Making fun for the whole family

Two-time Grammy award-winning songwriter and storyteller Bill Harley might be considered by some as a children's performer, but he gears his shows toward the whole family.

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"I do a lot of stories about growing up and imaginary characters too, and try to use a lot of humor," he said. "I feel like as a family performer it's really in my mind to try and entertain everybody. So I'm trying to get the adults to laugh too, at themselves and their children and vice versa."

Harley, who has been performing across the country for 30 years, will perform for the first time ever in Juneau at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Juneau-Douglas High School auditorium.

Harley, a recipient of the Magic Penny Award from the Children's Music Network, has a broad body of work to draw on, which he says keeps each performance different from one another.

"I must have 300 songs and 100, 200 stories I can tell, so a lot of times the show is improvisation," he said. "I look and see who is there because family audiences can vary so widely."

Harley's songs include titles like "Barbie's Head is Missing" and "You're Driving Me Crazy."

"Or it might be a story about the kid who's got a monster under the bed and nobody seems to want to help her with it," he said. "So it's pretty wide ranging."

Harley is not only a songwriter and storyteller, he is also an author, playwright, educator, performing artist and commentator for National Public Radio.

"I've kind of got a big bag of tricks that I'll draw on," he said.

Harley began his career as a family performer in college when he released his first album, titled "Monsters in the Bathroom." His musical style blends a mix of world music, reggae, blues, folk, rock, jazz do-wop and more over the course of the 28 albums he has recorded. He has also published eight children's picture books and two novels for grade-school kids.

Humor is the main part of Harley's performances. Entertainment Weekly has dubbed him "the Mark Twain of contemporary children's music."

Saturday's performance is presented in collaboration with Friends of the Juneau Public Libraries and KTOO. Tickets vary in cost and are available at the Juneau Arts & Culture Center, Hearthside Books, Rainy Retreat Books and online at www.jahc.org.

Harley will also be holding an adult storytelling workshop from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Saturday at the downtown library. It is designed for parents, caregivers and educators and will focus on developing a rich learning environment in homes and classrooms.

Harley said he enjoys seeing the reaction of families enjoying time together at his concerts.

"I always feel like I've done my job when I see a kid poking a parent or a parent poking a kid and saying, 'Yeah, that's us,'" he said.

• Contact reporter Eric Morrison at 523-2269 or eric.morrison@juneauempire.com.