Warner Family Collection

CD Release
Saturday, March 18, 2000, 8pm
in Newton, MA

Workshop: 2-4pm, $9
Behind the Songs: The Faces and Voices of the Singers
Collected by Frank and Anne Warner

House Concert: 8pm, $9
Traditional American music from the Warner Collection (CD release)

Anne and Frank first went song hunting in 1938, and many of the gems they found were published in 1985 as "Traditional American Folk Songs from the Anne and Frank Warner Collection." More recently, Jeff and Gerret have been involved in producing a multi-CD collection of this field work, containing songs and stories of traditional singers from North Carolina to New Hampshire. It is due for imminent release on Appleseed Records, and we expect copies to be available at both events.

The afternoon workshop will blend recorded and live performances from the collection, along with photos and reflections on the lives of the traditional singers. Singers include Frank Proffitt and Lee Monroe Presnell of Beech Mountain, NC; Lena Bourne Fish (NH); Rebecca King Jones and Eleazar Tillett (eastern NC).

The evening concert will present more of the music from this important collection, as well as other material, performed by Jeff and Garret.

We're very pleased to be presenting these sessions as part of the Society's 40th anniversary celebration. This is a unique opportunity to learn more about American traditional music and the people behind the songs. As Jeff Davis said, in writing about the tapes from which the CDs were made: "They contain what we have left of the souls of the singers."

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