Ach Ya!: Traditional German-American Music from Wisconsin

Now available as a double CD, "Ach Ya!" was selected in 1985 as an outstanding American folk music recording by the Library of Congress American Folklife Center. Featuring acapella singers, yodelers, zither players, button accordionists, and full-fledged "Dutchman" bands from Watertown to Wausau, from Cedar Grove to Birnamwood, this compilation's nearly 50 performances were chosen by folklorists Philip Martin and James P. Leary following a year of intensive field and archival research. Accompanied by an extensively annotated booklet, the CD's tracks follow four themes: Around the Table, Children's Songs and Rites of Passage, Across the Generations, and Dance Melodies and Marches. A valuable resource for teachers of German, especially in the Badger State, the lives, lyrics, and melodies captured on "Ach Ya!" help reflect and define the German American experience in Wisconsin and the Upper Midwest.

Philip Martin, an educational consultant and publisher in the Milwaukee area, founded the Wisconsin Folk Museum and has produced numerous award-winning sound recordings and books, including Farmhouse Fiddlers, concerning the Upper Midwest's folk cultures. James P. Leary is professor of folklore and Scandinavian studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His books include Yodeling in Dairyland, So Ole Says to Lena, Wisconsin Folklore and, with Richard March, Down Home Dairyland.

"A nice range of material from the domestic tradition to the public semiprofessional, many pieces clearly with Old World origins, others representing immigrant experiences in the New World." - Journal of American Folklore"