A few thoughts on the class performances so far

I'd like to make some comments about some of the very impressive performances that people have shared in the class so far. While there has been some unevenness, a number of performances were really top notch and I definitely want to thank everyone for their hard work. I realize that it can be a bit nerve wracking to get up in front of a bunch of people you only met a month or two ago and perform/speak on a subject that is also new to you.

Some highlights (for me):

• Machelle's song and info on hobo life. I loved the song, and that she took the time to find it, make up music for it, and have the courage to sing it. The background info and the bits from her grandfather's memoirs were really informative and gave me a much better sense of what that life was like. I didn't know much about the hobo life beforehand, and I learned a lot of great stuff here.
  
• The two food events were good (and tasty!). Both groups provided some cool and useful background information, but in both cases the connections between the food and the music were perhaps a little more tenuous than optimal.
  
• Joe's connections from Africa through blues to rap was really cool. My main recommendation here would be to have the courage of your convictions. I think Joe had a great idea and pulled together some excellent evidence, but hedged a lot in his presentation when I think he could have been firmer. The kazoo performance was very cool, but he again he lost his nerve and stopped when (I think) he should have kept rocking! I also thought that he could have done more (gone longer) with the idea of doing beats over Muddy Waters - it was a cool idea and had a lot of potential, but he cut it off almost immediately so we never got a feel for what he was doing. I forgot to ask what he learned from working up that kazoo part. Joe?
• Megan's "Wade in the water" and (especially) the discussion that followed. It would have been cool to have sung some of the verses that were more specifically coding messages, however.
• Tyler's performance of the Skip James tune. It was neat seeing/hearing about him learning some new guitar styles and learning some things about tunings and styles.
  

One general comment I'd make is that there is a certain leaning towards things that resemble book reports more than performances, and I'm really much more interested in performance. One way to think about it is whether you'd ever do that for people outside of the course. You're almost certainly not going to read a report outside of class, but you might perform a song or read a poem. One thing I'm trying to get at here is a sense of the way that the people we're listening to/reading about approached the music as performers and not just consumers. They certainly didn't write book reports about the music - they sang it; we should try to do the same.

Keep up the good work!

Discussion summary for Oct. 10-13

Well we haven't really been having long class discussions in class this week and last due to performances and a trip to the library... so I just thought I could replay the performances we've had these past few weeks.
I think all of our performances have been really interesting and diversified. I learned something new with each one so they definately haven't been boring! I really liked watching sign language being performed and it made me want to learn it. The food that has been served in three of the performances (including my own) has been really good, and much appreciated since I rarely eat before class! I think all of the performances have really touched base on our roots music class with what this class is all about. I especially enjoyed today's performances as well. I didn't realize that the 'cotton-eyed-joe' song was actually really old. The only version I've ever heard is that techno one they played at middle school dances! And I really liked hearing about the meaning of what the lyrics stood for, because I've never really thought about what they meant. It kind of makes me think of other music I listen to now and look for other meanings that I may have never thought of. And Dan's trumpet playing was amazing! I really liked having the live music in class today. The banjo was also amazing! There's just something about hearing music live and seeing it being created that makes it all that much better! I definately plan on takin' a trip to Richfield to check out that store, maybe pick up a banjo... maybe!
Overall I think that our performances have been really different but tie into Roots Music really well. That just goes to show how one era of music can come from so many different backgrounds with so many spin offs!

Dates for the rest of the Open Mic Nights

I saw a poster today that (finally) had all the dates for the remaining Open Mic Nights. The next one is 26 Oct, followed by 30 Nov (the same day as FYS Jamboree), 25 Jan, 22 Feb, 22 Mar, and 26 Apr. All are scheduled from 9:30-11pm (although I bet some run longer than 11) in Oyate. Looking forward to seeing some of you there!

How are people using Pandora?

There have been a few blog posts about Pandora (esp. early in the semester) and comments in class, but I really don't have a very good sense of how people are using it and how helpful you are (or aren't) finding it. So, how are people using Pandora? What are you finding that's useful/cool/interesting (and hopefully relevant to the course :->)? What have been the pros and cons of Pandora vs. having a fixed list to listen to using iTunes in the classroom (like we did in the first week)? Would you rather we do more fixed lists so we are all listening to the same thing, or are you finding what you want/need via Pandora?

Feel free to post comments on this article, or write about it on your blog, or bring it up in class.

Thanks!

Belated plug for Performing Arts Series

I had meant to put in a plug for UMM's wonderful Performing Arts Series sometime before their first event, but that didn't happen. So I'll put in a belated plug for a really great opportunity. For a whopping $16 you can get a student season ticket for all five events, which is about the cost of a single movie and snacks out in the "real world".

Saturday they brought the National Players, who did a fine job with Shakespeare's Othello. I really liked what they did with their lighting and very simple set components that they were able to use and re-use in nifty ways. I saw several of you there, despite my lack of promotion (good!) - what did others think about the performance? Feel free to throw a comment on this post, or write about it on your blog.

The second event of this year's series is coming up a week for Saturday (the Saturday after fall break), with the Jawaahir Dance Company. They will also be doing workshops (as is true for many Performing Arts events) on Friday and Saturday, so you have a chance to meet with the performers and get involved. Our son, for example, thoroughly enjoyed the National Players' workshop on Stage Combat :-).

Again, I apologize for not being very active on-line in the last two weeks. My application for Full Professor (about 1.5 inches of paper :-( ) was due yesterday, and that really overtook way too much of my life. That's now done, however, and I can return to the much more interesting parts of the world such as this course!

Discussion Summary

I just finished the discussion summary for this week. You can find it at http://rootsfys.blogspot.com/

Blog Summary

I've posted my blog summary for october 3rd- october10th.
http://krivershanson.blogspot.com
-Keli

Thoughts on the library sessions

In sitting through the library sessions last week I had a couple of thoughts:

• There are a lot of books on music and other musical materials in our library. While most are not on roots music, I'm always pleasantly surprised by how much good roots material there is in our library. Don't overlook the library's resources when exploring this material.
• Two major resources that came up at least indirectly are the Smithsonian, which collects and publishes large bodies of roots music. Probably the most useful thing is their Folkways section at http://www.folkways.si.edu which includes lots of recordings and a cool podcast. Check it out! Another major source is the Library of Congress (which sponsored tons of field recordings, including those by the Lomaxes) and has an enormous collection of great music that's directly relevant to the course. The main link is http://www.loc.gov/ with the Folklife section likely to be the most useful.
  

I highly recommend the Smithsonian/Folkways podcast. I'm still working through it (it's 24 episodes, each of which is a full hour!), but what I have listened to has been really good. Lots of good music, as well as excellent history of the (very important) Folkways label.

Remember that we'll have a second library session on 10 October. We can guide/structure that quite a bit if we want, so let me know (for example, here in a comment) if you have particular questions/issues that you'd like to address in that session.

Discussion Summary

I've posted the discussion summary for the noon class on my blog. If the link doesn't work, my blogroll name is MBK Roots. -Mary Beth
http://mbkroots.blogspot.com/

Some crazy grungy modern blues

Sorry for not posting much last week. I'm knee deep in getting a bunch of stuff ready for a big deadline next Monday, and an opportunity came up at the last minute to go present science stuff at a big event in St. Paul on Saturday, and those two demands pretty much ate the week.

In and amongst all that, though, I discovered some really cool (modern) blues. I have a great collection of everything that Charley Patton ever recorded, plus an entire disc of related work by other artists, and another disc that's just interviews with other people talking about Patton's life and influence. The packaging is totally amazing, and it includes at least two or three books of information on Patton, his life and music (including transcriptions, modalities, and lyrics). Oh, yeah, I like it...

The aforementioned marvel is on Revanent Records, and I was looking at other stuff in their catalogue, and recognized several covers from Pandora. One thing led to another, and pretty soon I was buying the album Blue roots by the Bassholes (hoo-dee-hoo) from eMusic. This
is a totally noisy duo (drummer and guitar/vocals) doing a deeply grungy version of the blues. Think of those old guys from the video we watched, but young, angry, and with electricity. You listen to this stuff, and you can definitely feel (somewhere near your liver) the connections between punk and blues. "Titanic blues", for example, is yet another telling of the souls on that tragic voyage (this was a popular story in songs in the early 1900's), but with the volume knob turned up to 11 and more than a few bulls loose in the china shop. When he screams

First mate said look at this
"You see that great big iceberg?
WE AIN'T GONNA MISS!"

you know something bad is going down. And you gotta love an album with a song entitled "Bald headed woman blues"...

If you dig this sort of thing, it's absolutely great. If you don't, I'd look elsewhere :-).