专辑简介

Songs from the Civil War era abound, but mostly what we hear these days are old stand-bys like Dixie and Battle Hymn of the Republic. But, there exists a whole other body of songs from that period that have been languishing in folklorist’s notebooks and forgotten library shelves. Songs like: Paddy’s Lamentation, about an Irish immigrant who gets drafted as he’s getting off the boat and reluctantly goes on to fight with the famed Irish Brigade; the haunting Battle of Pea Ridge as told by a Confederate soldier in the aftermath of a bitter defeat; The Bright Sunny South paints the picture of a young man leaving his family to fight for his new country “…ere the days of my boyhood I scarcely had spent;” and an early war song of Southern defiance, The Red, White, and Red, celebrating the colors of the first National Flag and early Southern victories. There are more, of course, and some fine period instrumental pieces to round things out. Historical notes included.