Far from home, far from home on Fraser River’s shore – so sang the miners at their sluice boxes at Emory’s Bar during the Fraser River Gold Rush of 1858. British Columbians have always sung about their work, and their recreation, their politics, their living conditions – the good times and the bad. This unique collection of songs spanning a period of seventy-five years is a colourful documentary giving vivid glimpses into the social, economic, and political life of the province from the time of Captain Cook to the present. Founding and honorary life member of the Vancouver Folk Song Society, honorary president of the Canadian Folk Music Society, Phil Thomas sings, accompanies himself on a five-string banjo or guitar and has for thirty years taught and been concerned with the spread of awareness and enjoyment of folk music. Much of his teaching has been in the field of child art and he has taught in the Vancouver School of Art, at the University of British Columbia and the Vancouver Art Gallery.