Folksongs of Another America: Field Recordings from the Upper Midwest
A monumental portrait of America’s Upper Midwest in song, documented in over 25 languages.
Folksongs of Another America presents 187 newly restored field recordings made between 1937–1946 in Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Recorded by folklorists Sidney Robertson, Alan Lomax, and Helene Stratman-Thomas, these performances, almost all previously unreleased, reveal a vital, overlooked strand of the nation’s musical heritage. Immigrant, Native American, rural, and working-class singers and musicians bring to life dance tunes, ballads, hymns, laments, street cries, and political anthems.
This digital edition includes the complete 456-page companion book by folklorist James P. Leary in PDF format, offering full lyrics in original languages and English, performer biographies, rare photographs, and essays on the fieldwork. Also included are high-quality digital audio files of all five CDs, featuring music from African-American, Austrian, Belgian, Cornish, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French Canadian, German, Ho-Chunk, Icelandic, Irish, Italian, Luxembourger, Norwegian, Ojibwe, Oneida, Polish, Scots Gaelic, Serbian, Swedish, Swiss, and Welsh communities, plus the bonus documentary The Most Fertile Source: Alan Lomax Goes North in digital video format.
What’s Included:
- 187 audio tracks
- restored field recordings in more than 25 languages
- View the complete tracklist here: [Insert hosted PDF link]
- Digital video of The Most Fertile Source: Alan Lomax Goes North
- 456-page digital booklet (PDF) featuring:
- lyrics, translations, biographies, photographs, and essays
Praise & Reviews
“Folksongs of Another America is a groundbreaking work, covering musical and cultural ground woefully overlooked by American music scholars.”
– Kip Lornell
“The astonishing range of music documented here reveals the deeply hued cultures of the Midwest before and after World War II… Though brimming with scholarship, the book’s crisp, clear prose reveals the music and the people who made it.”
– Henry Sapoznik
