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Joan Baez - Silver Dagger

Archival recordings from the Old Town School of Folk Music.

Rough and Rocky Road, Dave Thompson 1963

Played and Introduced by George Armstrong on The Wandering Folksong, a WFMT radio program, in 1980.

We Shall Overcome - Guy Carawan

Boys the buzzards are flyin'. An original fiddle tune by Garry Harrison.
Garry Harrison on fiddle and John Bishop on guitar. 
Recorded by Hawk Hubbard

Boys the buzzards are flyin'

This is a special mini episode on the musical lineage between Hobart Smith, Fleming Brown, and Stephen Wade, who was featured on our last episode. You’ll hear archival recordings of Hobart and Fleming, as well as excerpts from Stephen’s conversation with Old Town School teaching artist Matt Brown this spring, as part of our oral history partnership with StoryCorps. Stephen began playing banjo at the Old Town School as a student of Fleming Brown and has since become a prominent folklorist, banjo player and researcher whose accomplishments include the one man show Banjo Dancing and his recent book The Beautiful Music All Around Us. Go to www.oldtownschool.org/StoryCorps to learn more about our partnership with StoryCorps, and to hear excerpts of other interviews collected over the past year.

Original recordings featured in this episode (in order of occurrence): 
- “Pateroller” performed by Stephen Wade, 4/13/17 
- StoryCorps conversation between Stephen Wade & Matt Brown, 4/13/17 
- “Poor Ellen Smith” performed by Hobart Smith at Coffee, circa 1963 
- “Pateroller” (fast and slow) performed by Hobart Smith at Fleming Brown’s home, 1963 
- Conversation between Hobart Smith and Fleming Brown at Brown home, 1963 
- “Chinquapin Pie” performed by Hobart Smith at Fleming Brown’s home, 1963 
- “Down in a Willow Garden” performed by Dodi Kallick & Hobart Smith, circa 1963 
- “Down in a Willow Garden” performed by Fleming Brown & Ray Tate, 333 W North Ave, 4/15/1962 
- “Fare Thee Well, Old Ely Branch” performed by Fleming Brown, 333 W North Ave, 4/15/1962 
- “Chinquapin Pie” performed by Stephen Wade, 4/13/17 

Recommended listening & reading:
- In Sacred Trust: The 1963 Fleming Brown Tapes feat. Hobart Smith, produced by Stephen Wade 
- The Beautiful Music All Around Us by Stephen Wade

Ep 15.5 - In sacred trust: Stephen Wade, Fleming Brown & Hobart Smith

Recorded at Garry's home in Charleston, Illinois by Hawk Hubbard

Ragtime Riffs / Garry Harrison (Guitar)

Richard Steele talks to author Aaron Cohen about his new book, MOVE ON UP: CHICAGO SOUL MUSIC AND BLACK CULTURAL POWER.

The Arts Section: New Book Explores Evolution of Chicago Soul Music

Garry Harrison on fiddle
Hawk Hubbard on guitar

Rymer's Favorite / Garry Harrison with Hawk Hubbard

An original composition by Ak Uchidai. 
This is Aki's tribute to the late Garry Harrison.　
fiddle / Aki Uchida, Banjo / Hiromasa Kase, Guitar / Jeffrey Yamada
recorded October 13, 2012

One Mule Is Gone

Recorded at the bunkhouse at Battleground Indiana by Hawk Hubbard

Garry Harrison and John Bishop play Lonesome John

The Vaults of (Roots Music) Heaven: Chicago’s Old Town School of Folk Music Unlocks the Lost Gems and Wild Creativity of its Live Archives 

Venerable vernacular music institution releases 127 live tracks by the best in American and global music from last half century. 

On a stacks of cassettes, reel to reel tapes and digital audio tapes lay the history of American music. There were local legends and major icons, global musicians and indie rockers. Some captured beautifully from the board, some gleaned quietly from the dusty archives of a radio station, the recordings held wildly creative decades of sound from Chicago’s Old Town School of Folk Music, a roots-music touchstone for nearly 55 years. And no one had heard them.

Joan Baez and Donovan, Big Bill Broonzy and Ella Jenkins, Pete Seeger and Taj Mahal, Martin Carthy and Steve Earle, Doc Watson and Mahalia Jackson: It was a literal who’s-who of folk, gospel, country, bluegrass, blues, and world music, caught in hours of exciting performances. But someone had to put the pieces together—all 127 tracks worth—and someone had to clear all the rights with 85 different artists.

They succeeded, against odds that would have stopped others in their tracks. Live From The Old Town School (Old Town School Recordings; release: December 13, 2011) reveals not only the venerable institution’s storied start, but its role in the recent infusion of new energy into the roots music world, with everyone from Toumani Diabate and Oumou Sangare to Andrew Bird and Lila Downs. 

Jerusalem, Steve Earle

Follow us to hear select rare recordings; music from teaching artists; and The Archives podcast, showcasing stories from the Old Town School community alongside live performances, field recordings and more from the archive at the school’s Resource Center. The Old Town School of Folk Music teaches and celebrates music and cultural expressions rooted in traditions of diverse US and global communities. Visit www.oldtownschool.org for more information on classes, concerts, the Resource Center, and other programming at the Old Town School.

Ep 15.5 - In sacred trust: Stephen Wade, Fleming Brown & Hobart Smith

Old Town School

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