LINKS TO SOURCES OF INFORMATION AND AMUSEMENT
IN THE VAST FIELD OF TRADITIONAL MUSIC.
(Arranged approximately alphabetically)
LET US KNOW IF YOU
CATCH SIGHT OF OTHER SITES WE SHOULD CITE.
(Updated 4/30/2012)
- The
Ballad Index: Lots of valuable information about
traditonal songs. Includes non-ballad traditional songs as well.
Edited by Bob Waltz and David Engle.
- Bob Bovee and Gail Heil:
Two hard-working old-time musicians who hang out near Spring
Grove, Minnesota, when they're not on the road. Bob plays guitar
and harmonica, and knows a lot about cowboy tradition; Gail is a
fine fiddler and banjoist; and they both sing very well.
- The Celestial
Monochord: Exploring the intersection between hillbilly
music and astrophysics. Kurt Gegenhuber is Editor-In-Chief.
- Clarence Ashley:
Information and lots of photographs about Ashley, who played and
sang with many old-time groups in the 1920s, and who, many years
later, introduced the world to Doc Watson. Edited by his
great-grandson, Scott Moore.
- John Cohen:
Co-founder, with Mike Seeger and Tom Paley, of the New Lost City
Ramblers, John is not only a performer of traditional music.
He's also a well-known photographer, filmmaker and collector of
Appalachian and Peruvian music.
- The Cylinder
Preservation and Digitization Project: Over 6,000 Edison
cylinder recordings available for downloading or listening. Not
limited to Old-Time music. Collection of the Donald C. Davidson
Library, University of California, Santa Barbara.
- Folkstreams: An
interesting collection of documentary films about traditional
people and the people who collect the material.
- The Homestead
Pickin' Parlor: The place to go if you're in the
Minneapolis / St. Paul area and need old-time related musical
instruments or lessons, plus recordings of almost any type of
traditional music.
- Julie's Tacky
Treasures: Julie Mangin works at the Library of Congress,
and also has a museum of items that would go well with
your trailer home. In addition, she plays old-time music,
although we don't know if the two obsessions are related.
- Library
of
Congress
Sound
Recording Catalog: A digitization of the American Folklife
Center's card catalog, including about 34,000 recordings made
between 1933 and 1950. A valuable research tool, although for
most of the recordings, you have to buy them if you want a copy.
- John
& Ruby Lomax 1939 Southern States Recording Tour:
Approximately 700 downloadable field recordings plus photographs
taken during a 3-month collecting trip. From the Archive of Folk
Song collection of the Library of Congress.
- Mike Seeger (1933 -
2009): A tribute to a hero who did as much as (or more
than) anyone else to spread (and thus preserve) traditional
American music.
- Minnesota Bluegrass
and Old-Time Music Organization (MBOTMA): Dedicated to
preservation and presentation of bluegrass and old-time music,
they present several festivals per year, as well as concerts.
- Mississippi John
Hurt Museum: Dedicated to the memory of one of the
greatest musicians of our time, and one whose spirit lives on in
those of us who met him.
- The Old Time Herald:
Excellent magazine with in-depth articles and record reviews
covering mainly Appalachian old-time music. Printed on good
paper, too.
- Old Time Music
in Portland: Bill Martin of Portland, Oregon, runs this
site, which also includes an irregularly-changing half-hour
program of interesting traditional music.
- The Online 78 RPM
Discography Project: An incredible data base of record and
master numbers, recording dates, artists and titles. Not limited
to old-time music. Files are organized by record company rather
than by artist. Edited by Tyrone Settlemier.
- Tracy Schwarz and Ginny
Hawker: Tracy, a long-time member of the New Lost City
Ramblers, is a terrific vocalist and fiddler. He's also a
formidable Cajun accordionist. Ginny, who has one of the finest
country voices you'll ever hear, sings Primitive Baptist hymns
as well as a wide variety of secular Appalachian material. They
live in Cox's Mill, West Virginia.
- Secret Museum of
the Air: For 2 years, from 2000-2002, Pat Conte presented
a fabulous weekly program of world music over New York
independent radio station WFMU. The series was discontinued, but
the programs are still archived here.
- Smithsonian
Folkways Records: Folkways Records was an invaluable
source for traditional music of the world as well as the U.S.
Fortunately, the Smithsonian Institute inherited the collection
when Moe Asch, Folkways founder, died. Many of the most popular
Folkways LPs have been re-released as CDs, but you can order
anything out of the original catalog and they'll make you a
copy. They've also released much new material that wasn't in the
original catalog.
- Eric
and Suzy Thompson: Two superbly talented musicians from
Berkeley, California, who can play and sing just about any type
of traditional music and make it sound as if they grew up with
it.
- Pop Wagner: He'll sing
cowboy songs for you, tell jokes, play fiddle tunes, recite
poetry, and, if you're still not satisfied, dazzle you with rope
tricks. He works out of St. Paul, Minnesota. Highly recommended.
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