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Posted by: Stephanie Hall
June eighth is World Oceans Day, and an opportunity to look at a few examples of folksongs that relate to the interconnection between humans and the sea from the mid-nineteenth century to the present day. In this recording, available via the link, James H. Gibbs of Nantucket, Massachusetts sings an untitled song about sperm whaling, …
Posted in: African Americans, Animals, Folk Music, Folksong, Massachusetts, Stetson Kennedy
Posted by: Stephen Winick
It’s not often a fiddle tune becomes controversial, but that’s happening this week, thanks to a blog post by Theodore R. Johnson, III over at National Public Radio. Johnson discusses a well-known tune, with many versions in Library of Congress collections, and raises interesting and important issues, so I thought we might feature the piece …
Posted in: African Americans, England, Folk Music, Folksong, Old Time Music
Posted by: Stephen Winick
In my last post, I discussed the more serious side of songs about Noah’s ark. As I mentioned, though, there are other songs too, often with more celebratory messages–or even silly ones. We’ll look at some of those Noah songs in this post. Celebratory songs tend to focus on the joy felt by Noah when …
Posted in: African Americans, Alan Lomax, Animals, Folk Music, Folksong, Languages and Dialects, Uncategorized
Posted by: Stephen Winick
The tale of Noah and the ark is one of the Bible’s perennially popular stories. Children’s books, novels, comics, TV shows, and even movie novelizations are forever emerging onto the scene, depicting the story of the great flood. There’s even a motion picture out right now, featuring a modern take on the story. It may not …
Posted in: AFC Events, African Americans, Alan Lomax, Folk Music, Folksong
Posted by: Stephanie Hall
For Women’s History Month, I thought it would be interesting to highlight some examples of interviews with women and girls in American English Dialects: The Center for Applied Linguistics Collection. This online collection is one of several dialect collections in the American Folklife Center archive. With a little digging, such collections can yield exciting examples of …
Posted in: African Americans, Foodways, Holidays, Languages and Dialects, Native American History, Oral History, Women's History
Posted by: Stephanie Hall
Folklorist John Wesley Work III lived in an extraordinary time in the development of African American music. He was in college as the Harlem Renaissance began. African American composers were developing traditional blues into elite compositions and the piano became an instrument for new styles such as jazz and boogie-woogie. Work, like his brother Julian, …
Posted in: African American History, African Americans, Folk Music, Folklorists, Folksong, John Wesley Work III