Theme for the next issue of the Missouri Folklore Society Journal -- "Ballads and Songs"

We need your articles…. 

I have been named editor for volume 26 of the Missouri Folklore Society Journal and I have chosen the theme "Ballads and Songs" for this issue in honor of the topic that sparked the founding of the original Missouri Folklore Society 100 years ago. The journal has traditionally focused on articles relating to folklore in Missouri, so I will give preference to articles addressing topics that are in some way connected with the state, but I will also consider articles focusing on other geographic regions. There is no limit as to the length of articles and they do not have to be written in a scholarly style, though that style is acceptable. We cannot pay authors for the articles we accept. (Note to academic writers: The MFSJ is not a peer-reviewed journal.)


Have you written articles about any of these topics….or would you like to?

Individual songs or ballads

Types of songs

Singers

Vocal styles

Acapella singing vs singing accompanied by instrumental music

Instruments and instrumental music styles used for accompanying singing

Individual, family, or community song repertoires

 Collectors of folk songs

 Collections of folk songs -- printed, manuscript, recorded, in libraries and archives, online, etc.

 Radio programs or recording companies specializing in folk music

 Coffeehouses and other venues where folk music is/was performed

 Organizations concerned with folk songs and singing

 Online databases and other folk song information on the Internet

 Indexes and catalogs of folk song or ballad collections in libraries and archives

 Classification schemes for ballads and other types of folk songs

 Modern songs written about historical subjects in a folk style

 First-person reports or oral histories that include how singers feel about their songs, how they change them for different audiences, what their creative process is, how their songs function in their communities, etc. 

Historical or geographic analyses of songs

The use of folk songs to teach history

Any other topic related to this theme

 

Please send me your manuscript, preferably in electronic format before the end of October 2006. Thanks in advance for your submissions and for helping to make this an outstanding issue of the journal!   

Lyn Wolz, Director
Regents Center Library
University of Kansas, Edwards Campus
12600 Quivira Road
Overland Park, KS  66213
913-897-8572
lwolz@ku.edu 

 

Do you love tracing the history of songs?  
I am currently working on a revised edition of H. M. Belden's classic book Ballads and Songs Collected by the Missouri Folklore Society.  This new edition will be jointly published online by the Missouri Folklore Society and the University of Missouri Press. My job as editor is to oversee the updating of the notes on each song concerning its appearance in books, journal articles, or recorded media since Belden finished writing his annotations in 1949, as well as any additional information that is valuable for the study of the song. Work is done on a volunteer basis, but credit will be given within the published edition. I need the help of many scholars and researchers in this huge undertaking, so please contact me if you'd like to participate. Thank you.

Lyn Wolz, Director
Regents Center Library
University of Kansas, Edwards Campus
12600 Quivira Road
Overland Park, KS  66213
913-897-8572
lwolz@ku.edu