Giving Voice to Traditional Songs

"Jean Redpath was a perfect houseguest. She was friendly and funny, tidy, considerate . . . and she was good at disappearing. She stayed under my roof for weeks, no problem. When you make your living singing beautiful songs in an unintelligible dialect, you need to get along on the kindness of strangers. She was a regular on A Prairie Home Companion and was adored for her wit and her voice even by people with little interest in Scots and their sorrows. It's so good to have Jean in her own words—and hear her voice again."—Garrison Keillor

"This is a warm and compelling account of a life in music, lived with determination, humour, and independence. Along the way, Jean Redpath dispenses wise advice, provides insights into the U. S. folk scene of the 1960s and into her own character, and graciously acknowledges her good fortune alongside her talent."—David McGuinness, University of Glasgow

"Jean was committed to teaching and passing on her love of Scots songs. She brought honesty, integrity, credibility, and soul to her performances. Her professional life was a Masterclass and her legacy in respect to traditional song is hard to overstate."—Pete Heywood, Living Tradition magazine

"Many artists no longer write their autobiography themselves; they tell their their lives to a professional writer who ideally is also a fan. So it is here, and the scribe does a decidedly good job, with Jean Redpath speaking clearly throughout the pages... Down-to-earth, shy, yet confident, endowed with a dry Scottish humor, headstrong and with a clear idea how Scottish ballads should be sung - that was Jean Redpath, and that shines through in this book with wonderful clarity."—Folker magazine