From the KSPS PBS studios It’s Inland Sessions.

[I drove these earth boun wheels on a south bound high Traveling folksinger Hank Cramer found his way into the KSPS PBS studios.

From sea shanties to cowboy songs.

[A-jangling, for ol’ Santa To Celtic ballads to original folk tunes [From Galway to Dublin tow There's nothing this trav troubadour doesn't cove [...the renegades] Well hi, my name is Hank Cramer.

I'm a traveling folk sin from a little town call Winthrop, Washington.

I love all kinds of folk m That's the songs, the mu that common everyday peo make for themselves.

And, I love all kinds of, folk music.

I love, Celtic ballads I like sea shanties.

I worked on the Tall Shi I like Cowboys song.

I've done some wrangling and I write some songs So, KSPS has very kindly invited me here to, perform today and I'll do a little bit o those things I mentione I'll start out with the cowboy song, very old one called the Santa Fe Trail.

And, in it a cowboy is describing in a song the prettiest young lad he's ever seen in his li That's a great topic for love songs, by the w And, if you think cowboy are ignorant and illiterat there's great poetry in here.

Listen for it Hey friend, have you sighted a schooner Alongside the Santa Fe Trail?

It may get here Monday or sooner, Had a water keg tied to its tail There was Ma and Pa on the mule-seat, And somewheres along along on the way Road chestnut haired gal on her pinto Just a-jangling for old Santa Fe, Yo-ho!

Yo-ho!

Just a-jangling for old Santa Fe That’s your part.

You can s that at home if you’d lik Yo-ho!

Just a-jangling for old Santa Fe Well, I seen her ride down the arroyo and crossed on the Arkansas sand, She had a smile like an acre of sunflowers And a quirt in her pretty brown hand She mounted her pony so airy And she rode like she carried the mail, And her eyes set fire to the prairie Alongside the Santa Fe Trail Yo-ho!

Alongside the Santa Fe Trail I want knew gal on the border I'd ride to El Paso to sig And I danced in some high-steppin’ order, I've sometimes kissed some girls goodnight; Good lord, they're all ruffles and pigtails And they drink sweeten tea by the pail Well, I ain’t used to tha kind of stampeding Alongside the Santa Fe Trail, Yo-ho!

Alongside the Santa Fe Trail Don't forget, you're supp to sing that at home.

Well, I don't know her name on the prairie When you're hunting one girl it’s so wide, And it's shorter from hell to the hilar Than it is on this Santa Fe ride But I reached the crossing by sundown Where a camp can be made in the swale, And I find that gal on her pinto Alongside the Santa Fe Trail Yo-ho!

Alongside the Santa Fe Trail That chestnut haired gal on her pinto Alongside the Santa Fe Trail Being a folk singer has opened up a lot of doors for me in life.

You could say that, good folk singers welcome wherever he wants to go.

But when I was young, when I was a teenager, I learned to sail a little single masted slo I got pretty good at it.

Later on, I began to sing sea shanties.

The working songs from the days of sail, they say, from the days o Wooden Ships and Iron Men They were working song to keep people on time Well, I got invited to go on a square rigged tall s and, not only sail, but, sing the work songs to get the job done.

That could be hoisting the anchor, hauling away on the halyar pumping the ship.

Lot of different kinds of a work.

Got to go to, ah, Baltimore, Maryland, one of those sailing capitals of the East Coas and, was a very popula shanty back there called Johnny Come Down to Hilo.

They've been singing it there for about 200 years It's one of my favorite Goes like this...

I met a girl in Baltimo I kissed her twice, come back for more Johnny come down to Hilo Poor old man That gal, she sure looked good to me because I have been six months out to sea Johnny come down to Hilo Poor old man I'll wake her I shake her I’ll wake that gal wit the blue dress on Johnny come down Hilo Poor old man I waltz her up I waltz her down, I waltz round and round the tow Johnny come down Hilo Poor old man There ain't but one thing grieves my mind To leave that Fells Point girl behind Johnny come down Hilo Poor old man I’ll wake her I’ll shake her I’ll wake that gal wit the blue dress on Johnny come down to Hilo Poor old man Have you ever made [unclea in Chesapeake Bay?

Loose on the town with three months pay Johnny come down to Hilo Poor old man Have you ever made port in Baltimore?

Will you dance all night on a sandy floor?

Johnny come down to Hilo Poor old man Oh, wake her, I’ll shake her I'll wake that girl with the blue dress on Johnny come down to Hilo Poor old man Have you ever sailed up to Dundee?

Prettiest ships you'll ever see Johnny come down Hilo Poor old man Have you ever dropped hook in Aberdeen?

Prettiest girls I have ever seen Johnny come down to Hilo Poor old man Oh, wake her I’ll shake her, I’ll wake that girl with the blue dress on Johnny come down to Hilo Poor old man Oh, wake her I’ll shake her I’ll wake that girl with the blue dress on Johnny come down to Hilo Poor old man Yip!

And that’s how you'd set sail in the old day A good old sea shanty.

I'm going to do an original song now.

Um.

There's a lot of differen genres within folk music Celtic, cowboys, sea shanti I mentioned those.

A lot of folk singers wr almost all their own mus and they generally get called a singer songwrit Well, I don't call myself t because I sing a lot of s from the public domain and I sing a lot of, song good songwriters that I k but I do write a fair number of songs, and I was asked for this program about share some original music.

So.

So.

This song to me is kind o like The Field of Dreams This is a love song that I wrote some years ago, and I hadn't met my wife yet, but I wrote this love so Then I met Kit.

We've been married for 25 years now which was kind of like Field of Dreams.

If you write it, they'll come or she'll come, I guess.

I drove these earth bou wheels on a southbound hig Seattle, down to Santa I got thinking about you so I sent you a postcard from a truck stop on the way Here's a hug for Rob Here's a kiss for Anni Say hi to the rest of the crew I couldn't think of what to say Besides, have a nice day You know, I kind of like y Hey, I kind of like yo Don't you go thinking thi is some kind of love son I don't write those anymore I got my heart busted by someone I trusted and she gave it back broken and sore And now when love seems near, I steer cle I say I'm just passing through I don't fall in love anymore But I kind of like you Hey, I kinda like you Da da dum da da dum da da da da dum I don't fall in love anymore But I kind of like you Hey, I kind of like yo My friends tell me someda I'll find the right woman I just tell them they're crazy ‘Cause if I ever lay th old heart down again I swear it won't come eas She'd have to be someone who's gentle and kind She'd be a heartful and tr She'd have music in her v She'd have magic in her ey She'd be kind like you She'd be kinda like yo She'd be kinda like yo Exactly like you Exactly like you In the, in the traditional folk songs that I sing, I love Celtic ballads.

I'm mostly of Irish desc with, some Scottish blo mixed in there.

They've given us some great songs over the yea I'm gonna tell you a litt thing about traditional mus I'm gonna tell you a litt thing about traditional mus Sometimes the best traditio songs are 2 or 300 years o And then another wrinkle to that.

Sometimes the melodies have been popular for 2 or 300 years, bu every generation or so people make up a better set of words to match up, um, what they're going throu Well, this is a song call The Star of the County Dow The version I'm going to for you is about 100 years The melody is probably 250 years old.

It shows up in a lot of old Irish songs, but in this song, The Star of the County Dow this young man sees th prettiest girl he's ever seen in his life.

A recurring theme in love so And he's so excited that he asked someone, what's her name?

And the fella responds oh, she's so beautiful that we just call her The Star of the County Dow that we just call her The Star of the County Dow Near Banbridge Town, in the County Down One morning last July, Down a boreen green came a sweet colleen, She smiled as she passed me by; And she looked so swee from her two bare feet To the sheen of her nut-brown hair; Such a coaxing elf, I pinched myself To see if I was really there From Bantry Bay to Derry Quay, from Galway to Dublin town, No maid I’ve seen like the sweet colleen I met at the County Down As she onward sped, I turned my head I looked with a feeling rare and I says says I to a passer-by “Who’s the maid with the nut-brown hair?” He smiled at me, and he said, said he “That's the gem of old Ireland's crown, Young Rosie McCann from the banks of the Ban She's the Star of the County Down From Bantry Bay to Derry Quay From Galway to Dublin town, No maid I’ve seen like the sweet colleen That I met in the County Down That I met in the County Down At the harvest fair, I’ll be surely there I’ll dress in my Sunday clothes With my shoes shone bright and my hat cocked right For a smile from my nut-brown Rose No pipe I’ll smoke, no horse I’ll yoke To rust colored brown And my darling bride by my own fireside Sits the Star of the County Down From Bantry Bay to Derry Quay, From Galway to Dublin town, No maid I’ve seen like the sweet colleen I met in the County Down From Bantry Bay to Derry Quay and from Galway to Dublin town, No maid I’ve see like the sweet colleen That I met in the County Down I played at the Spokan Fall Folk Festival, and that's always held o the Veterans Day weeken And I am a veteran mysel and, I lost my father in Vi And, so I always do at least one veteran song when I'm performing at t Spokane Fall [Folk] Festi And, this is one that I sang this year.

It's called Touch a Nam And, I have to talk abou the songwriter a little bi It’s a fellow from Minneso named Joel Mabus, and he wrote this very compelling song about a Vietnam vetera who comes to that black granite Vietnam Veter Memorial in Washington, D. And it's a tremendousl emotional experience for But as he approaches the wa he realizes that you can just look and read the na You are compelled to touch names of the people you kn And as you're looking at their names you're seeing your reflect in the black marble of the w And the thing that amaze me when I heard Joel Mabu sing the song is that he's not a veteran.

He never served in the milit He did not go to Vietnam, he's an excellent songwri excellent to the point that he could internali the emotions of someone w went through a totally diffe life experience in himse and write a song like th So it's called Touch a Nam It means a great deal to m I traveled back to the Vietnam Veterans Memori every 2 to 3 years.

I've been asked to sing song at the wall several t It's always a very powerful experience for Written from the viewpoin of returning veteran of the I guess you could call it our Summer of freedom It was the year that we both turned 18.

We were straight out of high school We hitchhike to Denver Man, we were sight to be seen That was the summer You dated my sister Until they took us away in the fall And I just want to tell how much I still miss y As I touch your name on the wall Touch your name on the wall Touch your name on the wall God help us all I touch your name on the wall I still wear my fatigues every time I come down here I touch every name of the men from my company Read them out loud when I do Most people tell me that you all died for not I can't agree Touch this name right her He didn’t die for that country He died for me Touch his name on the wal Touch his name on the wal God help us all Touch a name on the wall Touch a name on the wall Touch a name on the wall God help us all Touch a name on the wall Usually walls they’re put up for divis There to separate me from So, God bless a wall That can bring us togethe And remind us of all we went through And I curse all the lia and tin plated heroes Who traded on the blood of these men God grant us the courage To stand up and tell th Never again Touch a name on the wall Touch a name on the wall God help us all Touch a name on the wall Touch a name on the wall Touch a name on the wall God help us all Touch a name on the wall I've been singing sea shanties for about 40 year It's always been one of m favorite forms of music.

B the general public didn't share that.

You had to go to a seapor somewhere, or hang out with a certain group of peo to hear a sea shanty get su Those were the work songs from the days of sai They were always acapell no instrumental accompani because you needed both h to do the work aboard the Well, things changed during the Covid years uh, the, uh.

All the Covid restrictions got put ou You couldn't go to a thea couldn't go to a restauran couldn't go to a pub.

Live music, for public performance kind of came to a halt So everybody's at home sing for their own entertainmen and people discovered things like TikTok.

And next thing I knew, there were, like, some Scottish fellows who went on TikTok and they sang an old sea shanty called The Wellerma And before I knew it, everybody in the world se to be singing a sea shan even if The Wellerman was the only one they kn Well, hey, that's great if it introduces the whole worl to sea shanties, it's a good thing I'll share the song with but I expect you to follow along at home.

You know the chorus beca you watch it on TikTok as Join me and we'll get going.

Soon may the Wellerman come Bringing us sugar and tea and rum Someday, when the tonguing is done, We'll take our leave and go There once was a ship and she sailed the sea The name of the ship was a Billy O’ Tea The wind blew hard The bow dipped low Blow me, bully boys, bl Huh!

Soon may the Wellerman come Bringing us sugar and tea and rum Someday when the tonguing is done, We'll take our leave and go We had not sail two weeks from shore When a right whale down on us did bore The captain called to the crew and swore He'd take that whale in tow Huh!

Soon may the Wellerman come Bringing us sugar and tea and rum Someday, when the tonguing is done, We'll take our leave and go Our boat had not hit the water When whale’s tail came up and caught her The crew, they grabbed harpoons and fought he She drove down below Huh!

Soon may the Wellerman come Bringing us sugar and tea and rum Someday, when the tonguing is done We'll take our leave and go No line was cut, No whale was freed The crew pursued, but not from greed Our captain hoved to the whaler’s creed Blow me, bully boys, blow Huh!

Soon may the Wellerman come Bringing us sugar and tea and rum Someday, when the tonguing is done, We'll take our leave and go Soon may the Wellerman come Bringing us sugar and tea and rum Someday when the tonguing is done, We’ll take our leave and go Huh!

This is a song called Running with the Renegad Many, many years ago, I h a music partner in Colorad We played great gigs all over the Rocky Mountains, and then circumstances forced us to go our own ways, and uh, he was kind of the wild kind.

And from time to time, I worried about, uh, what might have become of him over the years.

And, the good side of the story is we ended up reuniting up he in Washington state, whe he worked as a horse wrangler for a while.

So, anyway, in the meanti when I didn't know where h or what had become of him I wrote a song called Running with the Renegad Which was kind of my farewell song to this fellow Robbie, who's my old music partn That's enough talking.

The song goes like this.

That's enough talking.

The song goes like this.

You can only fight so hard And you can only run so long You find that no one liste to lonesome rambler’s song And the road lies before you That was any path you choose Way back then we still believed we'd fig and never lose You're still running with the renegades Still riding hard against the wind Oh, you still running with the renegades For all its worth, I hope you win When I first cross your pa You were running wild and free Any place you'd never bee Was the place you longed to be And the highway to tomorrow That was any path you choose All the way back then We still believe we'd fi and never lose You're still running with the renegades Still riding hard against the wind You're still running with the renegades For all it's worth, I hope you win There's a pass in Colorado Where the outlaw trails dep One road east and one road west Each follow in his heart Me, I found my answers and I finally settled dow But the last I heard of you They said you still Just rambling round You're still running with the renegades Still riding hard against the wind You're still running with the renegades For all it's worth I hope you win For all it's worth, I hope you win