The Lomax On Lomax Show
My solo, acapella LOMAX ON LOMAX SHOW tells the story of a remarkable family. Four generations of Lomaxes have been finding, recording, promoting, preserving, and presenting unique American music for 140 years! I sing some of the best known of the cowboy songs John Avery Lomax discovered as well as selections by my father, John Avery Lomax Jr., “The Dean of Texas Folk Singers”, uncle Alan and aunt, Bess Lomax Hawes. I talk about the songs, the circumstances of their discovery and I mention the work of some of the lesser known Lomaxes -- together, the family has produced fifty-two books, dating from John Avery Lomax’s 1910 COWBOY SONGS & OTHER FRONTIER BALLADS to Alan’s daughter, Anna Lomax Wood’s SONGS OF EARTH, published in June, 2021. Additionally, family members have published hundreds of magazine articles in the U.S., Europe, Japan and Australia.
There is no single source to easily see the collective achievements for 4 generations of Lomaxes, another reason why I have launched this new endeavor. Collectively, the family has been involved in the creation of hundreds of record albums from 1941 to the present.
The LOMAX ON LOMAX SHOW aims to add another chapter to this remarkable American story!
Lastly, can you name another person cheeky enough to begin an artist career at age 78?
For further information and exploration:
https://www.culturalequity.org/
https://theglobaljukebox.org/
and Roger McGuinn’s amazing FOLK DEN Project:
https://www.ibiblio.org/jimmy/folkden
John Avery Lomax & His Legacy
My grandfather, John Avery Lomax and his younger son Alan together made over 17,000 field recordings of American songs, stories, church services, narratives, and children’s play-party games. These recordings became the basis of the American Folk Song Archive at the Library of Congress. John and Alan were the first curators. Many of these expressions made by ordinary Americans would have been lost forever were it not for this one family’s tireless efforts in cultural preservation. Three of John Avery’s children, five grandchildren and one (so far) of his great-grandchildren have extended his legacy with their own significant contributions.
All of this began with one man’s fascination with the songs he heard cowboys sing near the Lomax farm in the great 1880s cattle drives. The Lomax On Lomax Show presents songs from over 200 years of our nation’s musical heritage.
I sincerely hope you will enjoy the experience!