Weekend on Minnesota Public Radio Dan Olson in the Twin Cities sitting in for Bob Potter just a bit of weather information by way of the Minnesota weather summary from the National Weather Service a cold high pressure area over Minnesota is giving Fair skies and cool temperatures to the state today highs will struggle to reach 6 to 12 above in the north to around 18 in southern Minnesota guys will remain mostly clear tonight. Weekend is made possible by economics laboratory Incorporated manufacturing products and services for household institutional and Industrial Cleaning worldwide. This is Minnesota Public Radio a listener-supported service. This is the news and information service at Minnesota Public Radio. Ksjn. 1330 Minneapolis-Saint Paul. Time is 12. Good afternoon. Welcome back to weekend weekend will be somewhat abbreviated for listeners to most of our Minnesota Public Radio FM stations at 12:30. It's the Metropolitan Opera Live from Lincoln Center in New York and the weekend will continue for our listeners to ksjn 1330 in the Twin Cities until 1 this afternoon. Well, we're pleased to have with us the members of the buttermilk Hill String Band Rachel Nelson along with Paula Brandis and Liz Olson group that I first heard on the Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis. And if there is a theme for the next few minutes, it is the theme of songs and stories for the holiday season something to try to get you into the mood. If you aren't already for the holiday season, maybe take us away from some of the news of the day as well. We have a couple of telephone numbers in the Twin Cities that will be giving out in just a few minutes telephone numbers that you can call to either ask questions of the group The buttermilk Hill String Band group based in Saint Paul. You can make your own the comments about the holiday season any particular Traditions, you may have any songs. You may have that you think the band might know That's why we're here for the next 2 hours to hear from you. But also to hear from the buttermilk Hill String Band. Would you come with me? I wish I wish I wish I had changed nickel won't YouTube. Going across the sea the buttermilk kill String Band that of course is what most of our ancestors had to do to get here with their various holiday traditions that they brought with them the buttermilk kill String Band a group that is based in Saint Paul and his part of the eklektik company, which is somewhat profit-making but probably just profit-making enough to support the members of the group that probably mainly nonprofit right Paula Brandis. Nonprofit traditional Arts Corporation feeling the same pains and struggles of all small Arts group and standage brandes On guitar. At least one of her instruments for the buttermilk Hill String Band. And as I mentioned I first saw them on the Nicollet Mall this past August in Downtown Minneapolis. You have been Street musicians probably will be Street musicians. Again Rachel Nelson, and now just picking up the an instrument that looks somewhat like a mandolin and although it looks like shapes inside shapes and sizes Liz olds on the banjo, but she still has and has just reached tuned banjo banjo picker stand over here and retune and breaks Rings all the time. Well, we have heard that you have a set holiday package, but we're not going to stand by and on a too much of that packet. But we do want to give you a chance to give some of your holiday songs and stories. We are reminded our listeners that would give him a chance to call in and week about this telephone numbers right now. If you want to call with the comments about the holiday tradition, you are celebrating or with some suggestions for music. They will take a stab at playing in the Twin Cities. We are at 2276 thousand that's to 276 thousand in the Twin Cities listeners outside the Twin Cities area at living with in Minnesota can call us free. No charge if you call one 800-652-9700 that free number again is one 800-652-9700. Well, what do you want to do now? I think we should do we should start the holiday Spirits here with her with an old shake or him that we discovered several years ago, and we were doing research for this program. It's called welcome here and maybe when we're finished Rachel tell you all about shakers very unique group of people. Welcome, welcome welcome. I got it. Welcome welcome. Well, I love the Shaker hymns. They seem to be. One of the most important legacies that the Shakers the American shakers have left us along with their furniture and some of their craft. I find the humans Universe on application. They had a sort of a little catch word vocabulary a very simple words like little low simple light and they had I'm sure a religious meaning for the Shakers but they also have a universal meeting so that a lot of these songs Can Be Sung and enjoyed by everyone group that is not thriving right at the moment. I understand. It's Getting Thinner and thinner Act of the Shakers are celibate. And so the only way to augment their numbers is my conversion and there are a very few left. There's a beautiful record that come out on Round Here recently of a Shaker sister and some friends singing Shaker hymns and she just has an encyclopedic store of these songs learned them ever since she was a little girl. What song is that? How you pick up some of your material by going to those records and probably obscure Publications pieces of French music is an excellent Fiddler and goes to a lot of contests and picks up a lot of her Tunes there and long behold we find words to them later later. There's on the line with the questions and comments. And so before we get to the next number and next set of stories about the holiday season will put on the headsets and we'll take the first call a good afternoon. We're listening. Okay now it's good afternoon. Once again, we're listening. I think they're wonderful in this morning. I'm chopping Citron and candied orange peel for cookies. And their Temple is exactly right and I just alright. Well, we'll try to keep that Tempo going so you don't fall behind in Your Heart by thanks very much for the comment. Well, the temple is very important. Of course anything else you want to pull out of your holiday sack of tunes here to to give us another illustration of what it is you do and we should make clear that one thing you do have chorus part of your business is that you go to schools you go to libraries you go before other groups anyone who wants to hear from the buttermilk Hill String Band and with instrumentals and stories. So that's what you do. Will Paula brandes. What's next? What's next? You're not today is the first day of Hanukkah and we have some Hebrew folk songs that we would like to do in honor of Hanukkah is soon as Rachel gives us our starting know what I'm going to do around for you here. Shalom shabbat shalom shabbat shalom song shabbat shalom song Nice nice Harmony nice to hear add without instruments. You do travel around and schools. I have been told are an important audience for you. Why don't you tell us something about that business and what you do now that business. Well, it has been a dream of The Eclectic company to to play schools. We figure that the schools are the Arts consumers. The children in schools are the Arts consumers of tomorrow and that sucks. It's very important to us. It's part of our philosophy and it's very difficult to break into the school quote Market is very very very difficult because there are lots of programs out there. And I would like to take this opportunity to thank a a woman who really got us started. Her name is Marcy Herman. She lives in St. Louis Park and she heard us playing in it at a soccer game. 119 St. Louis Park and she said, oh, you're very good. I'll I'll call you and we've heard that you know, 50 times didn't really pay too much attention to it and she called us a week later with 38 schools. And that was the start of it. That was in 1977. That's what I called business. And you have much more of course than just songs and stories for the holidays. The Upper Midwest region songs and stories about the see about rivers You Name It We have a I have a lot of songs about a lot of different topics. We also do a lot of workshops in the school storytelling instrument building, etc. Etc. And looks like Rachel wants to really say something and this is a good lead into I asked my grandmother last night to tell me what her Christmas traditions were and this is a song that I found in her piano bench music was always a big part of my grandma's life learned off the sheet music. I found her piano bench and it's one of her favorites that's in Irving Berlin tune. I was born in Michigan and I wish and wishing I was in the town where I was born and I'd like to fish again. Here the reason why. I want to go back go back go back to the phone. Wake me up at 4. You can keep your cat away where they turn lights in today is about to be where we go to bed. Then you gone for 7 with Country Life. My thoughts are far away. That's just what? I want to go back to go back to go back to the boat back in the wake me up at 4 a.m. nevertheless Oh well send that one right on its way to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan for listeners to wglr are there in tuning in? I'm sure we're listening to the members of the buttermilk Hills String Band from Saint Paul. It was Rachel Nelson there who is taking us to that Irving Berlin song a piece of sheet music that Rachel found in her grandmother's piano bench the tradition of Rachel Nelson his grandmother for the holiday season, Paula brandes on guitar and Liz olds there on the mandolin for that production. This is weekend on Minnesota Public Radio and abbreviated version for our FM Network listeners for most of our NPR network stations because in about 13 minutes will be going to the Metropolitan Opera Live From New York City for many of our FM Network listeners weekend will continue with buttermilk Hill String Band in the Twin Cities on ksjn 1330 while we have some folks on the Telephone who been listening and probably have some things. I'd like to say to us. Why don't we go to the next person? Good afternoon raw listening. Go ahead with your question if you have one. I will take the next one and see if there's somebody there. Good afternoon. We're listening for your question. Okay. Well, we'll still give it a try I'll bet. I'm rolling home. That one across the sea. rolling home I don't know the words, but I know something about the ships in the riggin, but the the chorus is nice. Hi my music and I don't know anymore. China cars one more time Not bad not bad at all for you bet. It's always a dangerous game taking these listener request across the telephone wires, but we're doing some of that this afternoon with the buttermilk kill String Band. We have another person on the line who may care to share with us an observation about the holidays or perhaps make a request to the band good afternoon. We're listening my question concerned the kind of the international character of some of the songs. The Hebrew son was kind of interesting and I just wondered if anybody had a translation of the lyrics. Oh, yes. It means farewell good friends farewell good friends farewell farewell till we meet again till we meet again farewell tour. Were there any on I guess I am just enjoying it and I enjoy shaking music to. We think some of the church and it's kind of fun. Songs from different Christian traditions and the one in the middle is actually I thought it was a Christian him but it was actually written by a woman and done fairly often by people like Pete Seeger and John McCutcheon. So there's two Shaker hymns in here and a written song and a couple of Christian hymns the Shaker hymns are the first two Tis a gift to be simple tis a gift to be free to give to calm down where we ought to be when we find ourselves. True Simplicity is gained through by 1 to bed. We will. I will be ready week. Love will make our spirit grow. Love you and nothing. That's right. I hear the real Rock on. It's so how can I keep from singing? And all the darkness rugby fall songs in the night. How can I keep from singing Tyrant rules to hear that? When friends rejoiceful far and how can I keep from singing? How can I keep from singing? Above the Rim How can I keep from singing as well as well as well as well? Close close harmony in a round of of hymns and other Melodies and that's the buttermilk Hills String Band. No strings there though. Just the vocal cords. Does the vocal cords inside? We're up to 26 and 1/2 minutes past 12. This is weekend on Minnesota Public Radio. We have a caller on our toll-free number I think and I don't want to lose that person because pretty soon or FM stations are going to slip away from us here. Let's let's take this call her and and a bit good afternoon. We're listening for your question music and wondering if the group could play a pre-holiday song in Norman Blake song of Hilda November. I wonder if they know that we'll invite Norman Norman and and he'll be able to take care of that a future weekend program. We do have a couple of minutes actually just just over a minute before we have to bid goodbye to some of our listeners. Anything that short you want to throw at us for either the holiday season or pre-holiday Seasons at color suggestions. Festival of Lights And since Rachel is Scandinavian. She gets to do it. now live 1000 Christmas lights on darker than YouTube now Christmas Christmas lullabies on YouTube 1002 Oh those lucky swedes. They do have some nice songs. Don't say well, we know Rachel Nelson's Origins now will get to the origins of the other members of the buttermilk Hill String Band for some of you we bid you. Goodbye in just a few seconds will send you off with the Minnesota weather summary, which explains why we're going to be a bit cool today a cold high pressure area over Minnesota is giving Fair skies and cool temperatures to the state today highs will reach 26212 above in the northern part of Minnesota to around 18 above in the South Sky will remain mostly clear tonight with lows from 12 below in the north to five above in the South weekend will continue for our Twin Cities area listeners on ksjn 1330 on the am band in Minneapolis. And st. Paul reminder that this is Minnesota Public Radio a listener-supported service. And so now we have with us the listeners to ksjn m1330 and we bid you good afternoon. We're listening to the buttermilk Hill String Band group from Saint Paul the theme songs and stories of the holiday season and we have a 1 caller on the line right now will give a few others of you a chance to call in in the Twin Cities. If you have a comment about the holiday season or suggestion for a holiday song to 276 thousand to 276 thousand is the Twin Cities area number Liz old Paula Brandis and Rachel Nelson here in Studio One in St. Paul warmer than it's ever been in Studio One with all of them songs instruments ready to go. I suspect you have something something next to us from Poland is very very cold. This is a song it's it's a international and its flavor meaning it applies to every mother and every child and it is a winter lullaby and I don't know what the name of it is because I learned it from someone that's the joy of traditional music you can learn a song and think, you know the name and you don't we just call this the Polish lullaby. sleeping baby Can you please? raisins The No Name polish. Lullaby very pretty tune, very pretty to and while we have collars on the line right now. So let's let's take a few of the questions from callers. Good afternoon. We're listening. Go ahead, please you're on the air. Well, we're not getting it over the headsets just yet. There were just just getting to one right now. Good afternoon. We're listening now. Good number one. Thank you so much for the song about Michigan is filled with a lot of very lovely people who did move years ago from Michigan to Minnesota. And of course you do have a warm spot in your heart for Michigan. One of the question. Is this being broadcast up in Houghton, Michigan right now. No, unfortunately, it was just a few minutes ago though, and I wanted to have your thing just something for him. But I guess we're too late. Well, unless of course we sing something for they sing something something for him. Anyway, and you just call him later and tell him what happened and that's that possible called me this morning. He and I are very close in age and he called to tell me how much snow they had and how cold it was. How much snow do they have? Cold like we are they do get snow much more than we do. Well, they sure do they got me. So it was real healthy weather, but your program is just delightful. Well nice to hear from you. Good. You're welcome. And thanks for calling glad to hear from people who appreciate songs about Michigan. That was nice. But we have some other callers will ask him to stand by patiently here for just a couple of minutes because instruments are ready and I suspect you have something else for us. We have a traditional Welsh tune. A lot of people don't know. This is Welsh but it is in about Holly and lots of reasons why people hang Holly in their Halls many of them are very Pagan in origin. A reason that I found another reason that I found us because it's so Bleak and cold and dismal around the time of the solstice that people want to hang things up in their house that remind them of spring and Holly is is a beautiful beautiful piece of vegetation green and red. And if you feel like singing along and we make this is right for and for us because we we usually we're usually into the audience participation and we don't seem to have an audience here. So we're just pretending that you're out there chopping up stuff for Christmas cookies and the engineer and the right on the phones that I was on her deck the halls with boughs of holly. passed away. Just hear the town singing place was just jumping. That's a good one for the listeners at home. And we have some listeners on the phone as a matter of fact, so we'll get to the next one right now. Good afternoon the buttermilk Hill String Band. Oh, thank you. I just want to say how much I'm enjoying the program today and how much I enjoy it every week. I'm sitting home today trying to finish up some last-minute embroidery project. When are you and I'm doing a wall hanging right now who's going to go to well, wait a minute. Wait a minute. We better not talk about that. What kind of a wall hanging? Sounds very complicated. My question was about the mentioned they made of a Shaker hymn record. It's a round or recording and if you went to a record store and ask I think it's called American Shaker humans or something of the sort and it's on rounder records and its sister Mildred. Her last name is Barker Baker something and a few other sisters and brothers of one of the remaining shakers. There are very few. Tremaine all right. Well, I think that's a good suggestion couple of the collars on the line will ask him to stand by for just a moment as we go to the next one music for embroidery music for almost anything else like to talk a little bit about what my grandmother was telling me her Christmas traditions kind of to invite the collars to share theirs with us. So it sort of in lieu of a song this time. I sat down with my grandma and she was telling me what she did at the farm near Cambridge where she grew up she had to six brothers and one sister with large family and they they had sort of A Gathering Room, which was the kitchen and and everything else would had like a 12 foot long table with oil cloth, and she said kids could be playing on one end and Dad could be figuring out what to do the next day on the other end. So forth and she said on Christmas Eve are they had a special meal a traditional meal that they always ate. The first thing they ate was rice mush. It's not the same as rice pudding her mother cook the rice up and then put in a lot of flour and milk, I guess until it got the consistency sort of of a thin pudding I think and then they dish it out and she said we make a little well in our mush and butter and cinnamon and brown sugar in there and it was really good. And if there was any left over Munch then next day or Mom would cut it up and fry it then they had that I have to understand my grandmother grew up speaking Swedish and English so she's a true sweet, but she said then we had Luke fish Luke fish. My mother made a wonderful hard text. That would be my great grandma delicious and she said we must have had dessert but it's slipped her mind with that dessert was a main meal was so exciting and she said, Our father always told us we had to clean your plate before we went into the Christmas tree and then she told about how when they went to the Christmas tree. They had candles Movie 3 and 1/2 4 inches high on little clips and it would light the candles and very carefully clip them on to the tree so that there was a tree with actual candles on it. She said it was a tradition they did every year and chords very carefully because the fire hazard was enormously didn't bring them too long. But but it was so beautiful and then she said we always said our tree so that it was a little ways away from the wall so we can go all the way around it and her father had this song that they always had to sing every year and she couldn't quite remember the tune. But the words were something like merrily around the Christmas tree so merrily and gay and you know, Merry Merry Christmas tree and indeed All Join hands and makes her like a ring around the rosie around the Christmas tree and sing it and when they did that and they could open the present. She said one gift the kid cuz there were so many She also say that the youngest kid didn't get a present because he was saying he was quite quite a bit younger than what day is Saint Nicholas Day. Best of me has what 1/4 Dutch. So I do have this tradition of putting the shoes outside the door when you go to bed done on December 5th, and if you've been good, there's candy on your shoes in the morning to spend bad not so good not telling my secret but it's it's a nice tradition of very old tradition that necklace Was a Very Odd Fellow it may it may be some improvement over the cut up fried rice mush Swedish people no offense Rachel, but they seem to really like white food on the white sauce on the white fish with the potatoes and white rice. My grandma to main spices are salt and pepper. Well, we have some callers on the line. Maybe the story about the fried rice mush and the shoes outside the door did spark someone so we'll take the next call it good afternoon. We're listening Irish, Carol or maybe a Scottish Carol if the Irish Carol won't won't fly. I don't know the song but there is an Irish Carol about the the playlist Irish about the Cutty Wren. Am I wrong? Correct me if I'm wrong. I'm wrong there a lot of a solstice associations with friends around two people if they liked it there give you money. You dress it up make it pretty house this again. The Wren little boys would take runs and probably shoot them or throw stones as normally they would try not to shoot her in when you take that it started like trick or treating you would take your run in a box from door-to-door and and get the coins are gifts was a tradition. I presume in Ireland. I'm not quite sure how well it's an unusual. It is unusual tradition for the holiday season. I suppose that's kind of a Hallmark of some of the Traditions is that we tend to think of them is nice warm fuzzy traditions and some of them are a little strange. Quite right. Well Rachel Nelson has just pulled out a different fit all of which I can only imagine means that something new is cooking and we're just getting the yeah. Just getting the tuning taken care of now. Was too and even differently. I don't know why you wanted us to play Cold Frosty morning Liz. I can't imagine because it is. the medley okay medley of tunes Well, we better give those strings a chance to cool off after that one the buttermilk Hill String Band with a medley of tunes there at 12 minutes before 1. This is weekend Dan Olson in the Twin Cities and we're talking with the buttermilk kill String Band listening to their music as well have a caller on the line and we'll get to that person right now. Good afternoon your on the Aaron we're listening, but I thought I'd just call and correct. The little mistake was made earlier in the Hebrew song because the pronunciation that use make the meeting very different from what it's supposed to be we better get this straight Shalom Shabbat Rim, which is not correct the correct name and it starts with the same sound as the what is the difference in words. Soto Salon Moore farewell broken ones, but the gentleman that just goes to show how fooling around with other people's cultures can can lead to trouble. What's the difference? What's the translation was? It's the ORS that move us through the water at Subway. Is there a song about canoeing and if he said C'est La Vie en raw that means it's the oars if you say it say la vie on it means it's the airplane. Yeah, we are eternally grateful to correction Corrections are welcome for a bit more music. But before we get to the musica folks who are listening and want to know more or hear more of the buttermilk Hill String Band. You're going to be if I remember correctly in Hopkins this afternoon's going to be presenting holiday traditions songs and stories at 2:30 at the Hopkins Hennepin County Library at 2:30, and I'm trying to remember I've driven by that library that I can't remember for the life of me where it is downtown Hopkins. I believe it's on 11th Street. I think one block or two blocks off at Main little small that they have it. If you'd like to catch the entire band. We are performing at the coffeehouse extemporary on January 16th Sunday at 8 p.m. Sunday in the evening at 8. Noon at 2:30 that have been County Library in beautiful downtown Hopkins the is at the strawberry or raspberry capital of the of the Twin Cities area Strawberry Festival Hopkins City father mother will certainly call in with the correction there. Well, what are we doing? What are you tune to do now? Send Leather Britches. All right, we all this is celebrating the party traditions around the holidays. Buttermilk Hill String Band at 5 minutes before 1 this is weekend into the closing moments of weekend and give the band members a chance to regroup here and and get together their final number for this edition of weekend on this December 11th, Saturday 1982 songs and stories for the holiday season. Hope you will have a holiday wherever you may be over the holidays. This is Dan Olson in the Twin Cities sitting in for Bob Potter who I believe will be back with you next week if the legislature allows him to escape and forestalling any further special sessions. I think Bob indeed will be back with you next week. Well, we've got just a couple of minutes and then die. Alright, alright, that's fair enough. comes then begin the song song call songs We thank you very much season's greetings. Happy holidays. I've been listening to Rachel Nelson mainly on violin, although with some woman Sun mandolin as well Paula brandes on guitar Liz olds on Banjo mainly with a couple of a couple of sessions on guitar members of the buttermilk Hill String Band will be at the Hennepin County Library this afternoon at 2:30 in downtown Hopkins in at the coffee house XM parade, January 16th at 8 in the evening. Buttermilk Hill String Band a component part of the eklektik company based in st. Paul with much more than just the String Band or other things going on with your blanket company. Thanks for coming in and taking care of the microphones in the board operation. And thanks to Dorothy Hanford for taking care of the telephones and also thanks to read Olsen have a bit of weather information to pass along to our Twin Cities area listeners. First of all, Temperature 12 degrees in the Twin Cities are clear sky relative humidity 46% West Wind at 9 miles per hour the barometer at 30.42 in and falling and the wind has picked up a bit, which is contributing to the cool temperature.