For the past few months I have been working on a double CD set of Historical recordings of Appalachian singers and musicians, and I am happy to say that the CDs are now available, under the title "When Cecil Left the Mountains" (Musical Traditions MTCD514-5). "Cecil" was, of course, Cecil Sharp and many of the recordings are of people, such as Linnie Landers, Dol Small, Dad Blackard, Eliza Pace and Mrs Oscar Allen (Ada Maddox)who had previously sung to Sharp. Other singers were close relatives of people who also gave songs to Sharp. Most of the recordings were made by Cecil Sharp's one-time secretary, Maud Karpeles, when she returned to the Mountains in 1950 and 1955.

Sharp also heard and collected some fiddle tunes and so we have also included recordings by musicians such as Emmett Lundy, Luther Strong and Bill Stepp, people who never met Sharp, but who were already playing when Sharp made his Appalachian collecting trips.

The set comes with a 48 page booklet, which contains song transcriptions and notes. These can now be seen on the Musical Traditions webside, together with full track listings. Two tracks, "Hares in the Mountain" sung by Horton Barker and "Pike County Breakdown" played by the Sugarloaf Sheltons can be heard on the same Musical Traditions website - www.mustrad.org.uk