Category: Article

In 1966 I heard Lu Mitchell, a Dallas singer-songwriter, sing She’s Someone’s Grandmother (The Kugelsburg Bank), her song about a white-haired lady who over many years embezzled millions of dollars from a Texas bank (a true story). It had a lovely tune, which I suspected was not original, but I didn’t know its origin. A few years ago I heard a hammered dulcimer player play it as the traditional tune Bendemeer’s Stream. A little research on the Internet revealed that Thomas Moore (1779-1852) wrote lyrics for this tune as Bendemeer’s Stream. But Moore borrowed the tune from an older Irish air.  Continue reading “BORROWED TUNES AND WORDS, by Stewart Hendrickson”

When I was a student at Pomona College (Claremont, CA) in the late 1950s, folk music was just appearing on the scene. A classmate of mine was a little unusual since he was one of the few students who had a beard, sang folk songs and played guitar. One of the songs he sang was Thais, a five-minute humorous synopsis of the opera with witty verses and clever rhymes. With thirteen verses, it is an epic poem set  to music.

THAIS

One time in Alexandria,
in wicked Alexandria,
Where nights were wild with revelry,
and life was but a game.
There lived, so the report is,
an adventuress and courtesan,
The pride of Alexandria,
and Thais was her name.

Continue reading “NEWMAN LEVY – BARRISTER BARD, by Stewart Hendrickson”

Elijah Wald – self-described “ramblin’ hobo folksinger” – was born in 1959, the son of Nobel Prizewinning biochemist George Wald and Harvard biologist Ruth Hubbard. Opting for a career outside of science and following his heart, he became a folk singer and studied guitar in the 1970s with Dave Van Ronk. In his book, “The Mayor of MacDougal Street,” he captured some of the early Greenwich Village folk scene that inspired the Coen Brothers’ movie “Inside Llewyn Davis.” Beginning at age 18, in the late 1970s and most of the 1980s, he wandered around Europe, Asia, Africa and Central America with his guitar, busking, playing small gigs, and immersing himself in all kinds of folk music. See Elijah Wald, biography. Continue reading “Elijah Wald – Folk Musician, Writer, Ethnomusicologist, by Stewart Hendrickson”

The Eleventh Annual Princeton Traditonal Music Festival takes place in Princeton, B.C. Canada this August 17-19. The whole town of Princeton comes out to support the festival. Near-by “locals” come from the Okanagan area, and others come from Vancouver, other parts of B.C., Washington, Oregon and points even further away. The main focus of the festival is the traditional music and folklore of British Columbia, but it also includes traditional music, liberally defined, from other areas. This festival is enhanced by the friendly people and the small-town atmosphere of Princeton.   Continue reading “The Princeton Traditional Music Festival, August 17-19, 2018”

In the April/May issue I wrote that I was stepping down as Director of the PNW Folklore Society, and after next October I would no longer actively book new concerts. In the absence of a new director and other volunteers, the Society would wind down and concerts would continue only on an occasional basis as new performers and volunteers came forth. This prompted an encouraging reaction. Continue reading “PNW Folklore Society – A New Plan, by Stewart Hendrickson”

Juba Music?  What is that?!  It pre-dates ragtime, jazz, blues, hokum,  jugband, hillbilly, country, and in fact most of what we term today as “American Folk Music.” It is from the time we call the Antebellum (before the Civil War, from about 1750 to 1850). Continue reading “Juba Music – The Earliest Roots of American Popular Music, Part I, by Tom Berghan”

The CD, Songs of the Pacific Northwest, has songs contributed by sixteen regional musicians. Since logging played a big part in our history it is not surprising that a number of these songs are about logging. One of the most well-known logging songs is The Frozen Logger. It was written in 1929 by James Stevens, who lived in Seattle during his later years. Who was this guy and what other things did he do? How did Paul Bunyan fit into this? Continue reading “James Stevens – Paul Bunyan and the Frozen Logger, by Stewart Hendrickson”

It was just about seven years ago that Judy and I started to participate in a musical event that has changed our lives forever. This was not just a performance, but was a series of events that lasted for over four years! The events started when our good friend, who also happened to our personal physician, was diagnosed with A.L.S., which is also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. At this time, there is no known cure. Continue reading “The Power of Music, by Bob Nelson”