BalladofAmerica.com: Traditional American Folk Music

Performances

concerts / special programs / contact for booking

Matthew Sabatella named
"Best Acoustic Performer"
New Times Broward/Palm Beach
'Best of 2005'

With vocals, guitar, banjo, fiddle, mandolin, bass fiddle, mountain dulcimer, and a wealth of traditional folk songs, Matthew Sabatella and the Rambling String Band bring the story of the United States vividly to life. Concerts include a variety of songs and themes, and Special Programs are focused on a particular topic or era in the history of the United States. New programs may be developed on request to suit specific needs.

Each Concert and Special Program is tailored to delight whoever is in attendance: families at festivals, performing arts centers, and museums; adults in concert and music halls; young adults in colleges and high schools; and children at libraries, camps, and elementary schools. Audiences, young and old, sing and dance along to familiar folk songs as well as virtually forgotten gems that reveal the dreams, hardships, and joys of people who struggled to build homes and lives in a fledgling nation.

Matthew Sabatella may be engaged for Special Programs and Concerts as a solo performer (vocal, guitar, banjo, harmonica, mountain dulcimer), or with the Rambling String Band, which features Jack Stamates (fiddle), Lynn Griffith (banjo and vocal), Chris DeAngelis (bass fiddle and vocal), and Sean Edelson (mandolin).

Concerts

“Led by Sabatella's six-string guitar and his molasses baritone, the band's big sound rolls from Luna's makeshift stage across a room filled with tri-county patrons… Tonight's crowd is extra large, lining up against the walls and squeezed three deep between cases of beer and the cafe's ancient black refrigerator. Along with the band, almost everyone is singing: ‘Heigh, ho, and away we go; Digging up the gold on the Fran-cis-co!’”
(read article)
Emma Trelles
Sun-Sentinel

These may take place at festivals, in concert halls, performing arts centers, or other music venues. They may be geared towards adults, families, or children. There can be a great deal of variety in what is experienced at a concert, depending on the venue and audience.

The band keeps it lively and fun for all ages at outdoor festivals and municipal events. It's not unusual to see grandparents with their children and grandchildren all singing, dancing, and clapping along to traditional favorites such as Oh Susanna! and Buffalo Gal.
Adult concerts may include contemplative songs with more mature themes.

Accolades for Concerts

"Rare is the event that engages both me and my young ones in a genuine way."
(read article)
Ben Crandell - Sun-Sentinel

"This particular afternoon, Sabatella and his close-knit combo — Lynn Griffith on banjo and mandolin, Jack Stamates on fiddle, Sean Edelson on mandolin, and Chris DeAngelis on stand-up bass, with Sabatella on guitar and vocals — play to a tent filled nearly to capacity, its 50 or so occupants clearly caught up in the familiar strains of the music and, just possibly, a certain whiff of nostalgia."
(read article)
Lee Zimmerman - Miami New Times

"...Sabatella's best asset is easily his voice, urgent but unforced, sweetly melancholy in telling personal stories and powerfully evocative in rendering antiquated songs intimate again. It's a great gift, and Sabatella wields it with exceptional talent."
(read article)
"Best Acoustic Performer" - New Times Broward/Palm Beach - Best of 2005

“Miraculously, Hollywood-based folkie Matthew Sabatella has packaged a history lesson in the guise of a strikingly good album and a nerdaliciously compelling live show that tell the story of western expansion across the American heartland through song… ‘It's the kind of thing that will appeal to just about anybody,’ Sabatella says of the songs on Ballad of America Volume 1, most of which date back to the early 1800s. The crowd at the Bamboo Room reflected that sentiment, as moms, grandmoms, longhairs, blue collars, and a gaggle of wine-sipping, Virginia Slims-puffing ladies all clapped along and sang like ornery lumberjacks to lines like ‘And we'll range the wild woods over, and once more a-lumbering go!’”
(read article)
Jonathan Zwickel - New Times Broward/Palm Beach

Special Programs

"Matthew Sabatella and the Rambling String Band are totally amazing! I cannot praise them enough! Matthew related all of the songs to the era of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. It was wonderful. The entire band is great! They are personable, relate to the audience and can perform almost anything I’m sure"
Nancy Ansley (Programs and Exhibits Supervisor)
Broward County Library

Through Special Programs, audiences are a given an engaging view of a particular historical topic or era, as told through authentic songs that relate to it. Below is a description of some of the Special Programs that are currently being performed, but additional programs may be developed to suit the needs of the occasion. They may geared towards adults, families, or children.

Over a Wide and Fruitful Land
The journey begins in Colonial America and follows the paths of the pioneers, sailors, lumberjacks, immigrants, ‘49ers, farmers, slaves, soldiers, cowboys, homesteaders, and railroaders who moved the country across the continent and into the 20 th century.

Songs of Rivers, Lakes, Canals, and Seas
Set sail for adventure through the music, history, and folklore of America’s experience on the water – voyages across oceans, settlement and travel on rivers and canals, fishing in lakes, and more.

Songs in the Life of Abraham Lincoln
This is the soundtrack to Abraham Lincoln’s life. The 16 th president of the United States was a man of remarkable determination, compassion, honesty, humor, and melancholy. To explore the music he cherished is to better understand the man himself and the times in which he lived.

Songs of the Railroads
Get the history of railroads in the United States by singing along to songs of classic railroad lines, work songs, and songs of riding the rails.

Tom Sawyer, Mark Twain and Life on the Mississippi
Matthew Sabatella musically celebrates life on the Mississippi River and childhood in the time of Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, and Mark Twain. The program was conceived as a celebration of Mark Twain's great American novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer in conjunction with the National Endowment for the Arts' The Big Read initiative.

Accolades for Special Programs

"Thank you for another GREAT performance and lesson in history! The music was outstanding!! We NEED so much more of this! I think you were able to see how the audience responded....the children were up dancing and the adults were singing and clapping along the whole time!! BRAVO!!!!"
Linda Gail Sindt - All Kids Love to Sing

"Matthew Sabatella's Ballad of America is an interactive program that incorporates American history, stories, and music into one fun-filled, educational program for all ages."
Michele Dye - Naranja Branch Manager: Miami-Dade Public Library System

“Through perseverance and hard work, American settlers turned their faces west toward the dream of finding new lives. In their struggle came the music presented by Mr. Sabatella. Matthew is a talented performer and a teacher not only of music, but of music which should be heard by all.”
Pastricia J. Adams-Sallustio - Social Studies Teacher: Tequesta Trace Middle School

"Matthew Sabatella’s Ballad of America is a great way for students to learn about American history. It’s a novel approach for students and is sure to get them more interested in history."
Sandra Rosen - Assistant Principal: Biscayne Gardens Elementary School