Sunspot Home Bookshelf Magazines CDs DVDs


Sunspot Books

Here are some of the books about the kind of music we host in Sunspot concerts. We like them, and think you might, too. We'll be adding more in the future, so check back from time to time.

The links will take you to Amazon's web site. We will receive a portion of the purchase price of any items you purchase through these links, which will be used to support our concerts.

Deep Community, by Scott Alarik. Scott Alarik writes about folk and traditional music for the Bost Globe. This is a collection of articles from the Globe, with photographs by Robert Corwin.      The Companion to Irish Traditional Music, edited by Fintan Vallely. This is an encylopedic reference on Irish music, with entries on musicians, regions, styles and instruments.
 
Far From the Shamrock Shore, by Mick Moloney   Ramblin' Man; The Life and Times of Woddy Guthrie, by Ed Cray.
 
The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, Edited by Francis James Child. The definitive reference to popular ballads in the English language. This link takes you to the five-volume set, but each book is also available separately.   American Ballads and Folk Songs, by John A. Lomax and Alan Lomax. Father and son John and Alan Lomax collected folk songs in the 1930s and '40s. Much of what they collected now resides in the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.
 
Folkways Records, Moses Asch and His Encyclopedia of Sound, by Tony Olmsted. Moses Asch founded Folkways Records and produced over 2,000 folk records. After Asch's death, Folkways was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution, which continues to expand the collection and issue new records.   The Rose and the Briar; Death, Love and Liberty in the American Ballad, edited by Sean Wilentz and Greil marcus. A collection of articles on the history and context of some of the most well-known American ballads, many of which are descendents of earlier Irish, Scottish and English ballads.
 
Last Night's Fun, by Ciaran Carson.   O'Neill's Music of Ireland. Chicago Chief of Police James O'Neill collected over 1,8000 tunes played of Irish immegrants in the windy city.
 
What Do You Do with a Drunken Sailor? Unexpurgated Sea Chanties, Edited by Douglas Morgan. Not-for-the-kids versions of classic sea chanties such as "Off to Sea No More," "What Do You Do with a Drunken Sailor," "The Handsome Cabin Boy" and, of course, "Frigging in the Rigging." All with scholarly commentary.   Roll Me in Your Arms; Unprintable Ozark Folksongs and Folklore, Vol. I, by Vance Randolph. Another collection of folk songs as they were sung after the kids went to bed, and never in mixed company (though many were collected from women).
 
From Every Stage; Images of America's Roots Music, by Stephanie P. Ledgin. Photographs of musicians from John Hartford and Doc Watson to Chris Thile and Ruth Ungar, Johnny Cunningham and Jerry O'Sullivan.   The Bluegrass Reader, edited by Thomas Goldsmith. Articles about bluegrass music and musicians.