Old Salem in Ballad and Song with Bob and Jen Strom

Robert Strom, a local historian, author, and folk singer, will bring to you songs and ballads that reflect Salem’s diverse musical heritage. Each song, with roots in Salem, gives a hint of Salem’s past and its influence in helping to shape America, both economically and socially, while many sea songs reflect Salem’s rich maritime history and its relationship to the sea. Bob will use primary sourced documents such as Salem broadsides and ballads, vintage photographs, Seamen’s journals, and newspaper clippings that give a historical perspective of each song, with a live performance of selected numbers with his wife and musical partner, Jennifer.   The program will begin with the song, “I Come From Salem City,” written in 1848 and first sung as merchant and philanthropist John Bertram’s ship The Eliza leaves Derby Wharf on its way to San Francisco for the gold rush. We will discuss Salem Sea Captain Edward B. Trumbull and his contribution of sea shanties and ballads to James M. Carpenter’s Harvard thesis, Forecastle Songs and Chanteys, which he published in 1929. We will study the “Broadside Ballad, The Salem Tragedy,” a shocking tragedy that occurred in Salem Harbor on Thursday, the 17th day of June, 1773 and touch on musician Henry O. Upton and his composition Pyncheon Lane Caprice part, of The House of the Seven Gables Series.   > Click here to register <   ABOUT THE PRESENTER Bob Strom, a local folk musician, developed a love for the local history of Salem, his adopted city. This interest led to a further passion for exploring Salem’s rich musical heritage and with that passion, he created a two-volume music collection titled Old Salem in Ballad and Song and Old Salem at Sea in Ballad and Song. Bob’s newest project is a sea music collection, called The Unique Book of Songs of the Sea, which documents variations of sea songs and sea shanties culled from newspaper. Bob is an avid gardener and lover of the outdoors and nature. He and his wife Jennifer have recorded two CDs of folk music from Ireland, England, and America called ‘round the Bend and Heading Home. bobandjenstrom.com