Majestic mountains and cascading rivers will help to set the scene for a concert at the Palmer Museum of Art tonight.

As a part of First Thursday, Dave Ruch will play "Songs of the Hudson River and the Catskills" in conjunction with the museum's exhibit American Scenery: Different Views in Hudson River School Painting.

Ruch said he plays songs that originated in upstate New York, most written before 1910.

"I research and perform songs that people used to entertain themselves with before the days of radio and TV," he said.

Many of the songs were passed around through oral tradition, without actually being written on sheet music, Ruch said.

Performing in schools and museums as well as at music festivals, Ruch uses his knowledge of folk tunes to educate audiences about the history in the music, which he plans to do during his performance at the Palmer Museum.

"It's an opportunity where learning through music is a lot more fun than learning out of a textbook," Ruch said.

"I don't present it as a dry, academic lecture. I do it as a concert and I always try to involve the audience," he added.

The stories within the songs focus on the Great Lakes region, illustrating what life was like for farmers, workmen and slaves during the late 1800s.

"[Folk songs] tell us what people were singing about and thinking about at that time. They don't so much give dates in history, but a window into that time," Ruch said.

Dana Kletchka, curator of education at the Palmer Museum, said that when she first learned of Ruch's unique blend of history and music, she believed a performance would fit well with the current exhibit.

"It sounded like something interesting and complementary," Kletchka said.

"These [songs] are common vernacular sung by everyday people," she added.

Painters from the Hudson River School drew inspiration from nature, depicting the Catskill and Adirondack Mountains as well as the Hudson River Valley, in a realistic, detailed way during the end of the 19th century.

Ruch said that while the exhibit and music demonstrate the same time period, both forms of art don't represent the same kinds of people.

"The paintings will suggest a stately, highbrow view, where the songs are coming from a day-to-day working life. It will be interesting to put the two together," he said.

Ruch said that during the 1930s and 1940s, many of the songs were recorded by music historians from residents of the Catskills, but now it is difficult to find anyone who remembers singing the songs firsthand.

Ruch plays five different instruments that are authentic to the acoustic nature of the songs including the guitar, five-string banjo, mandolin, lap dulcimer and jaw harp.

He said despite taking some lessons, he does not read sheet music and plays all the songs by ear, much like those who the songs originated with.