Just about anyone familiar with the music of English singer/songwriter Reg Meuross will tell you that “he just has this way about him” — in the words of Bainbridge Island folksinger MJ Bishop.

Bishop was the spearheading force behind bringing the famed folkountrock (folk/country/rock) solo artist all the way from the United Kingdom to Bainbridge Island. He will be sharing the stage with local artist Matt Price while Bishop will open the set at 7:30 p.m. June 1 at the Island Center Hall — 8395 Fletcher Bay Rd. on Bainbridge.

Meuross — who has been hailed by critics as a “true English troubadour” and a “songwriting wizard” — ran into Bishop amidst the masses at the FAR-West Annual Folk Conference last year.

“He was just one of those musicians that I latched onto because I really enjoy his stuff,” Bishop said. “His story telling is really unique, and his delivery … he has this way about him, maybe its the Englishman in him, I don’t know.”

Whatever it is, Bishop teamed up with Norm Johnson from Music Community Resources to bring it to Bainbridge for an evening full of folk song story-telling.

“A song is a most economical way to tell a story and you should savor and enjoy that economy,” Meuross said. “It is best to tell things in a simple and an accessible way … I’ve learned that from the American writers.”

Meuross grew up in England amidst the explosion of The Beatles — an extreme inspiration he said, as they were the one of the first bands of true songwriters at that time. Through his parents’ speakers, Meuross was also influenced by the likes of Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra and Hank Williams and encouraged to likewise write for himself.

“I took the lead of Lennon and McCartney,” he said. “Then everything got turned on its head once I had Dylan.”

With the emergence of that American folk icon, Meuross was introduced to the idea that singer/songwriters didn’t necessarily have to be in a band to be heard. With that thought in mind, he began the idealistic quest of a country boy traveling to the city to be a star, he said. He struck his opening chord in 1986 as half of a duo called The Panic Brothers during the UK’s alternative comedy boom.

“For a brief period before that I was a pop star, and in retrospect, it was meaningless,” Meuross said. “(The Panic Brothers) was sort of the beginning of freedom for me from that corporate control, when I realized if I stuck with it, I could probably make a living doing the music I wanted to do. And ever since, that’s pretty much what I’ve done.”

Including a stint with a group called The Flamingos — not the 1950s American doo-wop singers — Meuross has since released three solo albums and played with the likes of John “Rabbit” Bundrick, former keysman for The Who.

For his first-ever Bainbridge Island show, Meuross will be solo.

His tenor vocals have a Paul Simon quality while The Beatles influence can definitely be heard in his guitar chord structure. It’s all laced together by overtones of old-school American country and uncompromising stories of love, social awareness and realism.

“I’m not banging the drum, I’ve got no axe to grind, as far as I’m concerned I can write what I like, if people like it and enjoy it, that’s great,” he said. “I write about things which I think are interesting.”

In addition to the Island Center Hall, Meuross will also be taking his stories of interest to the World Cup Espresso and Wine Shop (tonight) and Le Pichet (June 3) in Seattle. For more information visit www.regmeuross.com.