Crosscurrents Blog

My graduate school-era trio in Madison, Wisconsin, with Mark Fulton and Rebecca Lee. We formed through our association with Madison’s Oak Apple Morris (Mark, foreman; Lynn, squire; Rebecca, musician) and explored traditional English harmony, early music, parodies, and even a little jazz. Our recording The Last Sheaf was Mark’s swan song before he headed to Sweden for Ph.D. work, while Rebecca continued with her jazz work to form a new quartet in Madison. From the introduction to my first book of original songs, Songs My Paddle Sings : "The Spontaneous Triad. That was the name of my favorite trio, the best friends I ever sang with, but it also seems to describe a lot about my music, my career and my life. How do all the parts fit together? Like chords. A chord isn't a single note: it helps to think in threes. Geographer, musician and environmental educator. Songs of waterways both fresh and salt, tales of adventurous women, and the magic of the seasonal round. Three-part harmo...

My first professional touring ensemble was a core influence in using music and storytelling in heritage interpretation. The winter/spring 1988 tour featured “Sacred Fire of Liberty (American Revolution), “Steamboat ‘Round the Bend” (Mississippi River), and a quintet version of “Skillet, Ballot, and Book” (women’s history). Papers of the Heritage Ensemble’s founder are archived at the University of Wisconsin’s David C. Peterson Collection .