¨Folklore is the boiled-down juice, or potlikker, of human living.¨

Zora Neale Hurston
1930s WPA field researcher
for the Florida Folklife collection
at the American Folklife Center
Library of Congress

I'm a writer, editor, photographer and occasional singer-songwriter in Charleston, West Virginia. I do other stuff, too, including fairly serious dabbling in accessible web design. My original intent here was to promote other (more prolific) singer-songwriters in this region; but there's nothing more independent than an independent singer-songwriter, and there's nothing at all wrong with that, so I've decided to share some of my own writing, photography and music here.

I also want to provide a resource for others who share my interest in ballads and musical storytelling. I've included links below to some information related to songwriting, folk music and musical performance, and in time I'll add more about folk arts and culture. I've tried to find some of the best resources available.

Suggestions are welcome.

Ballads & Balderdash started out with an entirely different purpose. Rest assured, it may end with a different purpose. The Spanish poet Antonio Machado speaks for me here:

Caminante, son tus huellas
el camino y nada más;
Caminante, no hay camino,
se hace camino al andar.
Al andar se hace el camino,
y al volver la vista atrás
se ve la senda que nunca
se ha de volver a pisar.
Caminante no hay camino
sino estelas en la mar.

My poor translation:

Traveler, it's your tracks
that are the path, and nothing more;
Traveler, there is no path,
as the path is made by walking.
In walking one becomes the road,
and in looking back sees
the trail that never existed
and rises above it.
Traveler, there is no path
but the wakes we leave in the sea.

Jeff Seager
February/March 2007

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Resources

Good places

• The Brazen Head Inn, a traditional Irish pub and inn in West Virginia's Potomac Highlands
• Nakiska Chalet Bed & Breakfast, another cozy retreat in West Virginia's Potomac Highlands
• The Purple Fiddle, a musical gathering place in Thomas, West Virginia

Good ideas

• Talking Across the Lines, the ongoing folklore projects of Michael and Carrie Kline
• West Virginia Music Center features a directory of bands performing live in West Virginia. Kudos to Max Summerville for this!
• The Aurora Project provides opportunities for artists and scholars to live and work in an environment supportive of the creative process
• Just Plain Folks, a community of songwriters, recording artists and music industry professionals
• Indie-Music.com, with resources for independent artists
• The Public Domain Foundation: Music for Social Change
• The Mudcat Cafe, a valuable resource for anyone interested in traditional folk and blues
• Bread & Roses, for socially conscious artists and musicians
• The Muse's Muse, a songwriters' resource
• Songwriter Universe, the online magazine
• InterMixx, online community for independent musicians
• An impressive index to recorded folk music
• The Child Ballad Database of English and Scottish Popular Ballads
• The Traditional Ballad Index: An Annotated Bibliography of the Folk Songs of the English-Speaking World
• The Old Time Music Home Page based in Asheville, North Carolina
• Public Domain Music: Collected songs and information about music in the public domain
• Shanties and Sea Songs — and recordings, books and research thereof
• Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, supporting cultural diversity and increased understanding among peoples through the documentation, preservation, and dissemination of sound ... whew!
• The FolkLib Index: A library of folk music links
• A Traditional Music Library, diverse and more humbly named than it really is
• Irish songs with guitar chords, straight from the old sod
• Good advice on guitar care, including air travel
• Alan Horvath's guitar pages (click on the 'Jam!' link)
• Acoustic guitar music reviews at Minor 7th
• Keola Beamer's history of Hawaiian slack-key guitar
• Tai Chi Farm, the legacy of Master Jou Tsung Hwa
• How to say 'thank you' in almost any language, because gratitude is good
• The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Good music

• Sugar In The Gourd: streaming audio samples of old-time, bluegrass and other Americana music
• Mountain Stage: West Virginia's pre-eminent radio soundstage, broadcast weekly on Public Radio International
• Music From the Mountains, hosted by the inimitable Joe Dobbs on West Virginia Public Radio
• Music-cal, an online calendar of musical performers
• Yazoo Records, preserving early American and ethnic music
• Dismuke's Virtual Talking Machine, an amazing collection of American popular (not folk) music from 1900 to 1939
• More songwriting links from Walt Aldridge, songwriter and producer

Good ol' live music

• The Folklore Society of Greater Washington, dedicated to preserving and promoting traditional folk arts in the Washington, DC metropolitan area
• Friends Of Old-Time Music And Dance (FOOTMAD), promoting live traditional music and dance in West Virginia
• The Vandalia Gathering, a spring tonic for mountain musicians
• The Appalachian String Band Festival, a midsummer musical gathering
• The Mountain Stage New Song Festival for songwriters and the people who love them
• The Master Musicians Festival in Somerset, Kentucky
• Merlefest, an annual spring festival of Americana music

Good stuff

• Gorby's Music in South Charleston, West Virginia
• Soundwaves Music in Summersville, West Virginia
• The Nashville Portraits of photographer Jim McGuire
• Folk of the Wood, purveyors of acoustic instruments
• Lark in the Morning, the world's largest selection of ethnic musical instruments
• Gruhn Guitars, a waystation for vintage musical instruments
• Elderly Instruments, for even more vintage stuff
• American Musical Supply, an online source of almost all things musical
• Musician's Friend, another good source of instruments and related musical gear

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