A Guide to Folk Music Online
Hugh Blumenfeld, Editor

The Ballad Tree collects two years worth of my online journalism and web research on folk music for About.com, from September 1999 to September 2001. As a paid independent contractor for About, I was able to amass a huge amount of information about online folk resources. Now, as a volunteer, I offer the fruits of that work to those who continue to have a use for it. Obviously I will have less time for mining the internet and accepting new listings, but I welcome new links and will add them as I can. I would also appreciate any tips on dead links or updates which will keep this database useful. Because of time limitations, I am no longer reviewing CDs online or uploading MP3s for the online magazine Fenario.

The name Ballad Tree comes from a tree and a tradition at the Kerrville Folk Festival. On a small rise called Chapel Hill stands an old live oak called the Ballad Tree. There, for a couple of hours every afternoon during the festival, far from the stage and the madding crowds of the campsites, songwriters can come to share a song with an appreciative audience.It's a kind of mic-less open mic under the open Texas sky. It is a very quiet, very respectful forum for The Song. Though not copyrighted or trademarked by Rod Kennedy or the Kerrville Folk Festival, the name is used here with their blessing. Thanks, Rod.

This material and its contents are © 1999-2005 by Hugh Blumenfeld. All material not created by me is used by permission and is covered by the same copyright protections.

Thanks to Tom and Don Shorock for hosting this site gratis on their server since 2002.