Other Twin Cities Traditional Song Sessions
Merlins Rest
This East Lake Street (Minneapolis) pub offers two monthly song-centered events:
- Merlins First Sunday Pub Sing: 2pm-4pm
- Merlins Fourth Monday Shanty / Pub Sing: 7:00pm
Dubliner Pub Second Monday Shanty Sing
Shanties are the order of the day the second Monday of every month at the Dubliner in St Paul, Minnesota. Starts 7:30pm.
Free online collections of digitized field recordings:
Tobar an Dualchais / Kist o Riches
Tens of thousands of incredible field recordings from Scotland at your fingertips.
Irish Traditional Music Archive Digital Library
Rich collection from Ireland including audio and video of hundreds of songs. Includes the Inishowen Song Project
Max Hunter’s Song Collection
Almost 1600 Ozark Mountain folk songs, recorded between 1956 and 1976.
Wisconsin Folksong Collection
Wisconsin site that includes many field recordings.
MacEdward Leach and the Songs of Atlantic Canada
Incredible collection of field recordings (one verse only) and song texts (complete) of English language songs from Newfoundland and Gaelic songs from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.
W is for Woods
A small but wonderfully descriptive collection of traditional songs from upstate New York including several field recordings.
Vermont Folklife Center Digital Archive
Collection of songs from Vermont including over 200 New England folksongs recorded by Margaret MacArthur
Maine Song and Story Sampler
A small but fascinating collection of song recordings and other folklore from Maine.
The Alan Lomax Audio Archive
Free online access to field recordings by legendary folklorist and musical anthropologist Alan Lomax.
The John Quincy Wolf Collection of Ozark Folksongs
A sizable body of complete field recordings in mp3 format with lyric and dialogue transcription.
More coming soon!
Free online collections of song texts and information:
Broadside Ballads Online from the Bodleian Libraries
Large collection of digitized images of broadside ballads from spanning from the 16th through 20th centuries.
The Mudcat Cafe
Searchable song lyrics (and discussion thereof) archive.
Northwoods Songs
Traditional Singers Club resident singer Brian Miller’s monthly article in the Irish Music and Dance Association newsletter appears here as a blog. Brian transcribes, sings (on Youtube videos) and discusses Irish-influenced songs from the white pine regions of the Great Lakes and Maritimes.
Remembering the Old Songs
A series of articles that appeared in “Inside Bluegrass,” a publication of the Minnesota Bluegrass and Old-Time Music Association, from 1995 through 2010. Traditional Singers Club resident singer Lyle Lofgren and Robert Waltz transcribed and wrote about old folk songs of many types.
Other resources:
The Traditional Ballad Index
A very comprehensive collection of reference information on traditional ballads and folk songs.