Tracy's Family Band: Rode the Mule Around the World

Tracy’s Family Band, composed of patriarch Tracy Schwarz, wife Eloise, and son Peter, performs 11 traditional American folk songs on this 1981 recording. Schwarz was a member of Smithsonian Folkways recording artists The New Lost City Ramblers from 1963 to 1973.

In this recording, the family members all sing and play stringed instruments. Tracy plays guitar, fiddle, and accordion, Eloise plays guitar, and Peter plays bass, guitar, violin, and harmonica. Schwarz’s passion for traditional American country and folk music is on full display in this collection. Highlights are the standard “Old Dan Tucker,” the Cajun “Lemonade Song” featuring Tracy on accordion, and “Welcome Home Weary Traveler,” a song about traveling musicians. Tracy and Eloise Schwarz may also be heard on the album Down Home (FW31052).