Starting another BG1 session and am picking bard this time around. Never played one before, can't recall having one in my party either. The only one I know of is Silke but like all women she is EVIL. Any advice on where to put those weapon dots and what items I should go after?

This is going to depend partly on how you have your game set up (BGT vs Enhanced Editions vs original editions).

If your setup resets your skills on transfer to BG2 (as is the case in the original games, where you must reassign your weapon proficiencies on transfer and also lose your BG1 spellbook and have to re-select your spells, i.e., you can't do things like scribe level 5 spell scrolls from BG1 so you have them on hand in BG2 ...), then it's of fairly minor importance what you do in BG1, so long as you remember to take bow proficiency (arrows are seriously king in BG1, arrows of detonation being pretty much your game breaker weapon for most characters). Melee weapons don't really matter at this point for most of the party (the only place where it can get really critical is for your frontline melee, if you don't have the right proficiencies one of the bosses in the Tales of the Sword Coast areas will be extremely difficult).

If your setup carries skills over to BG2 (as is the case with the BGT mod), then you will want to select your proficiencies with this in mind from the start. It's going to be hard choice time because you have access to virtually every weapon as a bard in the BG2 engine, and there are a LOT of good gear choices available in BG2 as a result. Mind you, some of this can wait until the later levels depending on how soon things become available and if you need Use Any Item to use the weapon (e.g., Carsomyr) which requires you to be level 24 (although allocating two-handed sword early isn't too bad, since it lets you wield Lilarcor and gain the useful Charm and Confusion immunities in the meanwhile, for instance).

Silke is not a recruitable character, but the guy who takes you to see her (Garrick) is, and a he's a bard to boot. There is also Eldoth, who you meet in Cloakwood forest.

A bard, by nature, is a support class, so you want to go for bows in BG1. That's all there is to it, since there are no distinctions between short and long bow proficiencies. The best bows in the game are the Longbow of Marksmanship (long bow) and the Eagle Bow (short bow), though neither are available early on, with the Eagle Bow not until you get to Baldurs Gate. This is all assuming you are talking about vanilla BG1.

Yes the longbow (not composite longbow) and the wand of frost for battle horror hunting… on the spell front you want spells that have a ‘per level’ element like the skull trap.
If playing in a group, hang back and play your song but solo play is all about the wands.

One other thing: If you plan on using your song, I recommend turning the party AI OFF. If you leave it on, you will find that the AI often cancels your singing by attacking.

This is especially important if you are playing either Icewind Dale game, where bard songs are more varied and powerful. (There's even one that can heal you!)

Thanks for all the tips! I'll do bows. I picked Jester because its song sounded like a good crowd control ability. I haven't been in many fights yet so not sure if it will work out. Is there any reason to not use the song? If I just have him use arrows he is just a bad thief right?

Nice of you to mention that you're not playing vanilla from the start. :\ Right.