November 9, 1915-March 28, 2015 If you have ever played or heard “John Short’s Tune,” a lively polka, then you have met my father, Erwin A. Thompson. He passed the… Read More →
Here & There
Pondering Bascom Performing Arts and Education Center
The Pondering Bascom Performing Arts and Education Center, a new organization dedicated to Appalachian traditional arts, regional history, and sustainable lifestyle practices, has been founded at the Leicester, North Carolina,… Read More →
Southern Music Research Center
The Birmingham, Alabama, Southern Music Research Center, founded in 2023 by folklorist and music historian Burgin Mathews, is “a new 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization devoted to the documentation, preservation, and public… Read More →
Brooklyn Folk Festival
The Brooklyn Folk Festival will celebrate three major anniversaries at this year’s festival, to be held November 10 – 12 at St. Ann’s Church in Brooklyn. The 2023 gathering will… Read More →
Hidden Roots: The Musical Life of Munsey Gualtney
Traditional music is central to the history of Ashe County, North Carolina. From its inception, the county has produced talented musicians, most rooted in folk and traditional forms, and many… Read More →
ARSC Journal Special Issue: “U.S. Public Domain and Pre-1923 Recordings”
The Association for Recorded Sound Collections (ARSC) has released its first-ever album, presenting an international collection of pre-1923 recordings. Some of the material has not been available since it was… Read More →
Industrial Strength Bluegrass: Southwestern Ohio’s Musical Legacy (Fred Bartenstein and Curtis W. Ellison, editors)
Industrial Strength Bluegrass: Southwestern Ohio’s Musical Legacy Fred Bartenstein and Curtis W. Ellison, editors Ohio is not the first place that comes to mind when one thinks of bluegrass music.… Read More →
Naomi “Omie” Wise: Her Life, Death and Legend
Naomi “Omie” Wise: Here Life, Death and Legendby Hal E. Pugh and Eleanor Minnock-Pugh “Greedy girl goes to Adam’s Spring with liar; lives just long enough to regret it.” That’s… Read More →
Here’s to Every Country Dancer: Dudley Laufman’s Original Tunes and Songs played by Canterbury Country Dance Orchestra (Dudley Laufman)
You don’t run into too many recordings by traditional musicians that include a “Ballad for Edward Thomas,” the English poet, friend to Robert Frost, casualty of the concussion of an… Read More →
Hand-Me-Downs (Madeline Levy and Bertram Levy)
The subtitle of this very enjoyable CD is “A daughter’s take on her father’s tunes.” Madeline Levy’s introductory essay, liner notes, and her fiddling style, all emphasize the tradition from… Read More →
Allsorts Orchestra (Skillet Licorice)
Released in 2021 by the Old-Time Tiki Parlour, Allsorts Orchestra is the second full-length album by Skillet Licorice, the San Francisco Bay-area roots-music duo of Elise Engelberg and Matt Knoth.… Read More →
Rare and Unissued Fiddle & String Band Music (Eck Robertson and Others)
The three tunes by Eck Robertson may be the headliners of Rare and Unissued Fiddle & String Band Music, but they are by far the worst-sounding of the 27 tracks… Read More →
Along the Ohio’s Shores: Fiddle Music Along a Great River
The Ohio River Valley has proven to be fertile ground for fiddlers. Never more so has that been illustrated than with the compilation Along the Ohio’s Shores: Fiddle Music Along… Read More →
Coney Island Baby (Eden & John’s East River String Band)
Eden & John’s East River String Band mines the rich history of traditional American blues, country, and popular music from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, to provide their… Read More →
Celtic Fiddle Rambles with Skip Gorman (Skip Gorman)
New Englander Skip Gorman has been a presence on the traditional music scene for many years. He had the good fortune to grow up in Rhode Island within easy striking… Read More →
The Rocky Creek Ramblers
The music for this CD began under a tarp, pickled eggs in a jar nearby and ice-cold Schlitz in a cooler, during what fiddler Joseph Decosimo recalls as “a sweaty… Read More →
We Shall All Be Reunited: Revisiting the Bristol Sessions
In 1927 and 1928, Victor Records sent Ralph Peer to Bristol, Tennessee, to record country musicians, in what became known as the Bristol Sessions. In 1987, the Country Music Foundation… Read More →
