwriter and author Bill Harley, a nationally recognized family entertainer, will bring his insightful and humorous observations about growing up and parenting to the University of West Georgia Townsend Center for the Performing Arts on Thursday, Jan. 22, at 7:30 p.m.

Wacky and meaningful at the same time, Harley’s upbeat combination of story and song portrays contemporary American life with a slightly off-center bent. Known for his ability to delight children and adults alike, he has released more than 20 award-winning recordings for kids and families, as well as four children’s books and one concert video featuring his band, The Troublemakers.

TV Guide has described Harley as “humorous, canny and supremely tuneful”; Booklist has praised his “upbeat songs,” “catchy, appealing lyrics and tunes” and “masterful storytelling,” and Entertainment Weekly has called him “the Mark Twain of contemporary kids’ music.”

Since 1991, he has been familiar to many adults as a commentator on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered, through which he dispenses his trademark humor and wisdom on topics ranging from T-ball game strategy to first jobs to dead groundhogs. As Harley says, “Anything is material to a desperate man.”

Released on his own independent label, Round River Records, Harley’s diverse catalog of recordings chronicles the life of children in school and at home. Across the country, hundreds of schools use his material in language, music and drama programs.

All of Harley’s recordings have won national awards, including a number of Parents’ Choice Foundation Gold Awards, Association for Independent Music Awards and American Library Association Notable Recording Citations. In addition, he has received two Grammy nominations (for The Battle of the Mad Scientists and Weezie and the Moonpies), and he was named a member of the National Storytelling Network’s Circle of Excellence in 2001.

Harley’s extensive repertoire includes such songs as Monsters in the Bathroom, 50 Ways to Fool Your Mother, Down in the Backpack, Dad Threw the TV out the Window, Who Made This Mess? and There’s a Pea on My Plate, as well as a wide range of stories such as Dinosaurs Never Say Please, Grownups Are Strange, Come on Out and Play, From the Back of the Bus and Cool in School.

His books include a Storytelling World Award winner (Sarah’s Story) and an ABA Pick of the List (Sitting Down To Eat). He is currently working on a novel for 8- to 10-year-olds.

Harley has toured nationally since 1980. As a solo artist or with his band or pianist, Keith Munslow, he has performed in thousands of concerts, storytelling festivals, school assemblies and workshops. His stories and off-beat observations have appeared in numerous anthologies and magazines, and he often delivers keynote speeches at conferences on education and children. He has also worked as an Artist in Residence with the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts and the Massachusetts Arts Collaborative.

Direct, honest and filled with the details of daily life, Harley’s act mixes a healthy dose of reality with a refreshing breath of fantasy. In his world, anything can happen — 6-year-olds turn into dinosaurs; the moon speaks; term papers become singable songs; and frustrated dads throw televisions out windows — and somewhere there is a kernel of truth for all.

“I perform to remind everyone, including myself, that we all have a great deal in common — and the things we don’t have in common, the things that make each one of us unique, are things worth celebrating,” says Harley. “I like family audiences, and I’ve found that material that really works for kids also works for adults — for the obvious reasons: we’re all people and adults remember growing up. And if they don’t remember, I remind them.”

Humorous and meaningful, serious and silly, Harley’s songs and stories are guaranteed to tame even the wildest of kids and make the grumpiest grownup grin at his unique, slightly wacky view of people and the world around them.

Tickets for his Townsend Center performance, An Evening with Bill Harley, are $7 for adults, $5 for seniors and UWG students and $3 for children. For reservations or more information, call the Townsend Center at 770-836-6694 or visit its web site at www.townsendcenter.org.

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