Decades-old songs by Minnesota folklorist Ellen Stekert released with help of AI
"Go Around Songs, Vol. 1" is folklorist Ellen Stekert's first album in decades. The tracks were all recorded in the 1950s and 1960s and were remastered and remixed by producer Ross Wylde for release.
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Audio transcript
NINA MOINI: Minnesota folklorist and musician Ellen Stekert has a new album out for the first time in decades.
[ELLEN STEKERT, "TOMORROW IS A LONG TIME"] Now, there's beauty in the silver singing river
And there's beauty in the sunrise in the sky
NINA MOINI: But the songs from Go Around Songs, Volume 1 weren't recorded recently. They're songs that were cut years ago, in the 1950s and '60s. And now, thanks to a little help from artificial intelligence, they're finally being released as a collection. In addition to making music, Stekert is known for being a pioneering scholar in folklore studies and taught for many years at the University of Minnesota. She also became the first ever Minnesota State folklorist in 1976. Ellen Stekert is with me now, along with Ross Wylde, who is the producer on the album. Thanks for being here.
ROSS WYLDE: Thanks for having us.
ELLEN STEKERT: A pleasure.
NINA MOINI: Ellen, it's been 50 years. All the songs, like we talked about, were originally recorded decades ago. What made you decide it was time, finally, to put out these songs?
ELLEN STEKERT: Well, it's kind of long, but I'll try to condense it. For many years, I've been, well, not satisfied very well with the original records that I made back in the '50s. I just didn't think that my voice came through well enough. And right now, you can hear it not coming through very well because I've lost a vocal cord in the last five years.
But when I first met Ross through the internet-- that he re-masters old tapes. So he said something about making an album. Maybe he could help me. And I sent him a whole bunch of these things and sort of drowned him in the old songs that I did. And he did absolutely beautiful work on them. He's a genius. And he's also a musician and has wonderful tastes, so I feel quite honored. [LAUGHS]
NINA MOINI: Ross, I bet this is an honor for you as well. Can you just describe some of the work you did on these archival recordings? Why was AI needed to do it?
ROSS WYLDE: Yeah, well, it's certainly an honor for sure. 'Cause it's always been a dream to help produce a record that has a bunch of old home recordings from the '60s. I am a huge fan of Connie Converse and other artists from the '50s and '60s who might have recorded albums' worth of songs in their living room or something, and they never got released until recently. And so that's just been a dream of mine.
And yeah, AI was necessary because in some cases, there are clicks and pops on some tapes or on an old record, and you can actually program AI to remove those pops in a way that you used to not be able to do maybe six or seven years ago. And you can also remix a song. Because in some cases, Ellen's voice was too far back in the mix. Her voice was too quiet. But now I can separate both stems into a guitar track and a vocal track separately and make her vocal louder, which it's limitless possibilities on how you can remix old songs like that.
[ELLEN STEKERT, "WENT TO THE SEA"] You'll weep
You'll faint
You'll die
When in
My arms you lie
NINA MOINI: Ellen, how does it feel to be able to release these songs and to hear them in the way that you know is this top-notch way? And did you ever think it would be possible?
ELLEN STEKERT: I really didn't know, but I knew there was more to my voice than what I could hear coming out of the old albums that I did. And I had polio, and my lungs were not very strong. I couldn't project my voice very well. And so when people would do a sound check for me at a concert, they'd wait till I played the guitar and then adjust it that way. Well, that way was not helpful for my voice. It was much-- my voice became drowned by my guitar, which I used to wail on.
So [LAUGHS] it's just wonderful to hear them. As I've said to people before, it's like walking down the street and meeting myself. And I really like the voice. It's kind of nice. It's really just a wonderful thing for me at my age to hear what I sounded like. So it's been a great adventure for me.
NINA MOINI: So cool and I bet, yeah, just rewarding and transporting [LAUGHS] people to a different time. Is there a song, Ellen, that stands out to you in particular? Can you tell us the story behind it?
ELLEN STEKERT: Well, I don't know. They all have stories behind them. And one of the ones that I was most happy about is the one that is called "Free Goodwill"--
[ELLEN STEKERT, "FREE GOODWILL"] Is so low
With an aching heart
--which is a song I found in an old copy of a collection that was done by a Britisher who came over to the Southern Mountains and collected a lot of songs there.
[ELLEN STEKERT, "FREE GOODWILL"] The moon above looks down to see
The parting of true love and me
And I never heard the song before, and I have never heard it since. And as a scholar of folk song, I really feel it's an unusual song, and it's just lovely.
NINA MOINI: And Ross, how do you plan to keep using AI in this technology in the future? There's so much conversation right now about AI and how can it be helpful, how can it be harmful. How do you see it continuing to play a role in maybe evolving in music?
ROSS WYLDE: Yeah, that's a good question. I'm not a big fan of AI, but they're very specific and sometimes life-changing, creative tools that artists can use, including these audio restoration tools. I think it's been used in some capacities, like The Beatles documentary that Peter Jackson did. He used AI to remaster a lot of the recordings there, and a lot of the footage as well.
And I think it can be continued to be used like that sparingly. I think a lot of the time, it's easy to overuse AI to turn old recordings and footage into something that they were never meant to be and to make them look and sound too polished. And I would try to refrain from doing that. There's a balance there of making them sound good, but still authentic and soulful. And but I hope that more people and artists and archivists use this in their arsenal of creative tools, you know.
NINA MOINI: Just using it intentionally, it sounds like, can lead to amazing options that weren't there before. And Ellen, this is only Volume 1. When is the next volume coming out? Or are you two working on that?
ROSS WYLDE: Yeah, it should be out within a month. And then we have one more single coming out this Friday. It's called "Golden Apples of the Sun," and it's a song that she learned partly from Dave Van Ronk, who was her friend in the 1960s.
ELLEN STEKERT: And a major person in the folk song revival in the '50s. He was really quite important.
NINA MOINI: So you touched on this a little bit earlier, Ellen, but Ross, tell us a little bit about just how this all came together, just the idea for you all to collaborate this way.
ROSS WYLDE: The origin story is very interesting. We met on eBay, actually. Ellen was selling a photograph of Bob Dylan, and I was a really big Bob Dylan fan. And there was this photograph that I hadn't seen of him before from 1964, and I just contacted the seller because I was curious on where the photograph came from. And she responded and said, hi, my name is Ellen Stekert. I took this photograph myself at the Newport Folk Festival in 1964 backstage.
NINA MOINI: Wow.
ROSS WYLDE: And I had recognized her name because I listened to one of her songs, "Dink's Song," which is an old folk song, on YouTube years prior. And so I knew who she was. And then she wanted to talk to me, and I couldn't believe my luck that I was listening to all of these stories she had to tell about the folk song revival. And it was just a joy to get to know her. And it just kind of started as a friendship and evolved into a creative friendship as well. Yeah.
NINA MOINI: That's a beautiful story. You never when you'll meet someone and have a life-changing chance to collaborate on eBay. [LAUGHS]
ROSS WYLDE: Yes, it's true.
ELLEN STEKERT: What was so funny about it is that he said he'd been a fan of mine for years, and I thought, my golly, he's got to be about 70 years old because I'm 90. And it turns out he's a baby. He's only between 20 and 30, so--
NINA MOINI: Well, good to clear that up. [LAUGHS] Thank you both so much for your time. And congratulations on this, really.
ELLEN STEKERT: Well, thank you.
ROSS WYLDE: Thank you so much.
NINA MOINI: That was folklorist Ellen Stekert and producer Ross Wylde.
[ELLEN STEKERT, "THE TREES THEY DO GROW HIGH"]
(SINGING) Oh, Father, dearest Father
I fear you've done me harm
For you've married me to a bonny boy
And he being so very young
[ELLEN STEKERT, "TOMORROW IS A LONG TIME"] Now, there's beauty in the silver singing river
And there's beauty in the sunrise in the sky
NINA MOINI: But the songs from Go Around Songs, Volume 1 weren't recorded recently. They're songs that were cut years ago, in the 1950s and '60s. And now, thanks to a little help from artificial intelligence, they're finally being released as a collection. In addition to making music, Stekert is known for being a pioneering scholar in folklore studies and taught for many years at the University of Minnesota. She also became the first ever Minnesota State folklorist in 1976. Ellen Stekert is with me now, along with Ross Wylde, who is the producer on the album. Thanks for being here.
ROSS WYLDE: Thanks for having us.
ELLEN STEKERT: A pleasure.
NINA MOINI: Ellen, it's been 50 years. All the songs, like we talked about, were originally recorded decades ago. What made you decide it was time, finally, to put out these songs?
ELLEN STEKERT: Well, it's kind of long, but I'll try to condense it. For many years, I've been, well, not satisfied very well with the original records that I made back in the '50s. I just didn't think that my voice came through well enough. And right now, you can hear it not coming through very well because I've lost a vocal cord in the last five years.
But when I first met Ross through the internet-- that he re-masters old tapes. So he said something about making an album. Maybe he could help me. And I sent him a whole bunch of these things and sort of drowned him in the old songs that I did. And he did absolutely beautiful work on them. He's a genius. And he's also a musician and has wonderful tastes, so I feel quite honored. [LAUGHS]
NINA MOINI: Ross, I bet this is an honor for you as well. Can you just describe some of the work you did on these archival recordings? Why was AI needed to do it?
ROSS WYLDE: Yeah, well, it's certainly an honor for sure. 'Cause it's always been a dream to help produce a record that has a bunch of old home recordings from the '60s. I am a huge fan of Connie Converse and other artists from the '50s and '60s who might have recorded albums' worth of songs in their living room or something, and they never got released until recently. And so that's just been a dream of mine.
And yeah, AI was necessary because in some cases, there are clicks and pops on some tapes or on an old record, and you can actually program AI to remove those pops in a way that you used to not be able to do maybe six or seven years ago. And you can also remix a song. Because in some cases, Ellen's voice was too far back in the mix. Her voice was too quiet. But now I can separate both stems into a guitar track and a vocal track separately and make her vocal louder, which it's limitless possibilities on how you can remix old songs like that.
[ELLEN STEKERT, "WENT TO THE SEA"] You'll weep
You'll faint
You'll die
When in
My arms you lie
NINA MOINI: Ellen, how does it feel to be able to release these songs and to hear them in the way that you know is this top-notch way? And did you ever think it would be possible?
ELLEN STEKERT: I really didn't know, but I knew there was more to my voice than what I could hear coming out of the old albums that I did. And I had polio, and my lungs were not very strong. I couldn't project my voice very well. And so when people would do a sound check for me at a concert, they'd wait till I played the guitar and then adjust it that way. Well, that way was not helpful for my voice. It was much-- my voice became drowned by my guitar, which I used to wail on.
So [LAUGHS] it's just wonderful to hear them. As I've said to people before, it's like walking down the street and meeting myself. And I really like the voice. It's kind of nice. It's really just a wonderful thing for me at my age to hear what I sounded like. So it's been a great adventure for me.
NINA MOINI: So cool and I bet, yeah, just rewarding and transporting [LAUGHS] people to a different time. Is there a song, Ellen, that stands out to you in particular? Can you tell us the story behind it?
ELLEN STEKERT: Well, I don't know. They all have stories behind them. And one of the ones that I was most happy about is the one that is called "Free Goodwill"--
[ELLEN STEKERT, "FREE GOODWILL"] Is so low
With an aching heart
--which is a song I found in an old copy of a collection that was done by a Britisher who came over to the Southern Mountains and collected a lot of songs there.
[ELLEN STEKERT, "FREE GOODWILL"] The moon above looks down to see
The parting of true love and me
And I never heard the song before, and I have never heard it since. And as a scholar of folk song, I really feel it's an unusual song, and it's just lovely.
NINA MOINI: And Ross, how do you plan to keep using AI in this technology in the future? There's so much conversation right now about AI and how can it be helpful, how can it be harmful. How do you see it continuing to play a role in maybe evolving in music?
ROSS WYLDE: Yeah, that's a good question. I'm not a big fan of AI, but they're very specific and sometimes life-changing, creative tools that artists can use, including these audio restoration tools. I think it's been used in some capacities, like The Beatles documentary that Peter Jackson did. He used AI to remaster a lot of the recordings there, and a lot of the footage as well.
And I think it can be continued to be used like that sparingly. I think a lot of the time, it's easy to overuse AI to turn old recordings and footage into something that they were never meant to be and to make them look and sound too polished. And I would try to refrain from doing that. There's a balance there of making them sound good, but still authentic and soulful. And but I hope that more people and artists and archivists use this in their arsenal of creative tools, you know.
NINA MOINI: Just using it intentionally, it sounds like, can lead to amazing options that weren't there before. And Ellen, this is only Volume 1. When is the next volume coming out? Or are you two working on that?
ROSS WYLDE: Yeah, it should be out within a month. And then we have one more single coming out this Friday. It's called "Golden Apples of the Sun," and it's a song that she learned partly from Dave Van Ronk, who was her friend in the 1960s.
ELLEN STEKERT: And a major person in the folk song revival in the '50s. He was really quite important.
NINA MOINI: So you touched on this a little bit earlier, Ellen, but Ross, tell us a little bit about just how this all came together, just the idea for you all to collaborate this way.
ROSS WYLDE: The origin story is very interesting. We met on eBay, actually. Ellen was selling a photograph of Bob Dylan, and I was a really big Bob Dylan fan. And there was this photograph that I hadn't seen of him before from 1964, and I just contacted the seller because I was curious on where the photograph came from. And she responded and said, hi, my name is Ellen Stekert. I took this photograph myself at the Newport Folk Festival in 1964 backstage.
NINA MOINI: Wow.
ROSS WYLDE: And I had recognized her name because I listened to one of her songs, "Dink's Song," which is an old folk song, on YouTube years prior. And so I knew who she was. And then she wanted to talk to me, and I couldn't believe my luck that I was listening to all of these stories she had to tell about the folk song revival. And it was just a joy to get to know her. And it just kind of started as a friendship and evolved into a creative friendship as well. Yeah.
NINA MOINI: That's a beautiful story. You never when you'll meet someone and have a life-changing chance to collaborate on eBay. [LAUGHS]
ROSS WYLDE: Yes, it's true.
ELLEN STEKERT: What was so funny about it is that he said he'd been a fan of mine for years, and I thought, my golly, he's got to be about 70 years old because I'm 90. And it turns out he's a baby. He's only between 20 and 30, so--
NINA MOINI: Well, good to clear that up. [LAUGHS] Thank you both so much for your time. And congratulations on this, really.
ELLEN STEKERT: Well, thank you.
ROSS WYLDE: Thank you so much.
NINA MOINI: That was folklorist Ellen Stekert and producer Ross Wylde.
[ELLEN STEKERT, "THE TREES THEY DO GROW HIGH"]
(SINGING) Oh, Father, dearest Father
I fear you've done me harm
For you've married me to a bonny boy
And he being so very young
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