Category Archives: Blog

Blog

THe Ballad of Susanna Dickinson

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If you have visited the Alamo in San Antonio, TX, you know that many stories converged there. Susanna Dickinson had come with her husband Col. Almeron Dickinson from Tennessee. She and their baby, Angelina, endured the siege and were then taken to Gen. Sam Houston’s camp in Gonzales. Not long after, Houston would stage the Battle of San Jacinto, winning all the Mexican-claimed land north of the southern Rio Grande border, which would become US territory when Texas became a state. Booklets provided by the keepers of the Alamo count 189 Texan combatants in the thirteen-day Alamo siege. In my song, Susanna counts herself to make a total of 190.

The Ballad of Susanna Dickinson, (c) (p) Jennifer M Peal, Flood, 2004
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Dallas SONGWRITER’S Association showcase

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Live music has gone digital in the age of COVID-19. Here is my part in a Dallas Songwriters Association songwriter showcase that streamed on Facebook and YouTube, March 27, 2021. Songs on mountain dulcimer: Putting On the Old Folk’s Clothes, The Milkmaid and Her Pail. Plus: Everyone is Equal At The Laundromat, Two Sisters, You Disappointed Me, and Receiver.

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Pegasus Project: Fair Maid

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Here is a song that I started singing as a Renaissance Faire performer, 1982-1985, accompanied by mountain dulcimer. Nobody said a word about my off-period Ozark Mountain Dulcimer at Scarborough Faire; my songs, I tried to keep reasonably in period, in spirit, style and topic if not age. Fair Maid is a ballad from a very old family of trans-man, or anyway crossdressing, sailor and soldier folk ballads.

When Pegasus Project formed in 1991, I switched to guitar for the change from grove to stage. Everybody in the Band is in on this and I love that it ends with some jolly horn pipes on Linda’s fiddle.

Fair Maid, performed by Pegasus Project: Jenni Mansfield (Peal), Linda Relph, Rupert Crabb. (p) Scatterbranch Music Publishing 1992
when I was a fair maid … more like thirty …
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Pegasus Project: Rock-a-bye Baby

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It’s Saint Patrick’s Day Week, a time of the year when Pegasus Project was very busy in the years 1991-1993. Here’s a song I always enjoyed singing. Rupert Crabb plays accordion and Bodhran in this track. Linda Relph accompanies on fiddle and back-up vocals, then springs into a lively fiddle tune at the end.

Jenni Mansfield, Linda Relph, Rupert Crabb: Pegasus Project, a Celtic Band based in DFW
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Pegasus Project: Greenland Whale Fisheries

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Pegasus Project, my 1990’s Celtic band comprised of Rupert Crabb, Linda Relph and myself, really drew on Rupert’s love for sea shanties and whaling songs. As a folk-song lover from my early childhood, his repertoire was a joy to work with, as was he. We had a standing gig at the old Tipperary Inn on Lower Greenville in Dallas, and for awhile after it moved down on Skillman. We also enjoyed playing the North Texas Irish Festival and other events in our region.
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South Wind

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Through the next few months I will be making my earlier recordings available here online. I hope you enjoy them!

My song South Wind was recorded in 1990 not long after I won that year’s B.W. Stevenson Songwriting Contest in Dallas at Poor David’s Pub. A fellow contestant, Jim Jones (yes, that Jim Jones, the famous song and fiction writer in New Mexico) helped me by producing my first album of original songs, Big Wind.

The melody is also called South Wind, a traditional Irish harp and fiddle tune.
This recording features Linda Relph on fiddle. This four-time California State Champ fiddler (just by 1990) had recently moved to Dallas, and we met at a Celtic Music Session at the old Tipperary Inn on Lower Greenville Avenue in Dallas. We later formed a band together with folk singer, Bodhran player and accordionist Rupert Crabb called Pegasus Project. We played hard for about three years and it was a blast.

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Ancient Valley Open Mic Season Three

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Thursday, June 6 began the 2019 season of Ancient Valley Open Mic at a new location in Del Norte, Colorado Tap House and Grille/Mystic Biscuit Coffeehouse. We enjoyed using their big, well-lit stage and sound system.

Ancient Valley Open Mic is a free, weekly community event. Solos and groups, music and spoken word, all ages and languages are welcome.

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KNON Dallas/Fort Worth Air Time!

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The “Not Just Another Pretty Song” Texas Tour is going great. Check out my regular updates at Jenni Mansfield Peal Original on Facebook. Today I joined Anni Howe and the crew for Action Anni’s Monday Morning Blend on KNON, 89.3 fm DFW and played old and new songs.

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1409648398

A beautiful day in Dallas on the air at KNON 89.3 fm, Community Radio!
Action Anni (Anni Howe), DJ.