Playing in the Domain

Learn about one family's contribution to preserving America's folk song style and tradition. From the writings of song collectors in the 1910s, to the field recordings of documentarians starting in the 1960s, members of the the Wallin family of Big Laurel, North Carolina performed tunes handed down through generations, including "Rain and Snow" and a "Conversation with Death."

Learn about this traditional folk song and its journey from the Appalachian Mountains to the Grateful Dead's first album.
Some music clips from the Library of Congress.
Some sound effects provided by FreeSFX (freesfx.co.uk)
Riverbend Studios, Copyright 2024.

Learn about this traditional holiday song, which sprang from the imagination of a children's music teacher in 1864.
Some music clips from the Library of Congress.
Some sound effects provided by FreeSFX (freesfx.co.uk)
Riverbend Studios, Copyright 2023.

Learn about Professor John T. Layton, longtime choir director of an historic D.C. church, and his wife
Julia Mason Layton, teacher and later activist and lecturer, who rallied for women's voting rights,
among other causes. The couple helped produce the first AME Church hymnal to have muscial notation.
Some clips from the Library of Congress. www.loc.gov
Some sound effects provided through FreeSFX (freesfx.co.uk)
Riverbend Studios, Copyright 2023.

Learn about lyricist Henry Creamer and pianist Turner Layton whose six-year collaboration produced
the classic "After You've Gone," first published in 1918.
Some clips found at the Library of Congress. www.loc.gov
Some sound effects provided by FreeSFX (freesfx.co.uk)
Riverbend Studios, Copyright 2023.

Learn about this classic carol, which began as an ode to the fir tree. Penned in 1824 by an organist in Germany this song is now a beloved holiday carol in praise of the Christmas tree.

Some music clips provided through freemusicarchive.org
Some clips from the Library of Congress. www.loc.gov
Some sound effects provided by FreeSFX (freesfx.co.uk)
Riverbend Studios, Copyright 2022.

Learn about The Charleston, a dance that defined the 1920s.
From its origins in the Carolina sea islands to city nightclubs and the New York stage,
this infectious dance craze spread across the world with young and old kicking up their heels. Everyone and their grandma knew how to Charleston.

Learn about songwriting team Roy Turk and Lou Handman who wrote "My Sweetie Went Away," as well as the classic Elvis ballad "Are You Lonesome Tonight."
Some music clips provided through freemusicarchive.org
Some clips from the Library of Congress. www.loc.gov
Some sound effects provided by FreeSFX (freesfx.co.uk)
Riverbend Studios, Copyright 2022.

Learn about this country western group who were popular radio personalities in the 1930s and 40s, and their Pennsylvania music theme park, where they
hosted popular and legendary artists beginning in 1940 through to the early 1960s.

Learn about prolific hymnwriter Ada J. Blenkhorn and composer J. Howard Entwisle
and their classic American hymn and bluegrass standard "Keep On the Sunnyside of Life," published in 1899.
Some music clips provided through freemusicarchive.org
Some clips from the Library of Congress. www.loc.gov
Some sound effects provided by FreeSFX (freesfx.co.uk)
Riverbend Studios, Copyright 2022.