Momma Don't 'Low is a program and newsletter to support home-made and roots-based music in general, as well as the readers of CreekDontRise.com, SchoolOfTheRock.com, and ClassicTrainSongs.com.
Click to visit RiverBoatMusic.com's acoustic guitar buyers' guides







































Click to visit RiverBoatMusic.com's banjo buyers' guides
Momma Don't 'Low™ is a program to support followers of our music-related web pages, including Creek Don't Rise™, Classic Train Songs™, RiverboatMusic.com™, and PaulRaceMusic.com, as shown in the following line:

Heartland-inspired music, history, and acoustic instrument tips.
Best-loved railroad songs and the stories behind them.
Look to Riverboat Music buyers' guide for descriptions of musical instruments by people who play musical instruments. A page devoted to some of Paul's own music endeavors.

Paul dressed in period clothes for a event at the Clark County (Ohio) Historical Society.Most of the resources we provide grew out of projects and research that author and musician Paul Race posted in case other folks might be interested in the content. Soon Paul started getting lots of reader questions on related topics. And he wrote more articles to answer those questions and so on. Which hopefully explains why there are articles on such a wide range of subjects spread over so many web sites.

The Momma Don't 'Low program's primary benefit at this time is a free- if infrequent - e-mail newsletter that discusses all of those topics above and more. We plan to include other features as time permits.

Topics that are frequently posted in the newsletter include:

  • Roots and acoustic-based music, including Folk, Singer-Songwriter, etc.,
  • Music career issues,
  • Acoustic instrument choice and maintenance,
  • Train songs,
  • What Paul and our other team members (see below) are up to on various musical fronts, and
  • Much more (but not all in the same newsletter).

In the meantime, the Momma Don't 'Low™ newsletter is more than Paul's way of making sure his core readership stays "in the loop" on the topics they have signed up to learn more about. He's building a "safe place," a community of like-minded people who will support their chosen genres, their local venues, and each other. For that reason, we "vet" our sign-ins carefully - we'd rather have 40 people who are legit and supportive of each other than 4000 e-mail addresses we know nothing about.

Update for 2024 - When we started this newsletter, a lot of folks who signed up apparently had no actual interest in any of the instruments or kinds of music we discuss. Or they were upset their instrument wasn't discussed in the first issue they received (though it was discussed two issues back, if they'd bothered to look).

But we want to "be there for them" for folks who ARE interested in learning, even about instruments and musical styles they don't play. (At a recent festival, I learned a lot about "Barn Dance" fiddling, and found it fascinating, even though I don't play fiddle - or violin.)

Sadly, our web hosting and ISP provider broke our signup pages and they're not fixed yet. So the best way to sign up for the Momma Don't 'Low newsletter is to go to our Creek Don't Rise Facebook page and Direct Message me.

Get Me Out of Here! - On the other hand, if you are getting the Momma Don't 'Low newsletter and would rather not, please just reply to the e-mail newsletter with "Please Unsubscribe" message or subject line.

About the Name

"Momma Don't 'Low," sometimes spelled "Momma Don't Allow" but never sung that way, is an old folk song about playing music even when and where you're not "supposed to." And since every instrument and type of music we discuss on all of my music pages has been forbidden, "politically incorrect," or frowned upon at some point in history, we figured the song title would represent all of our various constituencies.


All material, illustrations, and content of this web site is copyrighted © 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 by Paul D. Race. All rights reserved.

Creek Dont' Rise(tm) (the site that hosts this page) is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Note: Creek Don't Rise (tm) is Paul Race's name for his resources supporting the history and music of the North American Heartland as well as additional kinds of acoustic and traditional music.

For questions, comments, suggestions, trouble reports, etc. about the site, the newsletter, the play "Creek Don't Rise," or about any of our web pages, please contact us.


Paul Race playing a banjo. Click to go to Paul's music home page.Whatever else you get out of our pages, I hope you enjoy your music and figure out how to make enjoyable music for those around you as well.

And please stay in touch!

    - Paul Race Click to see Paul's music page on Facebook Click to see Paul's music home page Click to see Paul's YouTube Channel. Click to see Paul's music blog page Click to visit the Creek Don't Rise discussion forum. Click to learn about our Momma Don't Low Newsletter.



Visit related pages and affiliated sites:
- Music -
Heartland-inspired music, history, and acoustic instrument tips.
Best-loved railroad songs and the stories behind them.
Learn important guitar chords quickly, to jump start your ability to play along on any song. With a few tools and an hour or two of work, you can make your guitar, banjo, or mandolin much more responsive.  Instruments with movable bridges can have better-than-new intonation as well. Resources for learning Folk Music and instruments quickly Check out our article on finding good used guitars.
Carols of many countries, including music, lyrics, and the story behind the songs. X and Y-generation Christians take Contemporary Christian music, including worship, for granted, but the first generation of Contemporary Christian musicians faced strong, and often bitter resistance. Different kinds of music call for different kinds of banjos.  Just trying to steer you in the right direction. New, used, or vintage - tips for whatever your needs and preferences. Wax recordings from the early 1900s, mostly collected by George Nelson.  Download them all for a 'period' album. Explains the various kinds of acoustic guitar and what to look for in each.
Look to Riverboat Music buyers' guide for descriptions of musical instruments by people who play musical instruments. Learn 5-string banjo at your own speed, with many examples and user-friendly explanations. Explains the various kinds of banjos and what each is good for. Learn more about our newsletter for roots-based and acoustic music. Folks with Bb or Eb instruments can contribute to worship services, but the WAY they do depends on the way the worship leader approaches the music. A page devoted to some of Paul's own music endeavors.
- Trains and Hobbies -
Free building projects for your vintage railroad or Christmas village.
Visit Lionel Trains. Click to see Thomas Kinkaded-inspired Holiday Trains and Villages. Big Christmas Train Primer: Choosing and using model trains with holiday themes Building temporary and permanent railroads with big model trains Click to see HO scale trains with your favorite team's colors.
- Christmas Memories and Collectibles -
Visit the FamilyChristmasOnline site. Visit Howard Lamey's glitterhouse gallery, with free project plans, graphics, and instructions. Click to return to the Old Christmas Tree Lights Table of Contents Page Click to sign up for Maria Cudequest's craft and collectibles blog.
Click to visit Fred's Noel-Kat store.
Visit Papa Ted Althof's extensive history and collection of putz houses, the largest and most complete such resource on the Internet..
- Family Activities and Crafts -
Click to see reviews of our favorite family-friendly Christmas movies. Free, Family-Friendly Christmas Stories Decorate your tree the old-fashioned way with these kid-friendly projects. Free plans and instructions for starting a hobby building vintage-style cardboard Christmas houses. Click to find free, family-friendly Christmas poems and - in some cases - their stories. Traditional Home-Made Ornaments