Ed Trickett

I have been collecting and performing folk songs for over 45 years. My early musical influences were Frank Proffitt, Larry Older, Bob and Evelyn Beers, George and Gerry Armstrong, and Howie Mitchell. Later I learned from and sang woth a number of other musicians whose commitment and talent were extraordinary: Gordon Bok, Bob Coltman, Cathy Barton and Ann Mayo Muir. Each taught me that it’s the song, not the singer, that’s important. Over the years I’ve performed hundreds of concerts in coffee houses, colleges, folk music festivals and varied other occasions in the United States, Canada, and the British Isles. I have also had the opportunity of appearing on several wonderful radio programs across the country, including Garrison Keilor’s A Prairie Home Companion (St. Paul, MN) and Rich Warren’s (formerly Stud Terkel’s) Midnight Special on WFMT in Chicago.

I’ve learned hundreds of songs, and probably have forgotten as many as I now know. My repertoire ranges from traditional ballads to songs of the sea, labor songs, songs of love, and parodies. I am not a song writer. I am a song finder and a song crafter. I gravitate toward beautiful melodies and good stories. While I primarily play 6 and 12 string guitar, I also play the hammered dulcimer, which I use primarily as an accompanying instrument, and occasionally the piano. Singing with the hammered dulcimer is a little like rubbing your stomach and patting your head while singing. My recording efforts began in 1964 with the Golden Ring (Folk Legacy #16), a loose collection of friends who used to gather in the living room of George and Gerry Armstrong in Wilmette, Illinois. I’ve been part of four other ensemble recordings since then, all with Folk Legacy Records of Sharon, CT. I’ve also recorded four solo albums, beginning with The Telling Takes Me Home (Folk Legacy), with the most recent being Echo on the Evening Tide (Azalia City Recordings). In addition, for 26 years I sang with Gordon Bok and Ann Mayo Muir throughout the United States, Canada and the British Isles, and out of which came ten CDs. I’ve also had the privilege of accompanying a number of wonderful musicians on their recordings, incuding Don McLean, Rosalie Sorrels, Mark Spoelstra, Sara Grey, Sally Rogers, Cathy Barton and Dave Para, Joe Hickerson, Joan Sprung, Helen Schneyer, Bob Zentz and Harry Tuft.

My greatest musical disappointment was going to Woodstock in 1969 with Dave Bromberg and Rosalie Sorrels, getting flown to the site by helicopter at dawn and seeing all those people, but, in the final analysis, not getting to play on what admittedly was one of the more minor stages.