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Upriver features Bluegrass, Celtic and Appalachian Mt. Music and folk ballads. This is often called roots music. This is a very expressive music that is sung and played on many acoustic instruments and is also used to accompany a variety of dances. We will share music from Ireland, Scotland, England, Russia and Wales and demostrate how it is now part of our American roots music.
Our program runs about 45 minutes and can be longer or shorter to suit the needs of the library. Below is a summary of what our programs include.

Our Heritage Program tells about the Scots-Irish people or Ulster Scots who migrated to America in the early 1700's. They carried their music as part of their culture with them. These people spread into isolated regions of the Appalachian Mountains and their music was both preserved and changed by isolation and by their travels, especially during war times. We demonstrate how the same song changed over time. We perform this music on several different instruments and modify our program for the age of the group we are playing for, giving more time and attention to the instruments and the way the sounds are produced and general history with music for a younger crowd and more history with the music for an older group.

Our Mark Twain Program will focus on the time period of Mark Twain. Mark Twain is probably the greatest Scots-Irish American literary figure in American History. Samuel Clemens early life was spent on the Mississippi River, which is where he got his pen name, Mark Twain. We will talk about many aspects of his life, including quotes and humor as we intertwine events of his time with Appalachian Mt. tunes such as Mississippi Sawyer, Sandy River Belle, and the Crawdad Song. Authentic Celtic tunes such as Morrison's Jig will also be featured on the penny whistle, an instrument which had just become popular at that time. Folk ballads will be played including Stephen Foster's Angelina Baker. We will also offer a taste of what happened to this music about 30 years later, as it evolved into Bluegrass music in Western Kentucky.

Audience participation is encouraged during each program. After each program a time for questions and discussion is encouraged. Children will have a chance to try out some of our instruments.

These are mulit age programs. We will meet the needs and time schedule of individual libraries. We carry our own Bose sound system that takes very little space.

These programs will:

Introduce children to a wonderful writer who was also a musician. We will introduce and raise the interest level of children to several different instruments in a fun and creative way and encourage those who are already playing an instrument.

Introduce the general audience to the Scots Irish impact on America.

Underscore the historical relevance of music in people’s lives.

Expose the group to a wonderful and expressive style of music that is not commonly available in today's general media.

www.uprivermusic.com