A freewheeling blend of continental European folk music and the songs, tunes, and dances of Anglo and Celtic immigrants, polkabilly has enthralled American musicians and dancers since the mid-19th century. From West Virginia coal camps and east Texas farms to the Canadian prairies and America's Upper Midwest, scores of groups have wed squeezeboxes with string bands, hoe downs with hambos, and sentimental Southern balladry with comic "up north" broken-English comedy, to create a new and uniquely American sound. The Goose Island Ramblers played as a house band for a local tavern in...
A freewheeling blend of continental European folk music and the songs, tunes, and dances of Anglo and Celtic immigrants, polkabilly has enthralled Ame...
In the land of beer, cheese, and muskies where the polka is danced and winter is unending and where Lutherans and Catholics predominate everybody is ethnic, the politics are clean, and the humor is plentiful. This collection includes jokes, humorous anecdotes, and tall tales from ethnic groups (Woodland Indians, French, Cornish, Germans, Irish, Scandinavians, Finns, and Poles) and working folk (loggers, miners, farmers, townsfolk, hunters, and fishers). Dig into the rich cultural context supplied by the notes and photographs, or just laugh at the hundreds of jokes gathered at small-town...
In the land of beer, cheese, and muskies where the polka is danced and winter is unending and where Lutherans and Catholics predominate everybody i...
Remote and rugged, Michigan's Upper Peninsula (fondly known as "the U.P.") has been home to a rich variety of indigenous peoples and Old World immigrants - a heritage deeply embedded in today's "Yooper" culture. Ojibwes, French Canadians, Finns, Cornish, Poles, Italians, Slovenians, and others have all lived here, attracted to the area by its timber, mineral ore, and fishing grounds. Mixing local happenings with supernatural tales and creatively adapting traditional stories to suit changing audiences, the diverse inhabitants of the U.P. have created a wealth of lore populated with tricksters,...
Remote and rugged, Michigan's Upper Peninsula (fondly known as "the U.P.") has been home to a rich variety of indigenous peoples and Old World immigra...
