Skipping right from the Winter Solstice to New Year's resolutions, if you are among those vowing to learn an instrument or increase your repertoire in the coming year, we have a wonderful resource to make the process enjoyable.

Old Town School of Folk Music Songbook
The Ultimate Folk Music Collection
All Live in Performance

Founded 50 years ago, Chicago's Old Town School of Folk Music is often described with superlatives: oldest, largest, most influential.

Their four-volume set of live recordings culled over that long history supports every one of those adjectives. The Old Town School's first classes were based on a Songbook, created by its founders and added to over the years by dozens of faculty. The Songbook method of teaching traditional music forms is the foundation for many music academies and workshops hosted by folk and bluegrass festivals.

Producer John Abbey culled the School's extensive archive to compile the 85 songs found in this collection; you'll find work songs, protest songs, hymns, murder ballads, love songs, and more across the gamut of American folk traditions.

Besides choosing a broad range of music styles and archetypal tunes, Mr. Abbey also selected strong performances - some are idiosyncratic, some are true to their traditions, all feature exceptionally solid playing or singing. The performers include School faculty and visiting performers like Robbie Fulks, Danny Barnes, Casey Driessen, and James Hand.

Not to be missed are recordings by famous alumni, the young Steve Goodman and the young John Prine, of their signature tunes.

The project, released over 2006 and 2007 by Bloodshot Records, is available from FestivaLink.net in digital formats - compact for storing and sorting, and convenient for study!

You may choose among the four volumes, or get the whole shebang at a great price.

If you're still shopping this weekend, here are some ways to advance the music we love, help others at the same time - and go easy on the environment:



FestivaLink.net gift certificates

You can choose them in amounts ranging from $5.00. What a nice way to share our service with like-minded music lovers - and give them the pleasure of browsing our catalog.



Help Louisiana musicians
The FestivaLouisiana! compilation features 14 tunes from favorite Louisiana artists we captured in performance, including Marcia Ball, Sonny Landreth, the Red Stick Ramblers, the Savoy Family and more. All artists receive a royalty from sales, and an additional $4.00 from each purchase goes to the New Orleans Musicians Hurricane Relief Fund and its successor, ReNew Our Music. The work is not done, no, it's not!


Support mandolin scholarships
Some of the most talented of the next generation of mando players attend the Mandolin Symposium in Santa Cruz. It's hosted by Grisman and Marshall and actively develops a scholarship fund. At Wintergrass, some young pickers performed on the main stage and their live show is a fundraiser for the scholarship fund. Did you ever hear the very young Alison Krauss or Chris Thile, or the young Bela Fleck? Here's a chance to hear a next generation ensemble, billed by the fest as The Changing Face of Bluegrass.



Support the Bluegrass Trust Fund
Operated by the International Bluegrass Music Association, the Fund supports bluegrass professionals in emergency need. Every purchase of one of the three Watson stage jams from MerleFest benefits the Fund, as the artists and the fest have donated all royalties to the Fund.

Sample "White Freightliner Blues" from the MerleFest 20th Homecoming Jam

 Sample "Brown's Dream" from the 20th MerleFest Kick-Off Jam

Sample "Molly Put The Kettle On" from the MerleFest New Generation Jam

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Thanks again for your interest in our music service.
We hope you'll share some of this great music with friends as gifts. Or just forward this email, below.

Have a great weekend!
The music lovers at FestivaLink.net HQ
 
 
 
 
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