A message from David Kleiman, of Heritage Muse, Inc., that was forwarded to Ballad-L on Nov. 18, 2002 (AFS is the October conference of the American Folklore Society):

"...the new web-site goes live this week. Since we announced all this at AFS here is the latest scoop.

1 - At AFS, at the NOMAD Festival, and elsewhere, I have been demoing the actual Child product (Heritage Collectors #1) to live audiences here in the northeast.

2 - Due to technical issues the target release date slipped. Those issues have been wonderfully resolved and we are working our proverbial rear-ends off to put the package in folks hands around Christmas (this year). It may be tight but if the manufacturer can move fast enough we can do it.

3 - Demos of some of the product features will be available on the web-site by end of this week.

4 - Heritage Collectors # 2, to follow Child, will be "Traditional American Folk Songs from the Anne & Frank Warner Collection". We're doing this in an expanded edition with 20+ new songs/ballads added onto the original. Same format aa the Child (digital, searchable text; computer playable tunes; new maps; an accompanying audio CD; etc.). SLated for release Spring/Summer 2003.

5. - Heritage Collectors # 3 - Bronson's full four volumes of the tunes for the Child Ballads. To be published in cooperation with Princeton University Press. Same treatment as above. Slated for Fall/Winter 2003.

6. - Heritage Collectors Other Projects - We have an agressive agenda for the Heritage Collectors Digital Folk Music Library and have already begun work on: "The Collected Works of Cecil Sharp", "The Abandoned Child", several previously unreleased, private collections and a two volume set of Maritime/Naval/Chantey collectors (British and American). Overall we're looking at 10-12 projects in the next 5-6 years. We'll have to see how the Child and subsequent projects go.

I hope this helps.

Thanks,

David M. Kleiman
President
Heritage Muse, Inc. and ESPB
Publishing, Ltd.
165 West End Avenue - Suite 12D
New York, NY 10023
212-724-7840 (office)
917-575-9633 (cell)
david.kleiman@heritagemuse.com
www.heritagemuse.com

The advantage of a digital edition of the original Child (aside from the extras they'll add), in comparison to the recent revised print edition, is that it's searchable and the page references will be consistent with earlier workers' citations.

~ Becky in Tucson