Description

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Challenging and considerably broadening popular and scholarly definitions of American folk music, Folksongs of Another America recovers the diverse, multilingual traditions of immigrant, Native American, rural, and working-class performers in America's Upper Midwest during the 1930s and 1940s. The book extensively documents 187 tunes and songs in more than twenty-five languages, with full original lyrics and English translations, and biographical notes on the performers. The companion musical tracks and documentary film will be freely available for listening, viewing, or download through a partnership with the University of Wisconsin Libraries' Digital Collections Center.

About the Author

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James P. Leary is professor emeritus of folklore and Scandinavian studies, and cofounder of the Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures, at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. His many books and documentary productions include Wisconsin Folklore, So Ole Says to Lena, Polkabilly, Accordions in the Cutover, Downhome Dairyland (with Richard March), and Pinery Boys (with Franz Rickaby and Gretchen Dykstra).

Praise For…

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"The astonishing range of music collected here reveals the deeply hued cultures of the Midwest before and after World War II, when these field recordings were made. Folksongs of Another America deftly combines dynamic media—CDs, a DVD, and a richly annotated book to go with them—to tell a multifaceted story. Though brimming with scholarship, the book's crisp, clear prose reveals the music and the people who made it."—Henry Sapoznik, author of Klezmer! Jewish Music from Old World to Our World

"Folksongs of Another America is a groundbreaking work, covering musical and cultural ground woefully overlooked by American music scholars."—Kip Lornell, author of Exploring American Folk Music

"Attains the highest standards of folklore studies. . . . A landmark presentation of traditional music of the Upper Midwest."—Journal of Folklore Research

"Grammy nod for the polka prof: Leary has spent the last ten years . . . on [this] enormous, Grammy worthy undertaking."—Isthmus, Madison WI