An American original, John Jacob Niles was a composer, performer, and author. Born in Louisville, Kentucky in 1892, he came from a musical family. While working with a surveying team in eastern Kentucky as a teenager, he kept a notebook in which he recorded lyrics and music of old folk songs known in the area. Niles served as a U.S. Army pilot in World War I and made numerous reconnaissance flights until he suffered serious injuries in a plane crash. After the war he studied music at the University of Lyon, the Schola Cantorium in Paris and the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. He renewed his search for folk songs in Appalachia as he accompanied noted photographer Doris Ulmann on her travels. He composed and arranged more than 1,000 songs, many of them made famous by Jo Stafford. These songs of our American heritage are beautifully sung by Hope Koehler.