A group of family and friends of folksinger Rosalie Sorrels are in the final push to complete a multiple-CD album to honor and benefit the internationally known singer-songwriter and storyteller. In order to fund this project, the group has recently launched a campaign on the crowdfunding site IndieGoGo. Deadline to donate is Friday, Nov. 27!
“Rosalie is a true legend. It’s been my honor to have worked on this labor of love for over two years. I look forward to bringing this tribute to the eyes and ears of Rosalie’s many longtime fans and friends, and to preserving her legacy for the enjoyment of generations to come,“ says Rocci Johnson, who is producing the CD tribute.
According to Robert McCarl, Professor Emeritus at Boise State University, “Idaho is a landscape of impressive features from the snow-dusted flanks of the Sawtooths to the indigo depths of Lake Coeur d’Alene. Rosalie Sorrels, songwriter, performer and activist, embodies both the strength and promise of the Idaho terrain. Rosalie’s travels brought her into contact with folksingers such as Pete Seeger, Peggy Seeger and Utah Phillips with whom she performed and collaborated. In her many albums, songs and publications, Rosalie expresses the sacrifices and joy of life in the Intermountain West. Virtually all of her work features the courage and strength of women in this demanding landscape.”
Rosalie Sorrels is a vivid storyteller, passionate songwriter, singer, teacher and activist, who has been writing, collecting and performing music for more than six decades. She was born in Boise into a family of storytellers, journalists, and farmers. In the early 1960s, she took the unusual step of hitting the road with her five children to drive across the country performing and raising her voice for social justice.
She collected folk songs and performed them on the Smithsonian Folkways label, recorded 25 albums of her own work, and garnered two Grammy nominations, for “The Last Go-Round”, and “Strangers in Another Country”. In 2001, Rosalie was honored for her social activism with a handmade quilt presented by the Boise Peace Quilt Project, an honor shared by Rosa Parks, Helen Caldicott, and Cesar Chavez, among other greats.
At 82, Rosalie is no longer able to perform. To honor her legacy and help raise money for her health care, more than 40 musicians from around the country and here in Idaho have recorded her songs for this CD set, including Loudon Wainwright III, Peter Rowan, Nanci Griffith, Tom Russell, Guy Clark, Peggy Seeger, Eliza Gilkyson, Eilen Jewell, Bill Coffey, Emily Braden, Dan Costello and Belinda Bowler.
The IndieGoGo campaign link is https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/rosalie-sorrels-tribute/x/11527453#/ and Facebook is https://www.facebook.com/RosalieSorrelsTribute.
