Rambles.net -- Tracie Vida

 

Prairieland CD

With its merry tones and fun lyrics, Prairieland is the type of music you expect to hear at a Pioneer Days festival at your local state park or farm petting zoo. Patti Ecker & Friends give a lighthearted performance on this interesting folk collection. What separates Prairieland from the standard pile of children's folk music is her inclusion of Midwestern tunes amongst the Oh, Susanna's and Old Dan Tucker's -- a change people from the region are sure to appreciate. And while children will love her theatrical solo presentation of the standards, adults will appreciate the more serious fare, as well as the surprising depth and sophistication her dramatic voice receives when she has backup singers. Be sure to check out the extensive liner notes for educational resources and interesting facts about the songs' historical origins.

 

Streamwood Examiner - Rich Trzupek

 

 Folk Musician Relives Prairie State history

Music is a unique part of American history, recalling in words and melodies not only the events and characters of our past, but the emotions that define it. Folk musician Patti Ecker embraces both the art and the memories in her work. She visited Streamwood once more during Summer Celebration weekend, entertaining an intimate crowd in the Hoosier Grove Museum and showing off her latest CD, “Prairieland”.

“Prairieland” is a collection of folk songs with special meaning to Illinois, a labor of local love she’s been working on for over a decade. “I had been volunteering at the Grove National Historic Landmark in Glenview,” Ecker recalled. “I was programming field trips and doing research and I thought, wouldn’t it be great to put the music and the history together?” She found help in the form of her husband, Don Sherman. Don, a descendant of Declaration of Independence and Constitution signer Roger Sherman, is a fellow history buff who maintains an extensive personal library as well. Together, the couple rediscovered the rich, uniquely-American treasury of folk songs heard on the prairie in the 19th century.

Not only do each of those songs tell a story, a given tune may tell a number of slightly different stories. The living nature of folk music is a part of the art that Ecker adores. “That’s what folk music is all about,” she said. “It wasn’t written by one person, but has really evolved over time.”

It’s a process that continues. Patti noted that, during a performance, children will often make their own contributions and help her build a new version of a song. She gave villagers a sampling of the sorts of tunes they could expect on her CD, showing off her skill on a variety of instruments, including the guitar, banjo, spoons and Bodhran (Irish Drum). Patti’s sense of style and humor is part of the entertainment too. She’ll drop her voice down low to emphasize a particularly despicable character in a ballad, or she might make an awful pun at just the right time. As she picked up the Bodhran, she deadpanned: “The drum head is made of goatskin, which is too baaaad for the goat.”

Every song is accompanied by a brief, intriguing history lesson; just enough to whet the appetite of those who enjoy it as much as she. Patti recalled the days in the 1850’s when Mayor William Ogden was making Chicago the rail hub of the nation. Then she launched into a rollicking, acoustic version of the famous anthem to a fictional train: “The Wabash Cannonball”. Ecker melded together the ballad “Railroad Bill” and a mood piece “Freight Train” to paint a picture of trains and trouble in the early days of steel rails. Accompanying herself on the guitar, playing in delta-blues finger style, Ecker creates scenes so vivid that you can feel the sweltering heat, see the smoke and hear hissing steam.

That’s a mere sampling of the tales Patti can tell with her words and her music. Her performances and her CD contain many more. Selections on “Prairieland”, which she describes as a “patchwork quilt of American folk songs” include well-known standards like “Oh, Susanna!”, “Polly Wolly Doodle” and “Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight”, as well as lesser-known gems like “Old Dan Tucker”, “Shuckin’ of the Corn” and “Lincoln and Liberty”. As one would expect from an historical-minded woman, she explains a little of the history of each tune in the album’s liner notes as well.

Patti Ecker is someone who clearly loves her work, but perhaps the best part for the always smiling musician-historian is that there is always something new to find over both the horizon in front of her and the one behind. “A folk musician’s life is like that,” she says happily. “It’s all about the process. It’s always evolving and changing, and that’s what makes it fun.” Learn more about Patti Ecker, folk music and history by visiting Patti’s website: www.pattisongs.com.

 

Daily Herald Beth Sneller

 Notes From The Prairie: Folk Singer Teaches Kids About Music In the 'Olden Days'

Megan Angell is an expert on pioneer life. The 7-year-old Naperville girl can reel off facts about prairies, bonnets and covered wagons faster than most grown-ups. So during folk singer Patti Ecker's "Prairieland" program at Naper Boulevard Library last week, Megan was right at home. She had her hand raised high to answer just about every question. She's gained much of her knowledge, she said, from reading the "Little House on the Prairie" books and visiting Naper Settlement. "I'm just interested in the olden days," she said. "They do things the old-fashioned way, like wash things in a wash tub."

She's not alone, Ecker said. In general, youngsters are fascinated with life in the "olden days." "I think we all want to know where we come from," she said. The Des Plaines woman has made a living for the past 12 years teaching children - and adults - how to play instruments like the banjo, mandolin and spoons. The kids at last week's performances - which were presented as part of Naperville Public Library's summer reading program - were fascinated by the sounds Ecker could elicit out of the unusual-looking instruments.

In one song, called "Old Dan Tucker," she used a pioneer toy called a limberjack to drum against a board for a staccato, lively beat. "This song is one everyone would know as they were crossing the wide prairie," she told her young listeners, who were rapt with attention.

Ecker said she loves teaching children about their history and exposing them to music from before the Industrial Revolution and the advent of technology. "It's a great story - the story of America," she said. Copyright © Daily Herald, Paddock Publications, Inc.

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Small Potatoes with special guest Patti Ecker

Fargo Venue, 641 E. Lincoln Hwy (Rt 38), DeKalb, IL

SMALL POTATOES is playing a real LIVE, in the flesh, CONCERT this SATURDAY, SEPT 3rd, in DeKALB IL at the "FARGO VENUE", 641 E. Lincoln Hwy (Rt 38), starting at 7:00pm. This is the very first of the “1st SAT. CONCERTS” put together by Dave DK Kolar. We are sharing the evening with our dear friend PATTI ECKER (the other person in the picture who is not Jacquie or Rich). This will be a sort of adventure for all of us since 641 E. is actually a Skateboard Shop with a very cool Skateboard Park right behind. But fear not, just to the RIGHT of that (645?) is a big, lovely room with a gorgeous blue floor that really wants to be filled with friends and music. So come on out to DeKalb on Saturday and ... LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL!

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