| This
is what I do for fun. I'm a writer, editor, photographer and occasional
singer-songwriter in Charleston, West Virginia. I do other stuff, too.
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. Because I'm also pretty good at
research, I 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 I'll add more about folk arts and culture. I've tried to find some
of the very 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 wake we leave in the sea.
Jeff Seager February/March
2007
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Resources
Good places
Good ideas - 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 air travel with your guitar
- 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
- How to say 'thank
you' in almost any language, because gratitude is good
- The Universal
Declaration of Human Rights
Good
music Good
ol' live music Good
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