RETURN to ARTIST DIRECTORY

NAME: Colleen Cleveland CULTURE: Scots, Irish & Adirondack GENRE: : Traditional ballads and songs from the British Isles & the Adirondacks REGION: Saratoga-Capital COUNTY: Warren and Washington Counties BIO: Colleen is a fifth-generation ballad singer of traditional ballads and songs carried by her family. Her grandmother, Sara Cleveland, was a well known ballad singer in the 1960s. Colleen grew up going to festivals and learning the songs in the oral tradition. After Sara’s death in 1987, both Colleen and her father, Jim Cleveland, were encouraged to keep the family songs alive. Colleen and Jim received the Traditional Arts of Upstate New York Heritage Award in 1994 for their efforts to bring these songs to the public. The family repertoire of songs runs the gamut from 15th-century Irish, Scots, and English ballads to local area songs, cowboy songs, Civil War and World War I songs, and many other genres. Colleen is currently working on archiving her grandmother’s collection of some 900 songs, organizing and creating a database so they can be accessed on line. She has produced one recording, Treasures from the Attic, and has performed at the Old Songs Festival, The New England Folk Festival, The Champlain Valley Folk Festival and others. She was on staff in 2008 for the Pinewoods Folk Music Week in Plymouth, MA. Colleen is looking forward to doing more performing and sharing this unique family tradition with the public. Listen to a radio documentary in which Colleen and her father Jim describe their family musical heritage. DISCOGRAPHY: Treasures from the Attic (Dark Horse Productions), 2002 LISTEN to a sample of Woodman’s Alphabet WEBSITE: www.northcountrypublicradio.org/upnorth/masters/cleveland/cleveland.php CONTACT: rexbeast@aol.com, or 518-494-4014

HOME | ABOUT NYFS | PROGRAMS & SERVICES | PUBLICATIONS | RESOURCES | CALENDAR | WHAT’S FOLKLORE? | MEMBERSHIP | GALLERY | SHOP | SEARCH | CONTACT US