The People’s Music Network Winter Gathering is a musical event that is not to be missed! This national organization is joining the Lawrence, MA, Community in its celebration of the centennial anniversary of the Bread & Roses Strike. With the … Continue reading →
Here is Dylan Tuccillo’s award-winning short film, “Omie Wise — A Folktale.” It presents another contribution to the legend, I suppose, with a modern, if not entirely realistic setting. I’ll keep my thoughts, when I add them, to the comments … Continue reading →
“Omie Wise” has been with us a long time, and been “folk processed” in a number of different directions. That it is still with us is evidence of its power to move and affect the singer and the listener. That … Continue reading →
Elvis Costello appeared five or six years ago as part of “The Harry Smith Project,” a musical renewal of the songs collected by Smith in the Anthology of American Folk Music, providing his proposed resolution of the Omie Wise tale. … Continue reading →
SiriusXM satellite radio broadcasting company announced that its folk/trad music station “The Village” will no longer be broadcast via satellite and will be available only through their web-based client and mobile app. Listeners will still be required to purchase premium … Continue reading →
Harry Smith’s Anthology incorporated his somewhat idiosyncratic, news-brief style summaries for the songs he included. The brief on “Ommie Wise” reads as follows: GREEDY GIRL GOES TO ADAMS SPRING WITH LIAR; LIVES JUST LONG ENOUGH TO REGRET IT … Continue reading →
This week’s installment is a decidedly American contribution to the genre, and one not completely shrouded in the mists of history, but only partly so. The events of “Omie Wise” can be pinned down to a known historical event—the drowning … Continue reading →
Here we have Ewan MacColl’s version of Child #73, from his Classic Scots Ballads. Thanks, Pat, for mentioning it. The song is sung in Scots, and there are a few passages which I have yet to understand clearly, but the … Continue reading →
I listened to this version for the first time this morning: I had never heard this tune for the song before. Here is where we have want of a musicologist. On the face of it, it seems like this tune … Continue reading →
For the first selection: Fair Ellender. Here is Jerry Garcia and David Grisman’s version from “Shady Grove.” Fair Ellender (Spotify) Here’s the same song on YouTube: (link replaced 12/10/14) While not the most famous of the genre, this one … Continue reading →
