The public is invited to bring a blanket or lawn chair to enjoy Songs of Old New Hampshire, a program of ballads, love songs and comic pieces by well-known singer and folklorist Jeff Warner, on Thursday, June 15 at 6:30 pm in the garden of the historic Colonel Paul Wentworth House on Water Street in Rollinsford, NH. Funded by a grant from New Hampshire Humanities, this program is free and open to the public, and no pre-registration is required. 

Drawing heavily on the repertoire of traditional singer Lena Bourne Fish (1873-1945) of Jaffrey and Temple, New Hampshire, Jeff will present songs and stories that reveal the experiences and emotions of daily life in the days before movies, sound recordings and, for some, books. Songs from the lumber camps, the decks of sailing ships, the textile mills, and the war between the sexes offer views of pre-industrial New England and a chance to hear living artifacts from the 18th and 19th centuries. Jeff accompanies his songs on concertina, banjo, guitar, and several pocket instruments, such as bones and spoons. A Folklorist and Community Scholar for the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts, a former State Arts Council Fellow, and a founder of the Portsmouth Maritime Folk Festival, Jeff has toured nationally for the Smithsonian Institution and has recorded for Flying Fish, Rounder Records and other labels.  

The circa 1701 Wentworth House is maintained by the Association for Rollinsford Culture and History (ARCH). Current and prospective ARCH members are invited to attend the ARCH Annual Meeting immediately before Jeff’s program at 6:15 pm. For more information about other programs at the Wentworth House, check the ARCH website at www.paulwentworthhouse.org. In case of inclement weather, the program will be moved indoors. 

Folklorist Jeff Warner

New Hampshire Humanities nurtures the joy of learning and inspires community engagement by bringing life-enhancing ideas from the humanities to the people of New Hampshire. Learn more at www.nhhumanities.org.