The event strikes a balance between research-based presentations and workshops, mentoring sessions, and collaboration between musicians for a Saturday afternoon public concert. The presentations are based on some of the latest research into mostly mid-19th century banjo culture, which is largely focused on blackface minstrelsy and seeking to understand the banjo's provenance as an African American instrument. Those musicians who attended included about 15 banjo players, several fiddlers, and several capable percussionists performing in ensembles and contextualizing the pieces they were playing.
As I've mentioned in a couple other locations, some of this year's highlights included Bob Winans on the African American musical elements in the Dan Emmett manuscripts (which will be part of a forthcoming book), banjo whiz Carl Anderton discussing his research into 19th century banjo luminary Frank Converse's life and outputs, George Wunderlich explaining facets of early commercial banjo manufacturer William Boucher's banjo construction practices, and Lucas Bowman, who is finishing up his MA in Geography from Appalachian State University, on the geographic implications behind Joel Sweeney's performance routes (1836-1842) (Bowman's research builds on the work that Bob Carlin presents in his Birth of the Banjo book on J.W. Sweeney). Texas banjo player Joel Hooks even brought along a box full of the downstroke thimbles he is now producing (http://thejoelhooks.com/Site/Buy_Thimbles.html ).
We also had a show-and-tell period where folks were able to share their latest banjo and music acquisitions. Banjo builders Pete Ross, Jim Hartel, Dave Kirschner, and Jack Gellerstedt were on hand to talk about their work and knowledge regarding banjo construction. As an aside, we even had a small breakout group of people working on late 19th century classic fingerstyle/ragtime pieces, which grew out of the banjo's mid-19th century commercial publications.
But there are two other points that I really want to emphasize in the value of this event. First is the nurturing sense of community that was present throughout the entire weekend. The event was marked by people of varying skill levels, ranging from those with advanced music reading and performance skills to those who had very little experience with early banjo music, but who were quite capable old-time banjo players. The music we played focused largely on banjo instruction books from the 1850s-1880s, which primarily uses a downstroke playing technique, but also, increasingly throughout this time period (especially beginning in 1865), a guitar style/influenced upstroke fingerstyle technique. The fact that not everyone in attendance was able to read music off the page did not prevent learning new pieces or opportunities to develop new skills and repertoire. For example, I had the opportunity to teach about 6-8 of the weekend's attendees how to play "Genuine Negro Jig" by rote, but based on my reading of the original sheet music in the Dan Emmett manuscripts (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZdNF8Rvay4 ). Everyone learned how to do it on fretless reproduction 19th century banjos. It was amazing.
The second point I want to emphasize is that in order for us to come together to explore this music, satisfying our affinity for the banjo, its music, and how it makes us feel, we could not do it without a willingness to acknowledge, attempt to address, and discuss issues regarding race, the depicted treatment of women and other minority groups, slavery, appropriation, and exploitation. These are points that are inextricably tied to banjo history. Because this event (and other similar events) are now taking place, we are creating opportunities to explore these perspectives as part of what is hopefully a larger cultural process both within and beyond the banjo revival community.
I realize that 19th century banjo music is a niche within a niche, but I wanted to emphasize that some very important developments are taking place on this front and I don't want inquisitive people to miss out on an opportunity to become more active participants in this community, the dialogue that is being created, and the potential impact that this course of study might have on the bigger issues that a deeper understanding of banjo history can afford to the general public.
Ultimately, thank you for reading. Keep your eye on the National Museum of Civil War Medicine and other events that are forward-thinking enough to include programming that highlights these wider aspects of banjo history. Also, you can learn more about what some members of this community are doing by going to http://minstrelbanjo.ning.com/ . Here you will find blogs, forums, links to videos, and photographs as it pertains to the latest trends in people's exploration of the 19th century banjo.
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Greg C. Adams
Project Director, Banjo Sightings Database Project (Vernacular Music Material Culture in Space and Time)
NEH Level-I Digital Humanities Start-Up Grant (http://www.neh.gov/ODH/Default.aspx?tabid=111&id=101 )
BSD Blog: http://vmmaterialculture.blogspot.com/
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www.myspace.com/banjoroots
www.myspace.com/banjargreg
Best regards,
Greg
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Greg C. Adams
Project Director, Banjo Sightings Database Project (Vernacular Music Material Culture in Space and Time)
NEH Level-I Digital Humanities Start-Up Grant (http://www.neh.gov/ODH/
BSD Blog: http://vmmaterialculture.
*******
www.myspace.com/banjoroots
www.myspace.com/banjargreg
