 During the 70's and 80's, Artie became an internationally known performer, appearing on stages in Europe, Japan and at the Newport Folk Festival, Philadelphia Folk Festival and Carnegie Hall. He also performed and co-produced the Woodstock Mountains Revue, a unique folk group that featured Artie & Happy Traum, Pat Alger, Jim Rooney, Bill Keith, Larry Campbell, John Herald and John Sebastian. Guest artists like Maria Muldaur, Rory Block, Eric Andersen, Paul Butterfield and Paul Siebel joined the group for recordings. The Revue recorded 5 classic albums for Rounder Records, and although Rounder allowed over 50 of their tracks to go out-of-print, the band is widely considered one of the premier folk groups of the time. |
 The political insight and human compassion that inspired Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Fred Small to seek a law degree continues to be expressed in his folk-rooted songs. Over the past two decades, Small has musically addressed everything from homosexuality in the military and the unnecessary difficulties of the disabled to radioactive frogs and a moose's infatuation with a cow. Pete Seeger, Rosalie Sorrels, The Flirtations, Steve Gillette and Priscilla Herdman are only some of the many musicians who have covered Small's songs. Small's tune, "Everything Possible" was used for the finale of the AIDS benefit musical, Heart Strings, in 1992. |
 Christine's second Philo album showcases her witty, poignant and incisive songs, backed by what seems like hundreds of members of New York's folk community (but in fact is only dozens of them). Includes Prince Charles. |
 One of the strongest voices in folk music turns his attention to the plight of the American farmer. This album, comprised mostly of McCutcheon originals, is among his most ambitious recordings to date. A full band accompanies John on many tracks; lyrics and comments on songs are included. |
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 John McCutcheon is the complete modern folk musician, a master of many instruments and traditions, whose compositions have become contemporary standards. John's recordings have long been favorites of children (and their parents). John is a virtuoso hammer dulcimer player and a witty, incisive songwriter who has captivated audiences young and old. This album has won many awards, including the American Library Association's Recording of Notable Merit, the National Association of Independent Record Distributors' Best Children's Record and a Parents Magazine recommendation. Kids like it too! Best Children's Record of 1983: NAIRD (National Association of Independent Record Distributors) Notable Children's Recording: American Library Association Gold Medal Award: Parents Magazine |
 Pat Scanlon is a Vietnam Veteran, Environmental Activist and banjo playing Singer Songwriter. Pats songs reflect his commitment to a variety of progressive causes. As the environmental group Greenpeace said of his music. Pats songs sing of the love of the earth, of the wonder of life and of the need for us all to fight the attitudes of greed and waste that pollute our air and water, kill endangered species, promote dangerous energy policies, and lead us to the very brink of nuclear holocaust. |
 For the past 25 years, New England fiddling has had no better friend than Rodney Miller. Whether merrily moving contra dancers through a high-stepping figure or holding thousands enthralled from a concert stage, his dancing bow and sublimely melodic playing have convinced thousands that, yes, Virginia, there is a New England fiddle style. Airplang represents a pivotal milepost in Miller's development as an artist, marking him as one the most individual and masterful of today's folk fiddlers. Freed of the constraints of the contradance, yet true to the traditional stock from which his fiddle sprang, Miller's playing is always sweetly melodic, texturally resonant, exciting and adventurous. |
 Autoharpist Bryan Bowers was born in St. Petersburg, VA, on August 18, 1940. As a boy, he would often sing along with the call-and-response harmonies of the railroad workers. He enrolled at Randolph Macon College in Ashland, VA, where he eventually began playing the guitar. But an itinerant multi-instrumentalist turned him on to the autoharp, and he was immediately hooked. Bowers dropped out of school and in 1971 moved to Seattle. |
 A working farmer, born and raised and at home in the blue hills along the Missouri River south of Mandan, North Dakota, Chuck Suchy has a love for making music that goes back to his childhood. Throughout his youth and young adult life, he found time to perform in the area's halls, clubs and lounges, singing and playing guitar and accordian. In 1982 a major event occurred when an acquaintance gave him a tape of Canadian troubadour Stan Rogers singing his classic Field Behind The Plow. "It was at that moment" Suchy says "that I realized that the life I was immersed in was worthy of song." He began writing his own ballads and songs, slipping them into his performances and it was soon obvious that he was on to something quite unique -sensitive and honest portrayals of contemporary American farm life, but from an insider's point of view. |
 Claudia Schmidt is one of the Midwest's most popular folk musicians. With her raspy alto vocals and multi-instrumental skills, Schmidt has crafted a unique style from the musical traditions of the past. While much of her repertoire consists of original material, Schmidt has incorporated a diverse range of musical influences. Schmidt's concerts reflect her eclectic approach, as well. At least one critic has observed that Schmidt's shows are "a lot like falling in love-you never know what's going to happen next." |
 One of the most enjoyable collections of Latin American music to be released, this is a fine example of how various musical styles from a country can be combined on a single album to create an endlessly fascinating and enjoyable listening experience. A listener that doesn't get any pleasure out of the scintillating marimbas, rowdy brass bands, lovely guitar duets, and other groupings that are presented here may want to consider some in-depth ear testing. |
 Long before there existed a category called singer-songwriter Don Lange was a singer-songwriter. A Twin Cities DJ with a drive time radio show, a guy named Garrison Keillor, played his songs. His tunes have been sung and recorded by the likes of Pete Seeger, Peggy Seeger and Ewan MacColl, Christy Moore, John Gorka, Gordon Bok, Pricilla Herdman, The Cache Valley Drifters, Kate Wolf, Red Grammer, Art Thieme and many others. He recorded three albums for the original Flying Fish Record Company and won a songwriting grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. The Daily Texan, in Austin, probably said it best, Like most songwriters, Don Lange has a lot to say. Unlike most, he has the faculty to say it. He is, simply, the finest songwriter to make great new world Pinot noir and the best winemaker to ever write great songs. |