Helen Hartness Flanders (1890-1972) was a “song-catcher” who devoted her life to collecting and preserving New England folk music culture. From 1930 to the late 1950s, she collected over four thousand field recordings of folk songs, fiddle tunes and stories from the musicians she interviewed. Her collection, currently housed at Middlebury College in Vermont, is a treasure trove of living history.
Singer-storyteller Jack DesBois breathes new life into the old folk songs of the Flanders Collection. In this program, he shares the songs in all their delight, horror, humor and gravity, inviting audiences into a conversation about the enduring role of folk music in our world today. Interspersed throughout the program, he describes Flanders’ work as a song-catcher, leads the audience in a conversation about the role of folk songs in New England culture, and teaches the audience to sing the refrain of one of the songs.
Watch this wonderful presentation on our YouTube page!
