A Sharp Turn A girl. A daughter, a sister, a lover. A prostitute. Ruby lips. Thin, delicate, pretty. Big feet. A fat girl. A clutz, a clod, a chub. A drunk girl. Drowned, lost, forgotten, betrayed. A dead girl. A … Continue reading →
On this blog, we often play detective. In fact, that’s pretty much all we do, and this post is no different, but I’m going to start by turning the tables. What, if anything, do you make of these fragments?: A … Continue reading →
Twice in recent weeks I’ve delved into Hazel Dickens’s work to find songs that walk the line between life and death in America’s coal fields. “Black Lung” is no murder ballad, but we saw how it used Primitive Baptist singing … Continue reading →
Stephen Colbert is ending his long-running comedy show, The Colbert Report, tonight. Although, not a music show per se, the Report has been home to plenty of artists, such as Pete Seeger, Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, Dom Flemons, Emmylou Harris, … Continue reading →
VARIOUS ARTISTS Songs of the Civil War Smithsonian/Folkways www.folkways.si.edu The Spanish Civil War, often referred to as the “dress rehearsal” for World War II, was waged between 1936 and 1939 and ended in victory … Continue reading →
Ronald D. Cohen and Rachel Clare Robinson Roots of the Revival: American and British Folk Music in the 1950s University of Illinois Press 978-0-252-08012-8 www.press.uillinois.edu From chain-gang work songs and the skiffle music of Lonnie … Continue reading →
I spent Sunday morning with Pete Seeger thanks to YouTube and the good folks of the San Francisco Folk Music Club circa 1980. As a performer and organizer dedicated to spreading the joy of community singing, I was thrilled to … Continue reading →
Robert Elfstrom Pete Seeger: A Song and A Stone Weinderworld Dvd www.weinerworld.com View Pete Seeger: A Song and a Stone for a slew of engaging glimpses of one of the greatest Americans of the … Continue reading →
WFDU-FM’s TRADITIONS July 13, 2014 HOST: Ron Olesko Two musical “families” were showcased on today’s show, the Ramones and the Seegers. Starting a show with a memorial tribute to a member of the seminal punk band the Ramones might seem … Continue reading →
Introduction Ken started us last week on a new, short, and lighter path for a few posts – murder ballad comedy. We learned the obvious from John Cleese – that indeed, dark humor can be good humor, and really has … Continue reading →
