IMPORTANT!!!

WE HAVE RESCHEDULED OUR CD RELEASE PARTY FOR SATURDAY, MARCH 1, TO BE HELD AT THE 20TH CENTURY CENTER, 536 N BROADWAY, WICHITA. DOORS OPEN AT 7 PM WITH MUSIC TO FOLLOW AT 7:30.

Imagine sitting on a front porch on a warm, summer Kansas evening listening to a spirited fiddle, a plunkety old fretless gut-string banjo, a pair of sun-dried buffalo bones and a skin-head tambourine. Put all those unique sounds together and you have....The Free Staters. The Free Staters play fun, fast-paced, popular music from 1850s America. The greatest musical melting pot in our history was brewed from Irish jigs, English ballads, Italian mandolin orchestras and the new American popular music by such composers as Stephen Foster, Daniel Emmett and Thomas Daddy Rice, all overlaid with the unique syncopation of African rhythms. These and other pieces of the American musical puzzle are performed by The Free Staters on period instruments, often from original sheet music or nineteenth century folk sources. Songs like"Old Dan Tucker" and "Oh Susanna," are ingrained in the American consciousness, but countless others, like "Angelina Baker" and "Old King Crow" are being kept alive by a dedicated few. To get a better understanding of what we do:

Enjoy samples of our songs by clicking here.

Join our e-mail list by clicking here.

In addition, The Free Staters are members of the Kansas Arts Commission's Kansas Artists on Tour Program, meaning not-for-profit agencies & organizations are eligible for grant monies to help cover our fees. Please contact the Kansas Arts Commission to find out how you can benefit.

Photograph by Warren Denning, Warren Denning Photography, Wichita, KS.

Background map courtesy of Wichita State University Libraries Department of Special Collections Digitized Historic Kansas Maps. Johnson's Missouri & Kansas, 1857. You can reach WSU's digitized maps by going to this link: http://specialcollections.wichita.edu/collections/maps/index.asp.