A 1955 newspaper article detailed the story of a nameless man who walked over 400 miles to Moose Lake, Minnesota, found a man named C. R. Grace, apologized to him, handed over all the money he owned and walked away. Further conversation revealed that 30 years ago, during the height of Prohibition, Mr. Grace had a hotel in Kingsdale, MN, now a ghost town. Mr. Grace hoped to see Kingsdale blossom but the folks running the moonshine across the river had other ideas.
A bucketful of dynamite left on the hotel steps made their point exceedingly clear.
“Little bird, light on me
Break these chains and set me free
Ache in my bones, lines on my face
I’m on the long road looking for Grace”
That’s the chorus of a song I wrote about this episode and it’s the core of what I do. I take Minnesota history and local stories and write them into song. I tell the stories of the people I sing about, the stories of how Minnesota came to be what it is today, and what it was like to live, work, love, and struggle back then.
I’m a brand new Minnesota Field Trip Library Partner. I’m excited to offer a new range of student programming. From Pre-K to high school students, I have music and story that make history immediate, personal, and local. From Voyageurs, to the Metis, to the lumber camps, the Civil War, and on up to the early 1900’s, I have themed shows to fit most needs and 25 years of professional experience behind me.
And if you need someone to entertain, to get kids up and dancing or re-enacting old 19th-Century play party music, I do that also. I passionately love making old music, story, and history live again.
I’m booking the 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 school year right now. Oh, and I’m happy to perform a free assembly as well. Can’t beat free!
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