Ballad of America Volume 2: America Singing

The songs in this collection are among the most commonly sung in the history of the United States. They present uniquely American musical blends, with roots in European and African traditions and branches that have sprouted countless regional and personal variants throughout the country. Collectively, these songs of work, fun, and love transcend social and ethnic boundaries, painting a broad picture of America during the 18th and 19th centuries when music making was, for many, an integral part of everyday life.

Songs include Wabash Cannonball, Buffalo Gal, Oh Susanna!, Pick a Bale of Cotton, Down in the Valley, and many more.

Click here for more information, audio previews, and ordering.

$14.99

@ CDBaby.com
(40% discount if you buy more than 1 copy at CDBaby)

Download Wabash Cannonball FREE from eFolkMusic.com!

Sign up for email updates!

We would like to let you know about upcoming performances and new releases.

Please use this form to receive email updates.

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

"...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."

media clips

“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

“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

"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

"...when he bangs out chords on his chocolate-brown acoustic guitar and sings deeply into the mike, his songs begin to soar."
(read article)
John Anderson - Miami New Times

Read more testimonials.