Nancy Raven

Nancy Raven devoted four decades to creating folk music aimed at young listeners. During the 1960s she took part in the children’s folk movement, and the albums she made then reveal her strong affinity for straightforward, tradition-based songs suited to preschool ears. Subsequent releases reveal her growing interest in multicultural teaching and the varied traditions it embraces.

Born in Glendale, CA in 1929 and raised in Southern California, Raven earned both a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in education from San Diego State University. Music, however, remained her deepest passion. She began performing in 1958 and issued her debut recording, Lullabies, by 1960. At a time when Walt Disney and Golden Records dominated the market, her unadorned folk material offered a welcome alternative. Six further albums appeared on the Pacific Cascade label before the decade ended. Pete Seeger, Sam Hinton, and Marcia Berman shaped her approach; their shared affection for simple, spontaneously created songs is evident in her own work.

For the next fifteen years Raven produced no new children’s recordings, choosing instead to teach high-school art. She did appear as a guest on Malvina Reynolds’s 1975 release. In 1984 she founded the Lizard Rock label and launched a fresh period of intense songwriting and recording, completing seven albums over seven years. Each featured her clear soprano voice and assured playing of guitar, banjo, charango, and dulcimer. Singing, Prancing, and Dancing and You Gotta Juba! each received Parent’s Choice Awards. Alongside her concert dates she conducted workshops for educators across the United States and Japan.