Rosalie Sorrels
Encyclopedia
Rosalie Sorrels is an American folk
singer-songwriter
who resides in the mountains near Boise, Idaho
. She began her public career as a singer and collector of traditional folksongs in the late 1950s. During the early 1960s she left her husband and began traveling and performing at music festival
s and clubs throughout the United States
. She and her five children traveled across the country as she worked to support her family and establish herself as a performer. Along the way she made many lifelong friends among the folk and beat scene
. Her career of social
activism
, storytelling
, teaching, learning, songwriting, collecting folk songs, performing, and recording has spanned six decades.
was at the Newport Folk Festival
in 1966. Rosalie recorded more than 20 albums including the 2005 Grammy nominated album "My Last Go 'Round" (Best Traditional Folk Album.) She authored two books and wrote the introduction to her mother's book. In 1990 Sorrels was the recipient of the World Folk Music Association's Kate Wolf
Award. In 1999 she received the National Storytelling Network
Circle of Excellence Award for "exceptional commitment and exemplary contributions to the art of storytelling." In 2000 she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts
from the University of Idaho
. In 2001 she was awarded the Boise Peace Quilt Award. She had been featured several times on National Public Radio and profiled on Idaho Public Television
.
Throughout her career, she has performed and recorded with other notable folk musicians, including Utah Phillips
, Mitch Greenhill, Dave Van Ronk
, Peggy Seeger
and Pete Seeger
. Oscar Zeta Acosta
, Hunter S. Thompson
and Studs Terkel
wrote introductory notes for her albums. She was strongly influenced by Malvina Reynolds
and went on to record several of her songs on the album What does it mean to love? She credits Reynolds with helping turn rebelliousness from a destructive force into an artistic one.
to Walter Pendleton Stringfellow and Nancy Ann Kelly Stringfellow. Her parents met while attending Idaho State University
in Pocatello
. Her parents, like their parents before them, had a love of language and song which they passed to their children. Her father worked for the highway department and the family often travelled with him as he did field work.
Her cultural heritage was one of language, song, and poetry
from both sets of grandparents. Her father’s parents were Robert Stanton Stringfellow and Rosalie Cope who settled near Idaho City, Idaho
on the Grimes Creek property. Robert was an Episcopal missionary
working with various tribes and rural churches in Idaho and Montana
. His wife, Rosalie Cope, was a photographer and journalist. The Cope family were journalists in Salt Lake City
. Rosalie developed a love of the outdoors while spending summers on Grimes Creek. Her mother’s parents were James Madison Kelly and Arabel Beaire who married and settled on a farm in Twin Falls, Idaho
where Rosalie was a frequent visitor.
In interviews for a biography of Rosalie, Nancy Stringfellow explained
During high school Rosalie participated in theater as had her parents while in college. She acted and sang in many productions, garnering praise for her performances in the local media. It was during this period that Rosalie became pregnant and had an illegal abortion. This experience had a profound effect on her, showing up in later poetry and song. She earned a scholarship to the University of Idaho, but as a result of a rape, she became pregnant and went to a home for unwed mothers in California to await the birth of her child, a daughter. Again, the experience of making the difficult choice of adoption shows in her later writings and music.
Sorrels did not go to college as planned, but returned to Boise after the birth of her child. She acted in local theater and partied with her friends. She enjoyed the love and support of her family during this unsteady time in her life. She recounted that her parents loved her and did not judge her.
where they opened their home to actors, musicians, and poets living or visiting in the area. During the marriage, they had five children and the house was filled with love, laughter, music, books and words. Both loved jazz
music and Rosalie joked that Jim married her to get access to her collection of jazz recordings. Over time, her interest in the folk music of her childhood was piqued and she began to study at the University of Utah
with noted folklorist, Wayland Hand
. She learned to accompany herself on guitar during this period and attended folklore society meetings and seminars.
. The families encouraged reading and learning for their children and this was passed to the succeeding generations. Writing; whether sermon
s, magazine articles, poems or Personal journaling, were all activities Rosalie experienced in her youth. She followed in the same path of expressing herself in word by journaling and writing poetry and prose.
Songs and music were a natural extension of this interest in words and her love of music began early in life she listened to her father, Walter Pendleton Stringfellow, sing. She had access to a scrapbook of folk songs collected by her Grandmother, Rosalie Cope Stringfellow. She began her music career collecting folksongs and performing them, first with her husband Jim in the late 1950s, then later on her own. It was during this time that the Smithsonian Institution
's Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage recorded Rosalie and Jim performing her collection of traditional songs. Many of these have been released by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings in various compilation album
s throughout the last fifty years.
Sorrels was a regular in the Utah
folk scene in the late 1950s and early 1960s when she and her husband taught folk guitar
classes at the University of Utah. She participated in workshops and folk
festivals
in the area, such as the Utah Folklore Workshop and Festival (1959). In this way she met other folklorists and performers at "song swaps"; as well as formal sessions. Sorrels also was a concert promoter and brought Joan Baez
to Salt Lake City the first time in 1963.
entitled If I Could Be the Rain. This is her first album which included her original songs, as previous recordings contained her renditions of traditional songs she had collected. She and her children lived for a time with Lena Spencer in Saratoga Springs, New York
where she performed at Caffè Lena
. She continued working on her craft, and was one of the performers at the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival
.
s, retrospective albums, and compilation album
s for a theme
of songs.
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
who resides in the mountains near Boise, Idaho
Idaho
Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
. She began her public career as a singer and collector of traditional folksongs in the late 1950s. During the early 1960s she left her husband and began traveling and performing at music festival
Music festival
A music festival is a festival oriented towards music that is sometimes presented with a theme such as musical genre, nationality or locality of musicians, or holiday. They are commonly held outdoors, and are often inclusive of other attractions such as food and merchandise vending machines,...
s and clubs throughout the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. She and her five children traveled across the country as she worked to support her family and establish herself as a performer. Along the way she made many lifelong friends among the folk and beat scene
Beat generation
The Beat Generation refers to a group of American post-WWII writers who came to prominence in the 1950s, as well as the cultural phenomena that they both documented and inspired...
. Her career of social
Social change
Social change refers to an alteration in the social order of a society. It may refer to the notion of social progress or sociocultural evolution, the philosophical idea that society moves forward by dialectical or evolutionary means. It may refer to a paradigmatic change in the socio-economic...
activism
Activism
Activism consists of intentional efforts to bring about social, political, economic, or environmental change. Activism can take a wide range of forms from writing letters to newspapers or politicians, political campaigning, economic activism such as boycotts or preferentially patronizing...
, storytelling
Storytelling
Storytelling is the conveying of events in words, images and sounds, often by improvisation or embellishment. Stories or narratives have been shared in every culture as a means of entertainment, education, cultural preservation and in order to instill moral values...
, teaching, learning, songwriting, collecting folk songs, performing, and recording has spanned six decades.
Highlights
Rosalie's first major gigConcert
A concert is a live performance before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band...
was at the Newport Folk Festival
Newport Folk Festival
The Newport Folk Festival is an American annual folk-oriented music festival in Newport, Rhode Island, which began in 1959 as a counterpart to the previously established Newport Jazz Festival...
in 1966. Rosalie recorded more than 20 albums including the 2005 Grammy nominated album "My Last Go 'Round" (Best Traditional Folk Album.) She authored two books and wrote the introduction to her mother's book. In 1990 Sorrels was the recipient of the World Folk Music Association's Kate Wolf
Kate Wolf
Kate Wolf was an American folk singer and songwriter. Though her career was relatively short, she had a significant impact on the folk music scene, and many musicians continue to cover her songs...
Award. In 1999 she received the National Storytelling Network
Storytelling festival
A storytelling festival is often an annual event that features local, regional and/or nationally known oral storytellers. Each storyteller will have a scheduled amount of time to share a story with an audience...
Circle of Excellence Award for "exceptional commitment and exemplary contributions to the art of storytelling." In 2000 she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts
Doctor of Fine Arts
Doctor of Fine Arts is doctoral degree in fine arts, typically given as an honorary degree . The degree is typically conferred to honor the recipient who has made a contribution to society in the arts...
from the University of Idaho
University of Idaho
The University of Idaho is the State of Idaho's flagship and oldest public university, located in the rural city of Moscow in Latah County in the northern portion of the state...
. In 2001 she was awarded the Boise Peace Quilt Award. She had been featured several times on National Public Radio and profiled on Idaho Public Television
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
.
Throughout her career, she has performed and recorded with other notable folk musicians, including Utah Phillips
Utah Phillips
Bruce Duncan "Utah" Phillips was a labor organizer, folk singer, storyteller, poet and the "Golden Voice of the Great Southwest". He described the struggles of labor unions and the power of direct action, self-identifying as an anarchist...
, Mitch Greenhill, Dave Van Ronk
Dave Van Ronk
Dave Van Ronk was an American folk singer, born in Brooklyn, New York, who settled in Greenwich Village, New York, and was eventually nicknamed the "Mayor of MacDougal Street" ....
, Peggy Seeger
Peggy Seeger
Margaret "Peggy" Seeger is an American folksinger. She is also well known in Britain, where she lived for more than 30 years with her husband, singer and songwriter Ewan MacColl.- The first American period :...
and Pete Seeger
Pete Seeger
Peter "Pete" Seeger is an American folk singer and was an iconic figure in the mid-twentieth century American folk music revival. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, he also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of The Weavers, most notably their recording of Lead...
. Oscar Zeta Acosta
Oscar Zeta Acosta
Oscar Zeta Acosta was an American attorney, politician, minor novelist and Chicano Movement activist, perhaps best known for his friendship with the American author Hunter S. Thompson, who characterized him as his Samoan Attorney, Dr...
, Hunter S. Thompson
Hunter S. Thompson
Hunter Stockton Thompson was an American journalist and author who wrote The Rum Diary , Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 .He is credited as the creator of Gonzo journalism, a style of reporting where reporters involve themselves in the action to...
and Studs Terkel
Studs Terkel
Louis "Studs" Terkel was an American author, historian, actor, and broadcaster. He received the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction in 1985 for The Good War, and is best remembered for his oral histories of common Americans, and for hosting a long-running radio show in Chicago.-Early...
wrote introductory notes for her albums. She was strongly influenced by Malvina Reynolds
Malvina Reynolds
Malvina Reynolds was an American folk/blues singer-songwriter and political activist, best known for her song-writing, particularly the songs "Little Boxes" and "Morningtown Ride".-Early life:...
and went on to record several of her songs on the album What does it mean to love? She credits Reynolds with helping turn rebelliousness from a destructive force into an artistic one.
Beginnings
Rosalie was born on June 24, 1933 in Boise, IdahoBoise, Idaho
Boise is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho, as well as the county seat of Ada County. Located on the Boise River, it anchors the Boise City-Nampa metropolitan area and is the largest city between Salt Lake City, Utah and Portland, Oregon.As of the 2010 Census Bureau,...
to Walter Pendleton Stringfellow and Nancy Ann Kelly Stringfellow. Her parents met while attending Idaho State University
Idaho State University
Idaho State University is a public university located in Pocatello, Idaho. It has outreach programs in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho Falls, Boise, and Twin Falls....
in Pocatello
Pocatello, Idaho
Pocatello is the county seat and largest city of Bannock County, with a small portion on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation in neighboring Power County, in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Idaho. It is the principal city of the Pocatello metropolitan area, which encompasses all of Bannock...
. Her parents, like their parents before them, had a love of language and song which they passed to their children. Her father worked for the highway department and the family often travelled with him as he did field work.
Her cultural heritage was one of language, song, and poetry
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
from both sets of grandparents. Her father’s parents were Robert Stanton Stringfellow and Rosalie Cope who settled near Idaho City, Idaho
Idaho City, Idaho
Idaho City is a city in and the county seat of Boise County, Idaho, United States, located about northeast of Boise. The population was 458 at the 2000 census.Idaho City is part of the Boise City–Nampa, Idaho Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
on the Grimes Creek property. Robert was an Episcopal missionary
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
working with various tribes and rural churches in Idaho and Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
. His wife, Rosalie Cope, was a photographer and journalist. The Cope family were journalists in Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...
. Rosalie developed a love of the outdoors while spending summers on Grimes Creek. Her mother’s parents were James Madison Kelly and Arabel Beaire who married and settled on a farm in Twin Falls, Idaho
Twin Falls, Idaho
Twin Falls is the county seat and largest city of Twin Falls County, Idaho, United States. The population was 44,125 at the 2010 censusTwin Falls is the largest city of Idaho's Magic Valley region...
where Rosalie was a frequent visitor.
In interviews for a biography of Rosalie, Nancy Stringfellow explained
“She finds something … in a piece of poetry … that shines out like a precious jewel, and you can see her cupping her hands and holding it. We all have a streak of that … We are delighted with words. We’re drunk with words.”
During high school Rosalie participated in theater as had her parents while in college. She acted and sang in many productions, garnering praise for her performances in the local media. It was during this period that Rosalie became pregnant and had an illegal abortion. This experience had a profound effect on her, showing up in later poetry and song. She earned a scholarship to the University of Idaho, but as a result of a rape, she became pregnant and went to a home for unwed mothers in California to await the birth of her child, a daughter. Again, the experience of making the difficult choice of adoption shows in her later writings and music.
Sorrels did not go to college as planned, but returned to Boise after the birth of her child. She acted in local theater and partied with her friends. She enjoyed the love and support of her family during this unsteady time in her life. She recounted that her parents loved her and did not judge her.
Married life
Jim Sorrels and Rosalie Stringfellow met while performing in theater in Boise, Idaho. Jim worked for the phone company as a lineman and was seven years older than Rosalie. The two married in 1952 and his job took them to Salt Lake CitySalt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...
where they opened their home to actors, musicians, and poets living or visiting in the area. During the marriage, they had five children and the house was filled with love, laughter, music, books and words. Both loved jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
music and Rosalie joked that Jim married her to get access to her collection of jazz recordings. Over time, her interest in the folk music of her childhood was piqued and she began to study at the University of Utah
University of Utah
The University of Utah, also known as the U or the U of U, is a public, coeducational research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The university was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret by the General Assembly of the provisional State of Deseret, making it Utah's oldest...
with noted folklorist, Wayland Hand
Wayland Hand
Wayland Debs Hand was an American folklorist....
. She learned to accompany herself on guitar during this period and attended folklore society meetings and seminars.
Song catching
There was a strong tradition in both the Stringfellow and Kelly families to celebrate the written and spoken wordOral tradition
Oral tradition and oral lore is cultural material and traditions transmitted orally from one generation to another. The messages or testimony are verbally transmitted in speech or song and may take the form, for example, of folktales, sayings, ballads, songs, or chants...
. The families encouraged reading and learning for their children and this was passed to the succeeding generations. Writing; whether sermon
Sermon
A sermon is an oration by a prophet or member of the clergy. Sermons address a Biblical, theological, religious, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law or behavior within both past and present contexts...
s, magazine articles, poems or Personal journaling, were all activities Rosalie experienced in her youth. She followed in the same path of expressing herself in word by journaling and writing poetry and prose.
Songs and music were a natural extension of this interest in words and her love of music began early in life she listened to her father, Walter Pendleton Stringfellow, sing. She had access to a scrapbook of folk songs collected by her Grandmother, Rosalie Cope Stringfellow. She began her music career collecting folksongs and performing them, first with her husband Jim in the late 1950s, then later on her own. It was during this time that the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
's Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage recorded Rosalie and Jim performing her collection of traditional songs. Many of these have been released by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings in various compilation album
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
s throughout the last fifty years.
Sorrels was a regular in the Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
folk scene in the late 1950s and early 1960s when she and her husband taught folk guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
classes at the University of Utah. She participated in workshops and folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
festivals
Music festival
A music festival is a festival oriented towards music that is sometimes presented with a theme such as musical genre, nationality or locality of musicians, or holiday. They are commonly held outdoors, and are often inclusive of other attractions such as food and merchandise vending machines,...
in the area, such as the Utah Folklore Workshop and Festival (1959). In this way she met other folklorists and performers at "song swaps"; as well as formal sessions. Sorrels also was a concert promoter and brought Joan Baez
Joan Baez
Joan Chandos Baez is an American folk singer, songwriter, musician and a prominent activist in the fields of human rights, peace and environmental justice....
to Salt Lake City the first time in 1963.
Early recordings and performances
In 1963 Rosalie began a four decade relationship with Manny Greenhill and Folklore Productions. She performed with Manny's son, Mitch at the 1966 Newport Folk Festival and produced an album in 1964 for Folk-Legacy RecordsFolk-Legacy Records
Folk-Legacy Records is an independent recording company specializing in traditional and contemporary folk music of the English-speaking world. It was founded in 1961 by Sandy and Caroline Paton along with the late Lee Baker Haggerty...
entitled If I Could Be the Rain. This is her first album which included her original songs, as previous recordings contained her renditions of traditional songs she had collected. She and her children lived for a time with Lena Spencer in Saratoga Springs, New York
Saratoga Springs, New York
Saratoga Springs, also known as simply Saratoga, is a city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 26,586 at the 2010 census. The name reflects the presence of mineral springs in the area. While the word "Saratoga" is known to be a corruption of a Native American name, ...
where she performed at Caffè Lena
Caffè Lena
Located in Saratoga Springs, New York, Caffè Lena is the oldest continually running coffee house in the United States. Founded in 1960 by Bill and Lena Spencer, it features acoustic concerts and cultural events showcasing folk music, traditional music, and singer-songwriters of a wide range...
. She continued working on her craft, and was one of the performers at the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival
Isle of Wight Festival 1970
The 1970 Isle of Wight Festival was held between 26 and 31 August 1970 at East Afton Farm an area on the western side of the Isle of Wight. It was the last of three consecutive music festivals to take place on the island between 1968 and 1970 and widely acknowledged as the largest musical event of...
.
Discography
The discography for Rosalie Sorrels includes albums where she is the principal performer as well as tribute albumTribute album
A tribute album is a recorded collection of cover versions of songs or instrumental compositions. Its concept may be either various artists making a tribute to a single artist, a single artist making a tribute to various artists, or a single artist making a tribute to another single artist.There...
s, retrospective albums, and compilation album
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
s for a theme
Music genre
A music genre is a categorical and typological construct that identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other types of music...
of songs.
Books
-
- The Idaho Commission on the ArtsArts councilAn arts council is a government or private, non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the arts mainly by funding local artists, awarding prizes, and organizing events at home and abroad...
asked Sorrels to travel the Idaho to collect the folk historyFolkloreFolklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
of its people. The songs and stories came from hundreds of people who met with Sorrels at a series of 30 concerts and at song swaps. The book includes contributions from about 200 people of poems, stories, recipes, interviewsInterviewsInterviews is:# the plural form of "interview"# a compilation album by Bob Marley & the Wailers, see Interviews # a C++ toolkit for the X Window System, see InterViews...
, historical photographPhotographA photograph is an image created by light falling on a light-sensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic imager such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are created using a camera, which uses a lens to focus the scene's visible wavelengths of light into a reproduction of...
s and photographic portraitPortraitthumb|250px|right|Portrait of [[Thomas Jefferson]] by [[Rembrandt Peale]], 1805. [[New-York Historical Society]].A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant. The intent is to display the likeness,...
s. Sheet musicSheet musicSheet music is a hand-written or printed form of music notation that uses modern musical symbols; like its analogs—books, pamphlets, etc.—the medium of sheet music typically is paper , although the access to musical notation in recent years includes also presentation on computer screens...
is included for 85 songs, along with words for many more. Robert McCarl, folk arts director for the Idaho Commission on the Arts, wrote a forewordForewordA foreword is a piece of writing sometimes placed at the beginning of a book or other piece of literature. Written by someone other than the primary author of the work, it often tells of some interaction between the writer of the foreword and the book's primary author or the story the book tells...
and Sorrels wrote an introduction, along with separate introductions for many of the songs. - An collection of songs and poetryPoetryPoetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
by and about women. Some of the songwriters represented include the author, Jean RitchieJean RitchieJean Ritchie is an American folk singer, songwriter, and Appalachian dulcimer player.- Out of Kentucky :Abigail and Balis Ritchie of Viper, Kentucky had 14 children, and Jean was the youngest...
, and Toni Brown, along with such poets as Anne SextonAnne SextonAnne Sexton was an American poet, known for her highly personal, confessional verse. She won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1967...
and May SwensonMay SwensonAnna Thilda May "May" Swenson was an American poet and playwright...
. The music includes lead sheetLead sheetA lead sheet is a form of music notation that specifies the essential elements of a popular song: the melody, lyrics and harmony. The melody is written in modern Western music notation, the lyric is written as text below the staff and the harmony is specified with chord symbols above the...
s and chord symbols. Liz Schoberlein contributes color illustrationIllustrationAn illustration is a displayed visualization form presented as a drawing, painting, photograph or other work of art that is created to elucidate or dictate sensual information by providing a visual representation graphically.- Early history :The earliest forms of illustration were prehistoric...
s throughout the book. - This book is five essayEssayAn essay is a piece of writing which is often written from an author's personal point of view. Essays can consist of a number of elements, including: literary criticism, political manifestos, learned arguments, observations of daily life, recollections, and reflections of the author. The definition...
s, three poems, and a letter written by Nancy Stringfellow to her daughter, Rosalie Sorrels. The memoirMemoirA memoir , is a literary genre, forming a subclass of autobiography – although the terms 'memoir' and 'autobiography' are almost interchangeable. Memoir is autobiographical writing, but not all autobiographical writing follows the criteria for memoir set out below...
was compiled by Rosalie from her mother’s writings.
- The Idaho Commission on the Arts
External links
- Official website
- World Folk Music Association
- NPR profile
Folk music Folk musicFolk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....American folk American folk musicAmerican folk music is a musical term that encompasses numerous genres, many of which are known as traditional music or roots music. Roots music is a broad category of music including bluegrass, country music, gospel, old time music, jug bands, Appalachian folk, blues, Cajun and Native American...
- Anti-folkAnti-folkAnti-folk is a music genre that takes the earnestness of politically charged 1960s folk music and subverts it. The defining characteristics of this anti-folk are difficult to identify, as they vary from one artist to the next...
- Celtic musicCeltic musicCeltic music is a term utilised by artists, record companies, music stores and music magazines to describe a broad grouping of musical genres that evolved out of the folk musical traditions of the Celtic people of Western Europe...
- Counterfolk - Electric folkElectric folkElectric folk is the name given to the form of folk rock pioneered in England from the late 1960s, and most significant in the 1970s, which then was taken up and developed in the surrounding Celtic cultures of Brittany, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the Isle of Man, to produce Celtic rock and its...
- Filk musicFilk musicFilk is a musical culture, genre, and community tied to science fiction/fantasy fandom and a type of fan labor. The genre has been active since the early 1950s, and played primarily since the mid-1970s. The term predates 1955.-Definitions:As the Interfilk What Is Filk page demonstrates, there is...
- Folk metalFolk metalFolk metal is a sub-genre of heavy metal music that developed in Europe during the 1990s. As the name suggests, the genre is a fusion of heavy metal with traditional folk music...
- Folk punkFolk punkFolk punk , is a fusion of folk music and punk rock. It was pioneered in the late 1970s and early 1980s by The Pogues in Britain and Violent Femmes in America. Folk punk achieved some mainstream success in that decade...
Folk rockFolk rockFolk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...
- FolktronicaFolktronicaFolktronica or electrofolk is a genre of music comprising various elements of folk music and electronica, often featuring samplings of acoustic instruments—especially stringed instruments—and incorporating hip hop rhythms...
- NeofolkNeofolkNeofolk is a form of folk music-inspired experimental music that emerged from post-industrial music circles. Neofolk can either be solely acoustic folk music or a blend of acoustic folk instrumentation aided by varieties of accompanying sounds such as pianos, strings and elements of industrial...
- Pop folk - Iranian folkIranian folk musicDespite all common roots the folk music in each different part of Iran has certain characteristics in correlation with its native myths, dialects, geographical and social situation...
- Psych folkPsych folkPsychedelic folk or psych folk is a loosely defined form of psychedelic music that originated in the 1960s through the fusion of folk music and psychedelic rock...
- Roots revivalRoots revivalA roots revival is a trend which includes young performers popularizing the traditional musical styles of their ancestors. Often, roots revivals include an addition of newly-composed songs with socially and politically aware lyrics, as well as a general modernization of the folk sound.After an...
- Traditional musicTraditional musicTraditional music is the term increasingly used for folk music that is not contemporary folk music. More on this is at the terminology section of the World music article...
- Urban FolkUrban FolkUrban folk may refer to:*Folk music from any urban cultural tradition *Anti-folk music...Festivals - Folk dance Folk danceThe term folk dance describes dances that share some or all of the following attributes:*They are dances performed at social functions by people with little or no professional training, often to traditional music or music based on traditional music....
- Folk clubsFolk clubsA folk club is a regular event, permanent venue, or section of a venue devoted to folk music and traditional music. Folk clubs were primarily an urban phenomenon of 1960s and 1970s Great Britain and Ireland, and vital to the second British folk revival, but continue today there and elsewhere...
- InstrumentsFolk instrumentA folk instrument is an instrument that developed among common people and usually doesn't have a known inventor. It can be made from wood, metal or other material. It is a part of folk music...
- Protest songProtest songA protest song is a song which is associated with a movement for social change and hence part of the broader category of topical songs . It may be folk, classical, or commercial in genre...
Record labels - Singer-songwriterSinger-songwriterSinger-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
- Lists of traditions - World musicWorld musicWorld music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...