Harry Bale
High Country Trash
Description
"Harry Bale" is a haunting 19th-century murder ballad that tells the true story of a young sawmill worker in Lapeer County, Michigan, who was horrifically killed in a workplace accident in 1879. The lyrics paint a raw, unflinching picture of sudden tragedy: the gruesome sawmill injury, his final moments, and the grief of his brothers and sisters with no parents left to mourn him. For **High Country Trash**, this traditional becomes a dark, cinematic Southern Rock / Tex-Mex tragedy. Ramon’s gritty, emotional vocals lead a slow-building arrangement featuring mournful slide guitar, swelling accordion, and sparse, dusty drums. It captures the band’s core identity — honoring the everyday dangers faced by working men, the fragility of life, and the quiet dignity in blue-collar stories that history almost forgot. A powerful, heartbreaking show closer that hits different every time. (118 words)
Legal Details / License Terms
This song comes from the 1910 John A. Lomax's collection "Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads" John A. Lomax was a pioneering folklorist who traveled the West recording cowboy songs, work songs, and ballads from oral tradition. His 1910 book was one of the first major collections to treat these as serious American folk literature (it even includes a foreword from Theodore Roosevelt). Origin: Like many in the collection, the song is anonymous ("Unknown"). It likely emerged in the late 19th/early 20th century among settlers, cowboys, and dry-land farmers in the Southwest (Texas, New Mexico, Arizona regions), where adobe dwellings were common. It reflects the real struggles of homesteaders on marginal land—drought, sandstorms, claim-jumping, and economic failure—during the closing of the frontier.
Rights Information
The winning bidder will receive 100.00% ownership of this work, including proportional rights to streaming royalties, sync licensing fees, and other revenue generated by this music. Ownership is transferred via a formal assignment agreement during the escrow process. Learn more →