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Description
Field recordings made primarily by Jeffrey “Smokey” Mckeen for use in developing a series of radio programs devoted to traditional music in Maine. The collection includes 37 cassette recordings of interviews with 44 individuals in addition to performances. The programs were later packaged and released by the Maine Folklife Center as a series of four cassettes entitled “Traditional Music of Maine, Vols. 1-4.”
Traditional Music of Maine celebrates the musical legacies of a variety of Maine folk communities by exploring their cultural and historical significance through oral history interviews with musicians and other community members. The tapes introduce the general public to the remarkable diversity and vitality of Maine's musical traditions. Originally developed as a radio series for the Maine Public Broadcasting Network, the project was funded by grants from the Maine Arts Commission and the Maine Community Foundation. This series consists of four cassette tapes containing a total of eight half-hour programs documenting Maine's rich, traditional musical heritage.
Program themes include: Songs of the Maine Lumberwoods; Music of the Maine Grange; Swedish Music of Aroostook; Music of Maine’s Finnish Communities; Slavic Music of the Lower Kennebec; Acadian Music of the St. John Valley; Pioneers of Maine Country Music; and Songs of the Passamaquoddy. To date, no accessions have been specifically linked to the last three program themes. Topics discussed in the interviews include: life in lumber camps; working in the lumberwoods; working on river drives; transition from river driving to using trucks to haul logs; the Maine Grange; changing role of the Grange in Maine life; immigration; and the Swedish and Russian communities in Maine. Interviewees sing traditional songs; and play the harmonica; piano; concertina; mandolin; and other instruments.
Publication Date
2020
Keywords
Folk music, Bluegrass music, Country music, Grange
Disciplines
Folklore | Oral History
Size of Collection
34 items
Dates of Collection
1987-1991
Manuscript Number
MF039
Recommended Citation
Special Collections, Raymond H. Fogler Library, University of Maine, "MF039 Traditional Music of Maine Project Collection" (2020). Northeast Archives of Folklore and Oral History Finding Aids. Number 19.
https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/ne_findingaids/19