Most people don't learn about family history from magazines, but that's what happened to Wanda Adams Fischer, folk music producer and host of The Hudson River Sampler (WAMC-FM, Northeast Public Radio, Albany). Fischer (61, Schenectady, NY) a professional writer and public relations person, spoke with Suite 101 about her musical journey and Sing Out! Magazine.
The Carter Family
With a father from southwestern Virginia, it's no surprise that Wanda grew up learning the songs of Appalachia. She remembers singing with her father's school friends -- Joe, Jannette and June Carter. She didn't know that they were folk music icons.
"They were just people who came to our family reunions and sang about keeping on the sunny side, storms on the ocean and wildwood flowers."
In 1964, as a Weymouth, Massachusetts high school sophomore, Fischer began reading Sing Out! Magazine, the quarterly folk music journal started in 1950 by legendary folksinger-songwriter Pete Seeger. JFK had just been assassinated and the country was in turmoil.
"Tom Paxton was asking where he was bound, Bob Dylan was asking for answers that were blowing in the wind and Peter, Paul and Mary were beginning to show up on popular radio."
Wanda soon read a Sing Out! article about the Carter Family. She remembers thinking, "Wow, those are my dad's friends!"
Sing Out! - a Life-Long Connection
"I remember when Woody Guthrie died in 1967," says Fischer, "Sing Out! ran the most amazing stories about him. I cut out the cover photo of him and placed it on my University of Tennessee dorm-room door. No one knew who Woody was--until they asked."
In 1966, a friend of Wanda's was a waitress at Middle Earth, Boston College's coffeehouse. When Wanda came along, she met Bill Fischer. Married in 1973, they have been together ever since. The two performed until Bill started medical school. He was also in the folk trio Bill, Bob and Carol. The trio is reuniting for BC's class of 1970's 40th reunion (June, 2010).
Wanda, WAMC's folk d-j since 1982, also produced folk programs at WCUW (Worcester, Massachusetts), for four years. She calls the knowledge she has received from 46 years of reading Sing Out! "inestimable." Each issue features 15 lead sheets and a CD. In addition to learning new music, Fischer appreciates the interviews with musicians, album and book reviews and stories about radio programs and films.
"I have about 200 issues of the magazine in many different forms," Fischer states, "It should say something that I cannot let them go."
Sing Out! Moving Forward
Sing Out! Editor Mark Moss told Suite 101 that the internet enables them to offer up-to-date listings of festivals and other folk music events. They Sell recordings and books like Rise Up Singing, a multi-genre songbook for group sing-alongs. The nonprofit's Bethlehem, Pennsylvania office houses an extensive multi-media collection of recordings, photos, letters and other treasures of the folk music movement. In collaboration with Oberlin College it is being cataloged and is available to the public.
"Sing Out!" Fischer explains, "helped nurture my love for this music and broadened my horizons -- particularly in terms of ethnic music."
Fischer also mentions a recent issue with Richie Havens on the cover. It features a profile of one of her childhood heroes, the late Liam Clancy.
"Without this incredible periodical, and the many extraordinary editors who have led it over the years, I know that the scope of my knowledge would be more narrow than it is. Thanks, Sing Out!"
The Promise
When Wanda, a singer-songwriter, was 14, she told her father that she would record an album someday. Despite years as a professional musician, singing at coffeehouses and weddings, that dream had to wait until 2003, when Wanda released Singing Along With the Radio. A collection of contemporary folk and traditional songs, it also features Wanda's song "Kansas City Prime."
The CD was a dream-come-true for Wanda in many ways. She got to sing and play with many of her favorite musicians including Steve Gillette, Cindy Mangsen, Priscilla Herdman, Bob Franke and the late Artie Traum. She also chose personally significant material. Fellow folk d-js Eric Erickson and Matt Watroba accompany her on Karen Beth's "Late Night Radio."
John Gorka's "Branching Out" mentions wanting to be a Louisville Slugger, swinging for the seats. Wanda has been a major Red Sox fan since 1956. A dog rescuer, Fischer sings Canadian singer-songwriter Connie Kaldor's "I Love That Dog" for her three dachshunds.
"I learned 'Duncan and Brady' from Tom Rush," Wanda says, "and got to play and sing it with Bob Franke."
Fischer, whose voice is clear and tender, sings Mark Humphreys' "Lord, Shall We Remember," a capella with Amy Fradon and Joann Redding. "It was my song for 9/11."
Folk Music Continues
Wanda Fischer's The Hudson River Sampler airs Saturdays (8-10:30 pm) on WAMC.
Donna W. Hill - Donna W. Hill is an author, singer/songwriter, recording artist, speaker and avid knitter in Pennsylvania's rural Endless Mountains. Her ...
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