Album recreates Civil War era music from the Samuel Bayard collection

A new album released in November, “Dearest Home,” recreates traditional American music from the U.S. Civil War era with three songs from the unpublished Samuel Bayard Folk Song Collection in the Penn State University Archives, the University Libraries, and a pair of tunes from Bayard’s book “Dance to the Fiddle, March to the Fife.”

group posing in civial war period garb

Members of Dearest Home are, left to right, Chris Barnabei, Charles Thompson, Margaret Folkemer, Stephen Folkemer, Beth Folkemer and Chuck Krepley.
Photo: Dearest Home

Beth Folkemer spent many hours researching and listening to the Samuel Bayard folk music collection prior to working with a team of musicians to produce “Dearest Home.” The CD was recorded live at Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church in Gettysburg. The three tunes from the Bayard collection are: “Charming Beauty Bright,” “Fare Y’Well, Sweet Mary” and “Young Edmund in the Lowlands Low”; and were recorded with permission. Copies of the CD will be cataloged and added to University Archives collection. Additional information about the CD and the project is available at dearesthome.com.