Jamboree!

Jamboree was kind of a mixed event in terms of success. I thought that manning the booth was fairly unrewarding as everything there was for the other class, but I felt that swing dancing went slightly better than I thought it would.

To be real honest, I didn't expect too many people to show up to the dancing. I knew there was going to be a lot of other stuff going on, and dancing can be awkward. Surprisingly enough, a few people showed up and appeared as though they had a fun time. It was also true, however, that we didn't know enough dance steps to keep it interesting for any length of time.

The climax of the event was the bands performance, not just because I was involved with it, but because I think people reacted better to live music, plus we had our highest attendance at that same time.

All in all, it wasn't too bad.

Gospel Part 2 (Technical Problems...)

First of all, I really couldn't get the second Gospel Playlist to work. I could get a song playing, and then it would be fine, but somewhere in the middle of it (or doing the transition to the next song), a second song would start playing. It would also take several minutes to get the next song playing, if it would even start playing.

That aside, I really enjoyed "Yonder Come Day" by New Year Shout. I think I got that title right, but I'm not one-hundred percent sure. The songs that I was able to listen to had what I would consider a more "religious" sound--lyrics that dealt directly with the church and other aspects of religion. This also could have been just because the songs were more modern, but I think that this playlist seemed more religiously tied than the previous.

"Sit Down Servant" by the Staple Singers was an example of this more modern sound, and was also the only group from the playlist (that I can remember at least) that I had heard of before. If I'm not mistaken, they were a 70's soul group, which seems to be different than the other artists on the playlist......

Gospel Part 1

For some odd reason, I had some sort of interest in religious music before I listened to the first of two iTunes playlists. I'm not at all religious, and often make fun of Christian Rock, but have had some interest in the genre for awhile now, and I'm not sure why.

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the hour long set of music. Although many apt comparisons could be made to the earlier playlists/Pandora sets/podcasts, the layered vocals, themes and subtle differences made these songs more exciting than earlier installments. The principle sound (and sound quality) definitely still existed, with vocals maxing out and records crackling in the background, but that really should not become the focus of this music.

Sound quality aside, I enjoyed Lyle Lovette's "Church" more than any other song, and not simply for the fact that it was definitely more modern than the other songs on the list. The layered vocals seemed more harmonic (which I suppose could be tied to recording quality), but just being able to listen to enunciated lyrics definitely had its appeal. I guess I really don't see how this song fits into the Roots Music theme, unless this is an accurate modern version of elements of roots music from the actual "roots years."

I found the sermon-based recordings interesting as well, and they brought up several questions. For the first time while listening to assigned songs, the recordings were used for non-musical reasons. Were the sermons recorded at a later time period when recording was cheaper? Was church money used to fund these endeavors? Were these, as they were mostly not musical, seen as frivolous at the time, or merely as a reflection of society? I personally don't know, but assume that the last was true, that they were a reflection of what the "mainstream" wanted, as Jazz and Blues were seen as dangerous outsider genres with ties to alcohol and a rough lifestyle.

In addition I also enjoyed:

Sister Mary Nelson's "Judgement"
Bascom Lamar Lunsford's "Dry Bones"
and
Reverend Benny Campbell's "You Must be Born Again"

-Brady

FYS Discussion Blog 10/31

Well, first of all there hasn't been too much in class discussion, so I guess I'll throw in a few things about some of the peformances, and reminisce about the days where we did some discussion.

Although I have thoroughly enjoyed the performances, I would really rather read and discuss books like "In the Country of Country" and "Deep Blues." It seems to me like the performances have kind of been hit or miss; either somebody has a background in guitar/bass or music in general, or they don't and its more of an abstract presentation complimented with a Powerpoint.

In terms of the actual discussions, I really enjoy the Q+A sessions after the performances, as well as some of the ideas that stem from the performances, including the idea to teach/do swing dance as a Jamboree final project. I guess in that sense (sparking new ideas) the performances have been successful, but I would really rather read about/listen to music and discuss it the way we did the first few weeks or so of class.

I guess I can't really complain about the discussions that we have had, it just seems that they're a little few and far between.

-Brady

The Folkways Collection, Episode 5

Beyond a small exception (one section of this episode), I felt that episodes 4 and 5 were in a lot of ways presenting the same ideas. While the anthology may have (and was) been a very significant collection of music done by a very unique and interesting person in Harry Smith, it was kind of this same concept over and over again for two hours.

One passage in particular that I really liked was the interview with the member of the Grateful Dead (not the later part about Garcia) as he explained the impact that Smith's Anthology had on his own music. "This is where we all started," he recalled. "Then we went beyond that music," he said, giving a very real connection between the anthology (where the musicians and genres seem far away) and music as "we" know it.

Another fact that I found interesting was Smith's undying commitment to bring the music to the masses, especially the fact that the anthology was put together without permission, technically making the first edition a bootleg........

The Folkways Collection, Episode 4

Episode 4 seemed to be very different from Episode 3. It's not that it wasn't interesting, but it seemed a little bit formulaic and tired. The show played part of a song from Harry Smith's "Anthology of American Folk Music," then dissected it. I really liked the music that they played, especially the Canon Jugstompers "Minglewood Blues."

Beyond that, I think that the sheer influence that the anthology had on future folk musicians is incredible. When Smith explained the work at the 1991 Grammy's, he seemed to realize the affect that his collection had on musicians. This became even more evident when coupled with Eagan's (a current musician and student of the genre) reccomendation of the anthology.

In conclusion, I hope that the 5th (and later) installments of "The Folkways Collection" are more like the third than the fourth, but I really couldn't complain with the quality of music presented in this episode.

The Folkways Collection, Episode 3

I really liked this installment of the Folkways Collection. Though I've only listened to the third and fourth installments thusfar, I liked a lot of aspects, particularily Moses Asche's sense of history and preservation.

In stark contrast with almost all record executives today (including the ones I've had the chance to meet), Asche seemed to really actually just be about the music and not the money. When he described how he always wanted to keep records in print whether they "sold five copies or five hundred," that speaks greatly of his character and dedication.

He also seemed to have a very strong sense of maintaining the music as a means of writing history. He always wanted to keep everything around to provide what he described as an "encyclopedia" of sorts, keeping every letter in line and available.

All in all this episode showed a side of the music industry that is fairly lacking today, which is how this episode ties into the class; roots music as a whole was a different ball game than modern music (a relative term). Not only were musicians employees of the record company, they were also family who were looked out for by the company (the show described how a friend/relative of Asche always made sure several of his musicians had enough to eat).

Blog Summary for 10/10

First of all, I'd like to say that this class has given me my first exposure to the whole "blogging" scene. With this being my first exposure to the lifestyle, the legend and the community that blogging provides, it has become apparent that others also have varying backgrounds in the subject.

Whoever blogs under the name "Random Stuff Plus Homework" obviously has previous exposure to the scene. With seven of the ten most recent blogs, his entries range from rants about laundry, the local McDonalds, religious programming in Morris, and trips to the Twin Cities area (can you really dislike a blog that starts out by saying "Grr! I hate laundry!"). Clearly, it falls a little bit more on the "Random Stuff" side than the "Plus Homework" side, but I was entertained by his writings.

All in all, the ten most recent posts weren't all that scholarly--but they did provide several comments on recent in-class performances, including my favorite, from "Greenstar" who talked about her nervousness during her American Sign Language in-class performance this past week. Personally, I really enjoyed the uniqueness of the performance and the depth of her research into deaf musicians. Her comment about audience response made me think more about the performance. "I did not get to practice signing my song much so yes, normally it is a lot beter to watch because you can consider, facial expression, body movement, timing, and much more." Would deaf musicians perform differently? Usually when we think of any photographed rock star playing guitar now, we see them either with their eyes closed, or attentively looking at their instruments. Hmmmmmm......

Maybe a few more posts regarding the reading would've been nice, but I know it can be hard to keep up with the reading, seeing as I have only done two blogs on the topic myself. Overall the blogs were enjoyable.

-Brady

Deep Blues Chapter 3

I was most struck by two things from the third installment of Palmer's "Deep Blues."

The first was that the concept of creating a unique image as an artist was a foreign concept, with only one exception during the time: Peetie Wheatsraw, the Devil's son in-law, the High Sheriff from Hell. Beyond just having an extremely cool name, he also sang about raunchy subjects and the devil. The song that the book mentions, the "Peetie Wheatstraw Stomp," also appears on the blues CD I checked out from the library.

The second topic that fascinated me involved the "borrowing" of styles from one artist to another. While we would consider this an impossibility today with modern copyright laws, it in fact happens on a large scale in the rap world. Not in just "sampling" or borrowing a beat from an older rock or even blue song (the artists or record companies pay for these rights), but in an illegal sense. A few nights ago I was reading an article by one of my favorite writers, Pete Scholtes, in the online version of Minneapolis/St. Paul's The City Pages. The article involved mixtapes, where local groups do a little bit of their own borrowing from national artists to promote their own work. A link for the story: http://citypages.com/databank/27/1339/article14586.asp

Maybe all of the second paragraph was way off topic, but I just found it interesting, especially considering the fact that there were two coincidences in my life this week that related directly to the reading in Deep Blues.

Song Project

I'd like to do mine on Little Brother Montgomery's "The First Time I Met You."

Possible Performance Idea

Nothing real set in stone, but I'd like to do a series of short interviews and put together a little clip of responses. I'm currently kicking around two different ideas.

The first would be to play a thirty-second clip of something old from the first listening list and get people's reactions.

The second would be to see what people know about the origins of blues or blues artists. How do different people define the genre?

Of course I would need some way to splice the clips together, though I do have my own digital voice recorder for use.

In class I would explain the process, what I thought was going to happen, what did happen, and finally, play the clip.

Response to "Deep Blues" Prologue-Chapter 1

Usually it's pretty hard to accurately "describe" music. However, in Robert Palmers prologue and first chapter of "Deep Blues" however, I feel convinced that blues music got its origin just as Palmer described.

I was particularily impressed by his descriptions early on of the south, including this short excerpt from page two.

"...where two thin ribbons of asphalt met on the flat plane of the Delta land under skies bleached white by the sun."

Sure, he's describing a barren crossroads and it really has nothing to do with the actual blues music, but it really sets the scene for the early part of the book. Both the idea of something coming out of nothing and of the crossroads seemed to play an important role.

Further on in the reading, on page 17 Palmer describes why one would want to read about or listen to Delta blues.

"The music has never needed interpreters of popularizers; it's always been strong enough to stand on its own."

Currently, in an age where promoting dollars and distribution deals often shape popularity and financial success (now the only real definition of success), blues music at the time seemed to be about more, or maybe the musicians were just talented enough to make it work by itself.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading the first fifty or so pages of "Deep Blues," and hope that the book continues along the same path.

Governor Blanco Response

The university did a great thing by getting a speaker with the credentials of Governor Blanco. While seeing an important political speaker can provide insight into the workings of the American political system, Governor Blanco’s speech was fairly predictable and could’ve been delivered by anyone with a working knowledge of the Katrina crisis. By starting out her speech by giving a generic “you can be whatever you want to be” introduction, she set the mood for a bland speech, the direction it ultimately took. Someone with such knowledge and beliefs from a time of crisis should’ve shared her personal response, instead of simply recounting, and then denying, what everyone in the audience had seen in the media. It also seemed as though Blanco was simply trying to defend herself from being seen as somebody who failed to properly respond to the disaster (the media portrayal) by going through an item by item list of how the federal government failed in every way. It’s very possible that Governor Blanco has accomplished some great things as Governor of Louisiana, but it certainly wasn’t apparent to me after hearing her speak.

FYS Initial Blog Assignment

1. After reviewing the green sheet at registration, I was drawn to Roots Music immediately based on my love of music and desire to know more about the origins and history. It really wasn't just a "I'll take it because I have to," but more of a "I really hope I get my first choice."

2. Five Songs For a Desert Island

A. Alkaline Trio-"Cooking Wine"
B. Brother Ali-"Forest Whitaker"
C. Heiruspecs-"5ves"
D. Suicide Machines-"New Girl"
E. Rage Against the Machine-"Know Your Enemy"

3. I will always associate my dad with Van Morrison's "Moondance" album, due to the fact that along with Bruce Hornsby (& The Range), Dave Matthews and Los Lobos, I essentially grew up with Van Morrison.

4. New national anthem: The Band-"Atlantic City"

5. Directly, I'm not involved in any kind of music performance, though I do write (CD reviews and features) on Minnesota music for both a website and a magazine.

6. Question for Governor Blanco.....

Being the first female governor of Louisiana, do you feel your approach to the office is (or should be) radically different from your predecessors?