(Host) From Abenaki songs to traditional folk ballads to the modern sounds of bands like Phish, the music of our region can both tell stories and connect us with history and culture. To celebrate Lake Champlain's Quadricentennial, the Vermont music collective Big Heavy World, the Vermont Folklife Center, and the Vermont Historical Society have produced a two-CD set that chronicles our region's musical history.

The compilation is called Thrufters and Throughstones, named for the special stones that help anchor the rocks in New England stone walls. The name is meant to symbolize the continuity of music in Vermont.

Andy Kolovos is an archivist with the Vermont Folklife Center and a researcher on the project. He talked with VPR's Jane Lindholm about one of the songs in the collection. "Young Charlotte" began life as a poem. It's a cautionary tale that eventually was set to music and has traveled widely around the country. It's performed here by soprano Deborah Flanders.

Listen to the complete recording of "Young Charlotte"

Read the liner notes about "Young Charlotte".