Identifier
CSUMC0012-CG (local)

Repository
Mills Music Library, University of Wisconsin--Madison

Date
1976 - 1994 (Inclusive dates)

Summary
Robert Andresen (1937-1995), a graphic designer by trade, was a musician and self-taught folklorist from Duluth, Minnesota who throughout his lifetime amassed a large body of records, recorded interviews, radio shows, subject files, popular country song folios, photographs, and published articles related to folk music in the Upper Midwest. He also hosted Northland Hoedown, a 1980s radio show that aired on KUMD of the University of Minnesota-Duluth, WOJB in Reserve, Wis., KAXE in Grand Rapids, Minn., and WDAY in Fargo, N.D. Recorded interviews and research documents related to Upper Midwestern old-time musicians, such as Walter Eriksson, Leonard Finseth, Sulo Hackman, the Plehal Brothers, and Otto Rindlisbacher, figure prominently in this collection as do fiddling music and regional contests.

Creator and/or Contributor
Andresen, Robert, 1937-1995 (creator), Finseth, Leonard, 1911-1991 (contributor)

Scope and Content Note

Materials about Andresen and the state of old-time music in the Duluth region are best revealed in the manuscript materials in the collection. These include published accounts of Andresen's activities, the original manuscript of his article “Traditional Music of Wisconsin,” Andresen's writings, and a small body of correspondence. More than 200 photos and postcards can be found in the collection. Most images document performances by Andresen and other old-time musicians and were removed from their original files for preservation. Evidence of Andresen's career as a graphic artist is represented throughout the collection with information on typography and the School of the Associated Arts.

The Andresen manuscript materials are organized into four series: general files, Scandinavian files, subject files, and music folios. The Scandinavian files and music folios are organized alphabetically by musician. Photographs now listed in the Graphic Materials series were removed from subject file folders; notes in the folders indicate that photos were removed.

The Andresen recordings are organized by record type--78 rpm, 45 rpm, and LP discs, and reel-to-reel tapes. Information on the 78s can be found by searching the Ethnic Recordings Database at Mills Music Library. The database is not yet online so a Mills librarian must help with access. The 45 rpm and LP recordings are unprocessed. A tape inventory is included in this finding aid for the reel-to-reel tapes of Northland Hoedown. Mills holds all but 12 of the 94 radio programs Andresen recorded, and each 30-minute program focuses on a particular regional musician or style. A portion of these radio shows, which are not organized chronologically, are digitized and the rest remain accessible on reel-to-reel.

Administrative/Biographical History Element
Robert Andresen (1937-1995) was a leading force in documenting, performing, and promoting old-time music in the Upper Midwest. The Minnesota native was an avid collector of traditional recordings, a composer of traditional-sounding songs, a recorder of old-time musicians, a writer of many articles about traditional music, and a teacher of traditional music. In the 1980s, he hosted Northland Hoedown, a radio show aired over KUMD-FM, Duluth, Minnesota. He was instrumental in many musical releases featuring some of the leading players in the Upper Midwest, including Norwegian fiddler Leonard Finseth, Finnish fiddler Sulo Hackman and the Plehal Brothers, radio stars of the live music era. Andresen was born in Minneapolis and raised on a farm in Outing, Minnesota. After high school, he studied graphic design and worked for more than twenty years at Harcourt Brace Jovanovich graphic company. He was a skilled guitar player who drew upon his love of bluegrass and Scandinavian music to become an innovator, adapting Scandinavian accordion and fiddle tunes for the guitar. Throughout the 1970s and into the 1980s, Andresen played in an old-time band called the Wildwoods, comprised of his first wife Joanne, and her relatives Dale and Dorie. He also sat in with several famed old-time musicians from throughout the Upper Midwest. With his second wife, Gale Perry Andresen, he helped found the Lake Superior Old-time Fiddle Contest. He died of cancer on March 10, 1995. — From the Northland Hoedown: Robert Andresen Collection web site.

Conditions Governing Access

Contact records custodians for access information.

Wisconsin Music Archives at Mills Music Library
University of Wisconsin-Madison
B162 Memorial Library
728 State St.
Madison, WI 53706-1494
Email: askmusic@library.wisc.edu
Phone: (608) 263-1884
Web site: http://music.library.wisc.edu

Conditions Governing Reproduction
The Robert Andresen Collection is part of the Wisconsin Music Archives, a non-circulating special collection in the Mills Music Library. Users wishing to listen to any recordings in the collection should contact the library in advance. Typically, the library makes a copy of the desired recording to facilitate listening. This process may require several days' preparation. Duplication of the materials for non-profit personal, educational, and research purposes may be arranged after making a written request expressing compliance with copyright law. Use of materials for public presentation, publication, and production requires negotiation with the Music Library Director and Robert Andresen's decedents.

Custodial History
Andresen completed the organization of his folk music materials with the intention that they be deposited at Mills Music Library upon his death, after he learned he had cancer, and at the request of folklorist and friend James P. Leary. He died March 10, 1995, and in June of that year Leary and WMA Curator Steve Sundell transferred the collection to Mills Music Library.

General Note
Four musical instruments were separated from the collection and transferred to the University of Wisconsin School of Music. Thirty-six cylinder recordings received with this collection are now in the custody of the Performing Arts Collection, Davidson Library Special Collections, University of California-Santa Barbara. In the fall of 2002, the manuscript portion of the collection was refoldered and rehoused in archival boxes. Nicole Saylor, while a student worker at Mills, prepared an inventory and an accompanying web site.

Related Archival Materials
Leonard Finseth Collection (CSUMC0020-CG)

Extent
229 (folders)
362 (photographs and postcards)
2 (framed photographs)
3143 (disc recordings)
80 (tape recordings)

Language
English (Languages)

Other Subject Headings
Finnish Americans (Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH))
Lutherans (Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH))
Norwegian Americans (Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH))
Scandinavian Americans (Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH))
Electric guitar (Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH))
Fiddle (Local)
Violin (Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH))
English language (Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH))
Dane County (Wis.) (Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH))
Duluth (Minn.) (Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH))
Middle West (Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH))
Minnesota (Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH))
Wisconsin (Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH))
Country music (Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH))
Guitar music (Country) (Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH))
Fiddle music (Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH))
Folk tunes (Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH))
Old-time music (Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH))

Preferred Citation
Please consult Mills Music Library for guidelines. We suggest the following citation form when using direct quotes from a person documented: [Name of person documented]. [Date]. [Tape/video/other]-recorded interview by [Fieldworker name]. [Place interviewed]. [Name of collection/project]. [Repository, city, state]. When using a specific image: [Identify subject matter/people in caption]. Photo/image by [Photographer/fieldworker name]. [Date]. Courtesy of [repository]. To quote fieldworker, follow bibliographical style

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