Look at the eyes of this cute and rather worried looking chihuahua. What sad story do you see? What tale of despair and dreams gone bad? What demons? What lost angels? If you donât already know from the title of … Continue reading →
Sheila Kay Adams is a keeper of songs and stories that stretch back hundreds of years, and an American treasure. Â Most folkies know her name, but if youâre not familiar with her and youâre developing a love for traditional American … Continue reading →
Found Drowned â George Frederick Watts, 1867 All right folks.  I promised after five separate posts over six months concerning the ballad âTwo Sistersâ (aka Child 10, aka Roud 8, akaâŚ) that this time Iâd have something meaningful to say … Continue reading →
detail from Twa Sisters â quilt by Dan Willig So, as I introduced in my first post this week, Iâm trying to add some depth and variety to my first series of entries from six months ago on the ballad known as Child … Continue reading →
detail from Twa Sisters â quilt by Dan Willig Six months ago, my first post for this blog dealt with the ancient murder ballad âTwo Sistersâ, also known as âWind and Rainâ as well as several other names.  Iâm happy with the … Continue reading →
James Chaneyâs mother, Fannie Lee Chaney, and his brother, Ben Now, having moved through a discussion of a number of musical responses to the Freedom Summer murders, Iâd like to go back to âThoseThree Are On My Mind,â and think … Continue reading →
âThose Three Are On My Mindâ was one of several songs born out of the tragic killings in Neshoba County, Mississippi in the summer of 1964. Â Itâs hard for me to say whether itâs the best known, but was the … Continue reading →
Peteâs Seegerâs musical memoir, The Incompleat Folk Singer, includes the following entry for August 5, 1964. Â I hope heâll pardon me for quoting it in its entirety, but I think it informs our conversation here about music, tragedy, and political … Continue reading →
âSouthern Justice (Murder in Mississippi)â by Norman Rockwell Freedom Summer Next week, June 21st to be exact, will mark the 48th anniversary of the day that civil rights activists Michael Schwerner, James Chaney, and Andrew Goodman were murdered in Mississippi, … Continue reading →
âRed Hair and Black Leatherâ One of the things that Pat explored with âMatty Grovesâ is how such a brutal song managed to endure as a folk favorite down through the ages, partly through itâs ability to provide a compelling … Continue reading →
