Johnny Johnston applies his “hot fingerpickin’ slide guitar, banjo and down home vocals” to an entertaining program of children’s songs and stories about the events and people that form the origins of these classic children’s songs. ****** CHILDREN’S SONGS Have you ever been curious about where those children’s songs that we all know by heart come from? The origins almost always lie in American and British folks songs and folk tales. Comments from teachers and parents include, “the students were enthralled – I don’t think they realized how much they were learning“, “what a fun way to reinforce our school curriculum”, and “that was big fun and educational, thanks” The Perfect Program for Black History Month or any other time of the year! By engaging audiences with stories, folk tales and songs from the South, Johnny teaches the history of the Afro-American struggle, from the Civil War through the Civil Rights Movement. ![]() Johnny then applies his hot fingerpickin’ slide guitar, banjo and down home vocals to a gumbo of songs from New Orleans to North Carolina, from Charlotte to Chicago. Johnny introduces each song with a story about the historical events, folk tales or folk heroes who inspired these songs. The history of Afro-Americans was preserved entirely via the oral tradition – through songs and stories Johnny Johnston presents an enjoyable and educational program for children and adults of all ages. During slavery and the decades following the Civil War, literacy was quite low among Black Americans. ****** THE JOURNEY FOR FREEDOM AND EQUALITY For more than 100 years, history books have largely ignored the positive contributions of Black Americans. A PROGRAM FOR CHILDREN & ADULTS OF ALL AGES Sweet Home Chicago – This song tells a story of the greatest internal migration in US history between 19, eight million Americans migrated on the Central Illinois Railroad from the agricultural south to northern industrial cities such as Chicago. Freight Train – This beautiful song was composed by the daughter of a 1920’s sharecropper and expresses the longing to ride the train to the northern promised-land. ![]() I’ve Been Working on the Railroad – The story of Camp-towns: tent communities of railroad laborers, cooks, and itinerant musicians build America’s first railroads. The story provides insight into post-Civil War history and man’s ability to push himself to the limit to achieve goals. John Henry –John Henry could do the work of 3 men. ![]() “The ballad of Casey Jones” is the most recorded ballad in American History. Examples include Casey Jones – In the early 1900’s, train engineers were heroes the most famous engineer was Casey Jones. Johnny introduces each song with a story about the colorful characters who wrote these songs and the historical events, folk tales and folk heroes who inspired these songs. Johnny Johnston applies his hot fingerpickin’ slide guitar and down home vocals to an informative and delightful program of train songs. ****** TRAIN SONGS, STORIES AND FOLK TALE The train is a common theme in American folklore and folk songs. Some were beloved songs from Ireland, some were adaptations of those songs, and some were new songs born of Irish singing traditions.A GUMBO OF AMERICAN MUSIC & FOLK LORE In addition to being a master of American acoustic blues guitar and singing styles, Johnny is an award-winning storyteller. Few records exist of the many songs they sang to accompany their work. Many of the principal singers in labor forces, from the lumber camps to the canals and railroads, were Irish. Much of the work laying those tracks was done by African-American, Chinese, and Irish laborers. At the end of the nineteenth century, five major transcontinental railroads connected the East and West coasts, and thousands of miles of tracks criss-crossed the country. ![]() For the first time, people and freight could move swiftly and inexpensively across nearly 2,000 miles of western mountains, deserts, and plains. On the first transcontinental railroad line was completed in Promontory, Utah. When the first steam locomotive arrived from England on May 13, 1829, many Americans were skeptical that the "iron horse" was anything more than a novelty.
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