Twice in recent weeks Iāve delved into Hazel Dickensās work to find songs that walk the line between life and death in Americaās coal fields. āBlack Lungā is no murder ballad, but we saw how it used Primitive Baptist singing … Continue reading →
āWell itās cold blooded murder friends, Iām talking about ā¦ā Such is the accusation that opensĀ the angry chorus of āThe Yablonski Murder.ā Hazel Dickens penned the musical indictment in January of 1970 after she read the newspaper story describing what … Continue reading →
[soundcloud url=āhttps://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/184051966ā³ params=āauto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=trueā width=ā100%ā height=ā450ā³ iframe=ātrueā /] If youāve been reading Sing Out!ās Facebook page or website, you know we continue to emphasize our historic focus of bringing people together through song. This weekās folkfinds pick nods to Community Sings … Continue reading →
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā JENI AND BILLYāS BIG PICNIC BAND Picnic In The Sky Waystation 003 www.jeniandbilly.com Ā In the early days of the recording industry much of what we today call folk, country, and old-time music was called … Continue reading →
A little less than a year ago we started a new series within Murder Ballad Monday called āConversations with Death.ā Ā These brief, emotional posts allow us to explore songs thatĀ resonate for us in ways we find typicalĀ ofĀ our genre of choice, … Continue reading →
The Veteran in a New Field ā Winslow Homer, 1865 I mentioned in my last week of posts that Iām preparing to take my 8th grade students to Gettysburg, and that all things Civil War occupy my mind this time … Continue reading →
Ā Ā [Notes:Ā Thanks to Pat for the title.Ā Iām going to add some songs in here that are not murder ballads, but they fire some of the same synapses, and their relevance to the story I tell below should … Continue reading →
