Folk Singer Draws 150 to Solstice Event

New England folk singer Bill Staines was the only performer Sunday at what used to be the Summer Solstice Festival, an annual event that for 17 years featured numerous concerts and workshops over a three-day period.

But this year, while festival sponsors restructure their organization, Staines was one of only two acts presented.

His fans didn’t seem to mind.

On stage, Staines joked about how his songs can cure a child’s insomnia and about how some fans say his voice reminds them of Burl Ives. Then he segued into his song, “All God’s Critters.”

That was the cue for about a dozen people in the crowd of 150 at Soka University to bring out hand puppets of all the critters mentioned in the nearly 20-year-old song.

The puppets are a tradition at Staines’ concerts.

“I wasn’t even sure I liked it when I wrote it,” Staines, who lives in New Hampshire, said of the song.

Some in the audience had been waiting a long time to hear it live.

“I’ve been following him for about a year,” said Mike Clark, a financial planner from Valencia, who held up a hippo puppet during “All God’s Critters.”

The performance was sponsored by the California Traditional Music Society, which in past years put on the festival. This year, the only other performance was a concert of Celtic music Saturday night.

Earlier this year, the festival’s executive director, Elaine Weissman, said she wanted to retire from the post. Event organizers decided to take a break from the festival to recruit and train a replacement.

The weekend concerts were a far cry from the 300 workshops and events that are normally part of the outdoor festival.

“It’s one of the most pleasant weekends we’ve had for a festival,” Clark Weissman, president of the music society’s board and Elaine Weissman’s husband, joked to the crowd gathered at an indoor auditorium to hear Staines.

“We’re tired,” he said in explaining why he and his wife were stepping down. “We have five and a half grandchildren.”

Many in the audience were longtime supporters.

“The beginners can start with an instrument here and not be intimidated,” said Dennis Simms of Orange, who with his wife, Pauline, has attended the festival for 15 years. The Simmses both had learned to play the dulcimer, a stringed instrument popular in the Appalachians, at the event.