Page 44 - Flathead Beacon // 10.28.15

EVENTS 46 MOVIE REVIEWS 47 PAWS & CLAWS 50 SIDE DISH 52 Arts&Entertainment
A Storyteller for All Ages
Grammy-award winning singer and storyteller Bill Harley to perform in Kalispell on Oct. 30
by MOLLY PRIDDY of the Beacon
As long as humans have been able to commu- nicate, there have been stories. Before our ancestors could read or write, telling stories and keeping an oral history were the only ways to keep a hold on the lessons of our past, so that we may continue to build on the knowledge gathered by those who came before us.
With more established cultures, storytelling has spread to every medium. These days, we’re more likely to read a story from a book or watch one on a screen than to sit with a stranger who actually tells a tale.
Flathead Valley residents will get the opportunity to sit and be entertained by one of the most popular story- tellers out there when Grammy-award winner Bill Har- ley visits the stage at the Flathead High School audito- rium on Oct. 30.
Harley has been entertaining families and kids with his stories for decades; he released his first album, “Monsters in the Bathroom,” in 1984. Since then, he’s toured the country, playing hundreds of shows a year.
He also writes children’s books, such as the Charlie Bumpers series, which follows fourth-grader Bumpers in his adventures, with a new release, “Charlie Bumpers vs. the Perfect Little Turkey,” just released this fall.
Using songs and stories, Harley shares with audi- ences what it was like growing up, going to school, and the other universal details of family life, all with his humorous perspective.
But his work isn’t just for children, Harley asserted in an interview with the Beacon last week.
“I feel like I’ve spent most of my life trying to figure out how I can reach everyone, from kindergarteners to grandparents,” Harley said. “I always feel like I’ve done my job when the kid elbows the dad and the par- ent elbows him back.”
Harley is no stranger to performing in Montana. He remembers playing a benefit event about 20 years ago, and then working in a “little theater in Whitefish” for a summer about 15 years ago.
He first started coming out here at the behest of the Pea Green Boat, a children’s storytelling hour on Mon- tana Public Radio. After appearing there, his popularity increased in the Big Sky state.
“I started getting all these phone calls of people who wanted my recordings in Montana,” Harley said.
His work still precedes him for the upcoming show, with his local fan base already requesting certain pieces. “I have 35 recordings, so a lot of times I don’t do a lot
Bill Harley. COURTESY PHOTO
“I feel like I’ve spent most of my life trying to figure out how I can reach everyone, from kindergarteners to grandparents.” Bill Harley
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OCTOBER 28, 2015 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM