A black and white, 22-page zine half-sized zine about the folk music of Pennsylvania. Within her wild woodland borders lies a key crossroads between the common folk inheritance of the Appalachian Mountain Region and the gloomy, industrial mood of the Rust Belt spanning across the Great Lakes.
The Great Lakes are a group of five massive, interconnected freshwater lakes - the largest on Earth by total volume - located in North America, along the present day border between the United states and Canada. They look and behave like oceans - though the low freezing temperature of freshwater in contrast to the sea’s salinity makes winter storms particularly dangerous to those who sail across them in rough weather.
Lake Erie was the last of these lakes to be traversed by the French in 1669. Bloody fights would ensue over the next 150 years for control of her waters, inspiring many songs included in this book, such as “James Bird” and “The Hero of Erie.” Also featured is “Red Iron Ore”, a song from the days when schooners shipped iron ore across the lakes, not steamers, and a rollicking maritime journey across the lakes, “The Cruise of The Bigler”, as well as beautiful archival images from the Library of Congress.
Please reach out through my contact form if you are a folklorist or musician who can’t afford the fee and I’ll be happy to send the PDF along for free.
A black and white, 22-page zine half-sized zine about the folk music of Pennsylvania. Within her wild woodland borders lies a key crossroads between the common folk inheritance of the Appalachian Mountain Region and the gloomy, industrial mood of the Rust Belt spanning across the Great Lakes.
The Great Lakes are a group of five massive, interconnected freshwater lakes - the largest on Earth by total volume - located in North America, along the present day border between the United states and Canada. They look and behave like oceans - though the low freezing temperature of freshwater in contrast to the sea’s salinity makes winter storms particularly dangerous to those who sail across them in rough weather.
Lake Erie was the last of these lakes to be traversed by the French in 1669. Bloody fights would ensue over the next 150 years for control of her waters, inspiring many songs included in this book, such as “James Bird” and “The Hero of Erie.” Also featured is “Red Iron Ore”, a song from the days when schooners shipped iron ore across the lakes, not steamers, and a rollicking maritime journey across the lakes, “The Cruise of The Bigler”, as well as beautiful archival images from the Library of Congress.
Please reach out through my contact form if you are a folklorist or musician who can’t afford the fee and I’ll be happy to send the PDF along for free.
