Artist Initiative

Through this grant I was able to bring together a diverse group of musical artists and provide a space for us to learn from one another and broaden our skills beyond our respective specialties, to create something new drawing upon traditions including Irish, old-time, Swedish, blues, and even klezmer. This bore directly on my perception of being boxed in, with connections and recognized skills tightly clustered around the Irish and Scottish musical traditions. The grant has enabled me to forge relationships outside of that area which I plan to build upon, going forward, and has brought to light unsuspected collaboration opportunities between other musicians who had not met or worked together before this project. 2: We created a show based around a dozen songs with a strong link to Minnesota history and heritage, and have had the opportunity to share them with the local public in several ways so far: via radio, on the internet, in workshops for adults and children, and in live shows. The songs bring with them the opportunity to mention little-known and colorful figures from Minnesota history, such as J. P. Wentling, who came to St Anthony from Pennsylvania in the late 1800's and was the first known person to capture a Squonk. I evaluated success in this area by public response, which has been overwhelmingly positive, with many people - both adults and children - mentioning a new level of interest in local folklore, and a number expressing regret over missing the main concert and looking forward to attending the CD release, scheduled for this fall.