For this latest project, The Creek Rocks have gone back further in time, to a collection that represents a largely forgotten musical history of Springfield, Missouri, and her surrounding communities—a collection that is not housed nearby or readily available for listening. When Sidney Robertson Cowell visited the Ozarks in December of 1936 and January of 1937, it was the first time that the musical folklore of the people of Springfield was recorded and preserved for future generations as audio artifacts. Once made, the recordings were sent to the Library of Congress. As the first recipients of the American Folklife Center’s “Artist in Resonance Fellowship,” The Creek Rocks were given the opportunity to travel to Washington to listen to and research Cowell’s collection. The fellowship came with the understanding that once home, they would then create a new musical project inspired by the music they had heard. And so it is with this new album, Wonderful Days, Wonderful Country, that The Creek Rocks want to give back to Springfield the music that Springfield itself gave to the nation 90 years ago.

A booklet is included with the download that tells the story of each song on this record and of the people of Missouri and Arkansas who sang for Sidney Robertson in 1936 and ‘37.

Track Listing:

1. On Fieldmount Spring

2. I Have a Father in a Kingdom

3. The Wars of Santa Fe

4. Barbry Allen

5. Ella Ree

6. The Drunkard’s Child

7. Root Hog or Die

8. Hog Drovers

9. The Jealous Lover

10. The Angels Drooped Their Wings

11. Young Charlotte