Sarah Jane Nelson

Sarah Jane Nelson is a writer and musician based in New England. While her earliest writings often focused on matters of environmental conservation, her life as a musical performer eventually lead to a scholarly interest in the preservation of traditional music, an interest which emerged in stories for American Craft, Old Time Herald and Fiddler, among other publications. Her book, Ballad Hunting with Max Hunter: Stories of an Ozark Folksong Collector, was released in 2023 by University of Illinois Press as part of their Music in American Life Series. Thanks to a Russian grandfather in Hartford, her earliest soundscape consisted of the balalaika music of emigre musician Sasha Polinoff whose life and musical community she is now researching in preparation for her next book. She recently read her paper, "Three Balalaika Players Arrive on the West Coast in 1923" at the ASEEES Convention in Philadelphia.