Artist - Homepages (below)
Links to homepages and fansites of artists specializing in the presentation of traditional songs in traditional styles.

UK/British Isles Links
Be sure to check out these links - many English and Scottish organizations and performers still focus on traditional and tradition-based material.

Celtic Artist Pages
And check out these links - Celtic music is rich in traditional and tradition-based material.

Folk Music 101: Introduction
My online encyclopedia starts with this two-page article on the origins of folk music and the role of the tradition in contemporary folk.

ABC Homepage
ABC is a method for musical notation in ASCII. Links to software downloads. Mac.

"American Memory" National Digital Library
The mother lode. This Library of Congress: archive of American music soundclips includes vaudeville, dustbowl songs, cowboy songs, Omaha Indian songs and more. Incredible!

Bodleian Library of Broadside Ballads
The Bodleian has an incredible 30,000 broadside ballads from the 16th century to the present. The archive includes 400 dpi scans plus midi files for those with sheet music. Hard to use - intended for scholars.

Chantey Cabin
A British couple have created this site for fans of Chanteys, where you can get info on artists and festivals as well as buy music.

Contemplator, The Best of the Net
Lesley Nelson has created a monument to traditional music, including a large number of Child Ballads, and a special section on songs popular in American History. Lyrics and midi files. Best on the Net!

Digitrad Best of the Net
On-line database of 100s of traditional songs (plus some contemporary), with lyrics, chords and MIDI. Indispensable. Downloadable versions for Mac and PC, (but Mac version crashes my OS 8.5). Best on the net!

English Folk Dance and Song Society
This traditional group is not only high-tech, they're on the cutting edge of keeping traditional music relevant in the contemporary music scene. See their new multimedia CD/magazine, Root and Branch under publications.

Folk Music Index
Jane Keefer's very respectable index of hundreds of folk resources, mostly recordings listed by label and some print listed by publisher.

Folklore Search Engine
This search engine indexes every word in thousands of web pages from hundreds of different web resources. Page also provides links to most of the sites it draws from - state arts councils, libraries, publications, societies, etc.

Folksong Index
With over 9000 lyrics and 4000 midi melodies, this may be the largest collection of "Airs, Anthems, Ballads, Ditties, Folksongs, Hymns and War Songs" on the net - from the U.S., Germany, England, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, France and Austria.

Public Domain Music
This site is a resource to help people find public domain songs unhindered by copyright hassles or expenses. Lots of useful info, including a database of 3000 songs.

Roots of Folk
Bruce Olson's web site collects Old English, Scots, and Irish Songs and Tunes

Sea Shanties
A fine collection of shanty lyrics - traditional and modern - can be found here.

Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
A great repository of American folk music, including Mo Asch's complete catalogue. Search the 35,000 track database of all the music they distribute by mail order.

Smithsonian Folkways: Links
An extensive page of links to Folklife/Folklore Organizations, Archives, and Databases.

Songs of and about Elizabethan Times
This page from a Renaissance Fair site gives lyrics to dozens of period songs (16th C.), many of them bawdy or drinking songs. The site, by the way, includes a pronunciation guide for Elizabethan English!

The Traditional Ballad Index
An Annotated Bibliography of the Folk Songs of the English-Speaking World. For scholars only. No texts or tunes, just an index of text sources and manuscripts for these songs.

Traditional Music Library Best of the Net
1000s of traditional songs split up into 22 songbooks - from geo-historical genres like Scots and cowboy ballads to themes like bawdy songs. Many of the lyrics include sheet music and MIDI files so you can hear the melody. Incredible variety and depth here.

Traditional Music Library - Bawdy Song Archive
This collection of 200 lyrics (about 100 with score and MIDI) deserves its own listing. Warning: this site contains material that may be offensive; on the other hand, the bawdy song is absolutely central to the oral tradition - no pun intended.

Artist Pages

Atwater-Donnelly
Aubrey Atwater and Elwood Donnelly do pleasant versions of Irish, traditional and some original songs.

Cordelia's Dad
This group of experimenters combine authentic-sounding performances using medieval instrumental and vocal techniques with folk-rock renditions reminiscent of Fairport Convention. The result is provocative.

Cowan, Debra
New England based singer, works mostly a capella.

Jennings & Ponder
Vermont duo, Tim Jennings and Leanne Ponder has a compelling storytelling CD called World Tales - folk tales recorded live at Bennington College, accompanied sparingly by harp and concertina.

MacArthur, Margaret
Vermont based traditional performer for nearly 30 years.

Morton, Harold
Here's a treat - dozens of traditional/old-timey MP3s to hear/download. Fine arrangements and creditable performances. A good resource for learning songs or for enjoyment.

Mueller, Karen
Highly respected mountain dulcimer player from Minnesota.