Willie Nininger

A mainstay of the Greenwich Village Folk Scene in the 70's and 80's, Willie has M.C'd and performed in the legendary Fast Folk Musical Revues, played clubs and concerts across the U.S., wrote and performed the title song for the Winter's Night compilation CD that inspired the still popular Winter's Night concert tours, wrote songs for the Captain Kangaroo show and kids TV specials, perennially won the Folk City Bob Dylan imitator's contests, developed a reputation as a great folk humorist and gained notoriety as a top flatpick guitarist with his solo acoustic bluegrass version of the William Tell Overture (you have to hear it to believe it).

The New York Post calls him "an all-smiling down-right charming performer who gets more enjoyment out of doing his musical thing than anyone else in recent memory". The Boston Herald said of Willie, "Nininger was hilarious in and between songs, displaying a sly and daffy wit".

During visits to Europe in the 1980's, Willie developed such a following there that he pulled up stakes and moved to Switzerland where he took the local acoustic music scene by storm, winning Entertainer of the Year awards and playing well over a hundred dates a year in Switzerland and in the U.K.

Willie attended Kenyon College in Ohio and later Tufts University, outside of Boston. The same weekend he graduated from Tufts, Willie had his first major gig in the Boston area, opening a show for Jimmy Buffett at Passim.

In 1975 Willie was discovered by a television producer while singing in a Greenwich Village folk club. From the money he received from writing five songs for the nationally televised children's show "Captain Kangaroo" he rented an apartment in the Soho section of New York and began playing and singing regularly in New York's l folk clubs. He and his band became the virtual house band at the legendary Lone Star Cafe.

In the mid-1980's Willie became a regular part of the Fast Folk collective in New York City, recording for the Fast Folk Musical Magazine and appearing as MC and a featured performer on several Fast Folk tours with the likes of Christine Lavin, Shawn Colvin, Lucy Kaplansky, and John Gorka, among others.  Splitting his time between the U.S., Switzerland and England, Willie built a following in each, stopping long enough to begin recording more of his songs.  Willie's song "On A Winter's Night" became the title track on the widely acclaimed and recently reissued singer-songwriter compilation album of the same name, leading to the Winter's Night concert tours that continue today. His old Captain Kangaroo theme song for Mr., Moose, "I'm Proud to be a Moose," was recorded and widely performed by Dave Van Ronk.

Today Willie has returned from Europe to reestablish his career here in the United States. Based in Connecticut, Willie has been playing throughout the Northeast. You can purchase his CD's and find out where he'll be performing from his website.