Joe,

Thanks for clarifying the posting. I guess what I'll try to do is present a good sampling of songs collected from different regions of the state, and from a variety of occupations and/or lifestyles. A few things I'm particularly fond of right now include a novelty song called "Do Not Be Offended Please" from the repertoire of a southern-tier NYS lumberman named Ezra "Fuzzy" Barhight, an Erie Canal song that I've just recently pieced together which marries a unique NYS melody and fragment of text from Mark Hamilton with a very full text from a Port Colborne ON lake sailor, a medley of fiddle tunes (on mandolin) from Adirondack musician Lawrence Older who was recorded on Folk Legacy records, and "Willie Was As Fine A Sailor", a ballad sung by Adirondack lumberman Ted Ashlaw. There will also be a song or two from Camp Woodland in the Catskills, maybe a traditional Iroquois song, old favorite "The Ballad of Blue Mountain Lake", a Great Lakes version of "Maid of Amsterdam" ("Maid of Buffalo"), etc. Of course, all this might change once I see what the audience looks like! I also have a growing little store of children's songs and lore from NY State including things from the Louis Jones archive at Cooperstown and from my own work with 1,000s of 4th graders in NYS every year.

I dont have anything recorded yet as far as my own versions of this stuff, but it's all out there in some form already. Would be glad to talk more about it if you're interested.