Miles from Home

A common period piece produced for the soundtrack of the Lone Chimney Film documentary, The Road To Valhalla

Battle Cry of Freedom

I produced this recording for the soundtrack of The Road to Valhalla. The track feature Michael Martin Murphey on banjo and vocal - Rob Loren on fiddle - Ranger Stan Stan Greer on mandolin - and me (Jed Marum) on guitar.The Road to Valhalla was released on Nov2, 2013 by Lone Chimeny Films.

The arrangement is (c) Michael Martin Murphey, 2013

Lorena

An old Irish and American folk song sung by Michael Martin Murphey with Jed Marum, recorded for the Lone Chimney Films movie, The Road to Valhalla.

Players:
Michael Martin Murphey, 5 string banjo, vocals
Jed Marum, DADGAD guitar
Rob Loren, fiddle
Ranger Stan Greer, mandolin 	
Jesse Friesen, guitar

engineered by Jesse Friesen
produced by Jed Marum


The Girl I Left Behind Me

Dowling and the Davis Guards (c) Jed Marum, 2013

The Battle of Sabine Pass, Sept 1863. The song retells the tale of the Jefferson Davis Guards, a Texas Artillery group led by Lt Richard Dowling - they were about 40 Irish immigrants from the Houston are who turned around a Yankee invasion of 5000+ soldiers and 1000+ sailors on 22 ships - and caused them to return to New Orleans and give up the invasion.

Dowling And The Davis Guards

Original song written for the Lone Chimney Films documentary, Bloody Dawn.

Friday, August 21, 1863. dawned clear and bright in the sleepy abolitionist town of Lawrence, Kansas. Its citizens awoke that morning unaware that the feared Missouri raider William Quantrill and more than 400 of his followers were bearing down on them intent on retribution, bloodshed and destruction. A few hours later, nearly 200 men and boys lay dead, the ruins of buildings and homes smoldered, and raiders raced for the safety of the Missouri border. It was the worst act of terrorism committed against civilians during the Civil War. Survivors would rebuild and later recount their tales. Bloody Dawn tells their story.


One Bloody Friday

This track uses and old Celtic melody for a new set of lyrics, lamenting the loss of a young loved one. The sing uses melody and imagery from old Celtic songs, Wild Mountain Thyme and The Braes o' Balquhidder. It was licensed for use in the Lone Chimney Film's documentary, Bloody Dawn.

Sarah's Mountain Time

A parody of the John Brown hanging using a variation of an old American fiddle tune called John Brown's March. The track was license for use in the Lone Chimney Film's documentary, Bloody Dawn. 

John Brown's Dance (c) Jed Marum/trad, 2001

John Brown's Dance

Hugh Morrison on box -Jed Marum on guitar/banjo and vocals - Trish Strain on strings

Come by the Hills - MARUM and MORRISON BAND

The song was written by Stephen Foster 1851 and performed in the Minstrel shows of that era. It has been widely popular throughout the world ever since and it is the official state song of Florida. 

The Old Folks At Home

An Irish immigrant story from the US Civil War.

Prayer From Little Round Top

Loch Lomond

Carrickfurgus

Calla's Waltz (c) Jed Marum, 2012

A pretty little banjo waltz - Jed Marum on bajo, Jay Ungar on fiddle and mandolin, Molly Mason on guitar and upright bass, Cruly Boy Stubbs on guitar

Produced by Paul Mills at The Millstream, London ON, Canada

Calla's Waltz

Even as I Ramble
(c) Jed Marum, 2009

Jed recorded this live in New York with Jay Ungar on fiddle and Molly Mason on upright bass - also playing are Curly Boy Stubbs on guitar and mandolin 


Produced by Paul Mills at The Millstream in London ON, Canada 


The morning sunlight thru the trees
My song sails on the summer breeze
Repeating every word I said
Like running water thru my head
Even as I Ramble

The hours fly the miles slip by
My footsteps bring the midday sky
Another tune another song, 
Another hour, it won't be long
Even as I Ramble

  CHO:
  Oh I've seen trouble and I bear a heavy load
  Since I started out to roam
  But every step I take along this dusty road
  Brings me closer to my home

I can't forget the things I saw
The lonely years I fought this the war
The lives of friends I left behind
Ever present in my mind
Even as I Ramble

I see them now in my mind's eye
The lonely years 
I take her warm in my embrace
The lonely years just slip away 
Even as I Ramble

CHO
CHO

Even As I Ramble

Banjos We Have Heard On High
© Jed Marum, 2008

I heard a band of angels sing
Banjos we have heard on high
Banjos heard on high
"And on this day a new born king!"
Banjos we have heard on high
Banjos heard on high

CHO: Holy night, silent night
Lord of Lords and Light of Light
Angels sing, banjos ring
Praise the new born king!

Son of God and son of man
Banjos we have heard on high
Banjos heard on high


In Bethlehem a bright and shining star
Banjos we have heard on high
Banjos heard on high
Bearing gifts came three kings from afar
Banjos we have heard on high
Banjos heard on high

CHO

Rejoice! A Christmas Album

Banjos We Have Heard On High

Ain't No Goin' Back

I wrote this for a choreographer. I was asked for a song from the Dust Bowl era, with a brother and sister who'd been orphaned and finding their own way.

BACKSTORY NOTES:

It’s nearly winter. They are “sleeping rough,” as the expression goes; taking shelter under trees, beneath a pile of hay or inside an old barn. As chilled as they are, he knows it will be much colder … too soon. He is 12 – she is 9.

The ever-present moon shows cool light. He remembers the warmth and the promise of Spring – and it warms him. He clings to her, carries, leads, watches over her. 

They have no choice but to accept this new world – this cold, hard and unforgiving world. They accept that they must find their way alone – and we see that they are strengthened because they have one another. They face the night bravely, and follow the moon. (What is left unstated is that the moon, cool and changing as it is – is a predictable and constant light).

Later in the song – we find out the family farm failed. The normally green land turn to brown, dust, and blew away on the wind. We also learn that their father died in their home, followed shortly by their mother. Now our brother and sister wander, seeking their own way in this new harsh world. Hard as it is, we see their bond and their drive will deliver them. 

They will soar – even if they don’t know it yet, we can see it.

Soar by the Light of the Moon- Mix

The Second Seminole Wind
(c) Jed Marum, 2013

Osceola was too late
I knew that we could not wait
And we watched those Federals march
While we hid in the pine
Micanopy rose to shoot
And the rest would follow suit
It was then I felt
The Second Seminole Wind

Now the Pale Chief beats his drum
And sends his troops to remove us from the land
And they carry our black brothers off in chains
But I cannot leave my father's grave
And will not walk that Trail of Tears
For the One Who Gives Me Breathe
Will quell my fears

Soon the Red Cloud of this War
Found the Okeechobee shore
Where we stopped Zach Taylor's men
From our line in the trees
We endured and slipped away
Lived to fight another day
But the Federals felt that
Second Seminole Wind

Now I've lost world I knew
And my days on earth are few
But when he took my people's land 
The white man sinned
They removed some to the west
To the south they pushed the rest
But my heart flies free on that
Second Seminole Wind
96


Second Seminole Wind

Even as I Ramble
(c) Jed Marum, 2009



The morning sunlight thru the trees
My song sails on the summer breeze
Repeating every word I said
Like running water thru my head
Even as I Ramble

The hours fly the miles slip by
My footsteps bring the midday sky
Another tune another song, 
Another hour, it won't be long
Even as I Ramble

  CHO:
  Oh I've seen trouble and I bear a heavy load
  Since I started out to roam
  But every step I take along this dusty road
  Brings me closer to my home

I can't forget the things I saw
The lonely years I fought this the war
The lives of friends I left behind
Ever present in my mind
Even as I Ramble

I see them now in my mind's eye
The lonely years 
I take her warm in my embrace
The lonely years just slip away 
Even as I Ramble

CHO
CHO

Title track from a new Boston Road Records release by Jed Marum, of songs and stories from America'a Civil WarThe song uses the old Irish melody, The Southwind and borrows imagery from Robert Burns' poem, "A Man's A Man For A' That." It ties Scottish Reformation ideas of self worth to the new American ideals and first principles of freedom, self reliance and personal responsibility. The early settlers of the US, especially the southeast - were the Scots Irish who would have brought these reformation ideas with them and developed them into the core of American (and southern) culture.


THE SOUTH WIND (c) Jed Marum, 2012, trad melody

My heart is alive
Where the south winds blows
Where the rivers wind down to the sea
Through the days of my life
Where the south winds blows
Winds a spirit affirming and free
 
 A man's a man, so the poet said
 In spite of the powers that be
 And the man of independent mind
 Like the South Wind is sovereign and free


There’s a meaning to life
Where the south winds blows
Where the rivers wind down to the sea
There a man can be all that he's meant to be
In command of his own destiny 

 "Every knee must bend for the will of the state"
 As the ruling class sages decree
 But the man of independent mind
 Like the South Wind is sovereign and free


There's a sense of self-worth
Where the south winds blows
Where the rivers run down to the sea
And the blessing that heavan and earth bestows
Is the life that is fruitful and free

 Give fools their silk, and give knaves their wine,
 Their tinsel shows nothing of gold
 While the honest man, who will toil and grind
 Brings worth to his family and fold.

The South Wind

This track was recorded for a film called ROAD TO VALHALLA.

The Minstrel Boy to the war is gone
In the ranks of death you will find him;
His father's sword he hath girded on,
And his wild harp slung along behind him;
"Land of Song!" cried the warrior bard,
"Tho' all the world betrays thee,
One sword, at least, thy rights shall guard,
One faithful harp shall praise thee!"

The Minstrel fell! But the foeman's chain
Could not bring that proud soul under;
The harp he lov'd never spoke again,
For he tore its chords asunder;
And said "No chains shall sully thee,
Thou soul of love and brav'ry!
Thy songs were made for the pure and free, 
They shall never sound in slavery!"

The Minstrel Boy will return we pray
When we hear the news, we all will cheer it,
The minstrel boy will return one day,
Torn perhaps in body, not in spirit.
Then may he play on his harp in peace,
In a world such as Heaven intended,
For all the bitterness of man must cease,
And ev'ry battle must be ended.

The Minstrel Boy

Shines Like Gold

MUSIC NEWS
Jed Marum's latest recording project - released on March 17, 2016 - started with a phone call from a record industry veteran now retired from Warner Brothers Records. Two of Jed's songs, "Even As I Ramble" and "Calla's Waltz" had moved him enough to call and encourage Jed to produce new recordings of these songs - and also offered to try to help place them in the hands of some former colleagues in the music/film industry who might be able to help.  "You know inside you," he told Jed, "that this could be something special, I know that too!"  

A comparison was drawn to the soundtrack of the now acclaimed Ken Burns documentary "The Civil War" and the music of Jay Ungar and Molly Mason.  "Ashokan Farewell" became an instant classic for them and set the standard for all future recordings for that era.  A suggestion was made to reach out to Jay and Molly to see if his music moved them as well and as a result of that call, a new friendship was formed and Jeds new album, "Calla's Waltz" will feature Jay Ungar and Molly Mason on the title track along with Scottish button accordion player, Hugh Morrison, among others throughout the track list. The album will be produced by one of North America's finest folk music producers, Paul Mills of London Ont.  It features a mix of Celtic traditional and original songs and will be recorded at various studios in New York, Dallas and Toronto.

FILM NEWS
Another project in the works for next year, Jed has been asked to contribute music to a new film in development right now - a documentary film about the Kansas State song, "Home on the Range." Also contributing music for the film is the popular rock band, Kansas - Michael Martin Murphey - John McEuen (Nitty Gritty Dirt Band) - Martina McBride and others. Jed will appear on-screen as well as being heard on the sound track. 

Jed’s last film project was The Road to Valhalla by Lone Chimney Films. Jed composed the original music for the documentary and produced the soundtrack. In addition he made an appearance as a Yankee soldier/musician in one of the scenes and in a music video released along with the film. The Road to Valhalla has had a successful run of independent theaters throughout the US and is likely to PBS or History Channel markets next year. The film won the Western Heritage Award for Documentary of the Year! The award ceremony was hosted by the National Cowboy Museum in Oklahoma City OK on Sat Apr 18, 2015.

BRIEF BIO
Jed Marum is a popular performer and songwriter of American Roots and Celtic music. 

Bringing a mix of traditional and original songs to audiences throughout the US, Jed is known as a refined singer and a gifted storyteller. Since 1999 he has published over a dozen albums, licensed music to several film and TV projects and he works over 150 shows each year. You can hear in his music, the blending of American, Scottish and Irish cultures. In his songs you will relive the stories passed on from generation to generation.

Jed's most recent film project, The Road to Valhalla (by Lone Chimney Films) - won the 2015 Western Heritage Award from the National Cowboy Hall of Fame. Jed wrote the original music for the film and produced the sound track recordings. The film features Buck Taylor and Michael Martin Murphey.

Jed has a very active performance schedule. The details for his shows are listed on his website calendar at JedMarum.com


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