Wayne County Life

"Songs from the Old Jail" CD Cover

SUBMITTED by Larry Ann Evans (17-Nov-2011)

Thanks to a grant from the Boehmler Foundation, the Wayne County Historical Society has released a music CD, “Songs from the Old Jail”.

“The stories about the prisoners and sheriffs that stayed, lived and worked in this building are so interesting, I thought that we might reach a whole new group of people if they were presented in this format,” said Executive Director of the Museum of Wayne County History, Larry Ann Evans who went on to say, “It reminds me of what Bob Dylan did with the song “Hurricane.”

Evans contacted Grammy nominated singer songwriter, Nancy Bryan and her husband John, to work with Wayne County Students from the Lyons Curtain Call theatre program to research, write and record three original songs about the old Wayne County Jail. All of the songs were produced and arranged by the Bryans, and all the instrumental tracks were recorded at Mamie’s House Music Studio.

“Nancy and her husband are incredible, the CD sounds so profession, the tunes are catchy, the lyrics are marvelous, and the kids sound great! We couldn’t be happier,” said Evans.

The three original songs are “Oliver Curtis Perry” about the last big East Coast train robber and his captor, Wayne County Sheriff Jerry Collins; “Three Women” who tell about three of the women prisoners who were held at the Wayne County Jail; and “From Nottingham to Burns” which is a song about the sheriffs who lived and worked at the old jail. The fourth song is one in the public domain, “Hand Me Down my Walking Cane”, a song about being in jail.

The Curtain Call students involved in the production of the CD were Alivia Arliss, Brennan Bastedo, Mikayla Bastian, Jenna Caster, Spencer Edmonds, Stephanie Harper, Emily Sawtelle, Michaela Shaffer, Alexis Smith, and Ben Wunder. Three more students helped with the research and writing of the songs but were not able to come to the recording sessions and they were Alex Calvo, Elizabeth Kline and Curtis Mason.

The CD layout and design was created by Cox-King Multimedia in Geneva, NY.

The CD “Songs from the Old Jail” are available in the gift shop of the Museum of Wayne County History and Dobbins Drug Store in Lyons. They retail for $7 plus tax and can also be bundled with the book “A Jail among Us” for $19.95.

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