Live at "Mama's Party," Grand Prairie, Tx. 2013
Willy Welch has been performing his music for decades. He is probably best known for his song “Right Field” (aka "Playing Right Field"), recorded first by Peter, Paul & Mary (some of his childhood heroes!).
Willy's songs cover topics ranging from family, marriage and childhood to loving automobiles and dogs to loving nature, recovery, and baseball. Sometimes upbeat, sometimes low-key, a Willy Welch show is a journey of passion and humor.
His tunes have been covered by a number of artists over the years, including RSVP, David Roth, Jason Alexander (aka “George Costanza”), The Limeliters, and “Barney & Friends” (he was a staff songwriter and penned three dozen tunes for them). He was also composer of the musical “Two Gentlemen of Verona,” commissioned and performed by the Dallas Shakespeare Festival.
Willy began his performing career as a teen, singing "Sunrise, Sunset" for the ladies group at Temple Israel in Natick, Mass., with his then-singing partner William Finn, the Tony-award-winning composer. He moved on to the venerable Boston folk venues – soloing at Sword in the Stone, Stone Phoenix, Nameless Cafe, etc., before relocating to New York City. It was there he hooked up musically with the golden-voiced Texan Wendy Jackson, who later became his wife as well.
- Noel Paul Stookey (of Peter, Paul & Mary) says:
"for sure, he's a great song-writer with an engaging voice and masterful guitar playing but it's willy welch's authenticity of spirit that sells me: his music arrives in your heart with warmth, charm and gracious wit."
“Wendy & Willy” gigged regularly at the West Bank Cafe Downstairs Theatre Bar and the Cottonwood Cafe, as well as appearing at the Bitter End, the Bottom Line, Speakeasy, and Gerde’s Folk City in Greenwich Village.
Wendy & Willy recorded three albums while they played clubs, camps, churches, old-folks homes, house concerts, neighborhood association parties … you name it. Somewhere in there they moved to Dallas, Texas and made several amazing children.
He has performed a number of times in Dallas at Uncle Calvin’s as well as Poor David’s Pub. In between, he has appeared as an actor in numerous musicals in Dallas, Ft. Worth, NYC, OKC and on the road.
After some years of concentrating on writing and performing children’s music, doing theater and the occasional concert in Dallas and environs, he is returning to the road to play house concerts and other venues – because it gives him so much joy! (Besides, the kids are grown and gone and performing on their own!)
Now Willy has returned to his home state of Massachusetts and set up shop in the Berkshires, and seeking venues to share his music and stories.