Praise for A Sacred Feast: Reflections on Sacred Harp Singing and Dinner on the Ground by Kathryn Eastburn
“Dishes with charming names like ‘Ivalene Donaldson’s Lazy Man Fruit Pie’ beg to be tested. A Sacred Feast appears equal parts historical documentary and cookbook, with the pensive, yet lively and descriptive writing for which the author is regarded.”—Matthew Schniper, Colorado Independent
Lyrically LinkingMost of us don’t know the first thing about Sacred Harp singing. Bet you didn’t know, for example, that Sacred Harp singing doesn’t require any harps. In fact, there are no instruments involved whatsoever. Go figure. Essentially, this style of musical expression takes the form of a four-part, bellowing harmony, its tone deep and a bit dark—not your grandmother’s gospel music. Interested in learning more? Kathryn Eastburn has penned a fascinating account of the origins and modern-day incarnations of the Sacred Harp movement in A Sacred Feast: Reflections on Sacred Harp Singing and Dinner on the Ground, the freshest offering from UNP’s At Table series. Anyone interested in music, Southern culture, religion, history, or food (essentially, everyone), will want to snag a copy of this book for their shelves.
In the meantime, check out these links on Sacred Harp singing and ready yourself for the next opportunity to impress fellow cocktail-party-goers with your knowledge of this fairly obscure musical subject.
Link to this great article adapted from a segment on NPR’s “All Things Considered” for a concise, educational overview of what Sacred Harp singing is all about, a link to the on-air discussion, and full-length clips of live Sacred Harp performances: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1534280.
Visit the charmingly named Fasola Web site at http://fasola.org/, sponsored by the Sacred Harp Musical Heritage Association. Here you’ll find a great overview of Sacred Harp music, local and national gatherings, resources for learning the genre (including a summer camp called Camp Fasola!), and links to other informative sites.
If you want to hear what all the fuss is about, hop over to FloridaMemory.com, the online state archives of Florida, for MP3 files containing interviews with Sacred Harp singers and recordings of their performances at http://www.floridamemory.com/OnlineClassroom/sacred_harp/documents.cfm.
Interested in locating a Sacred Harp singing group in your area? Go to http://www.mcsr.olemiss.edu/~mudws/regional.html for a listing of Sacred Harp groups by region. Whether you reside in Nashville or New York City, there’s a group near you!
That brings this installment of “Linking in Lincoln” to its melodious end. Don’t forget to visit us tomorrow for “This Week in History.” Until then, bloggers!
Sacred Harp singing, the topic of a forthcoming book from the University of Nebraska Press entitled A Sacred Feast: Reflections on Sacred Harp Singing and Dinner on the Ground by Kathryn Eastburn (available April 2008), was the subject of a feature in Time Magazine yesterday. Click here for the full text of the Time article and stay tuned for the publication of A Sacred Feast this April!
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True to the Roots: Americana Music Revealed
Interviews and portraits of the folks who make Our Kind of Music (OKOM), or Alternative Country, including artists such as Jack Ingram, Brad Paisley, or bands such as Reckless Kelly.
When You Sing It Now, Just Like New: First Nations Poetics, Voices, and Representations
By Robin Ridington and Jillian Ridington
Essays about stories. Essays about hearing these stories. Robing Ridington and Jillian Ridington share their experiences with the Athapaskan-speaking Dane-zaa people, who live in Canada's Peace River area. Check out the audio page for When You Sing it Now, Just Like New.
XX: Lyrics and Photographs of the Cowboy Junkies, with watercolors by Enrique Martínez Celaya
Lyrics and photographs of the Coywboy Junkies
Watercolors by Enrique Martínez Celaya
A celebration of the twentieth anniversary of the Cowboy Junkies with lyrics, photographs, and Enrique Martínez Celaya's work.
Bodily Charm: Living Opera
By Linda Hutcheon and Michael Hutcheon
Opera is alive in the performers and in itself. Works such as Richard Strauss' Salome are used for an interdisciplinary exploration of the operatic body -- physical and represented.
The Musical Worlds of Lerner and Loewe
By Gene Lees
Because of Lerner, Eliza Doolittle was able to say, "I could have danced all night, I could have danced all night/ And still have begged for more." Frederick Loewe wrote the music to "Thank Heaven For Little Girls."
You Can't Steal a Gift: Dizzy, Clark, Milt, and Nat
By Gene Lees
Foreword by Nat Hentoff
Journalist and music critic Gene Lees offers minibiographies of jazz greats Dizzy Gillespie, Clark Terry, Milt Hinton and Nat King Cole and the impact of racism on jazz during the bebop and cool jazz eras.
If You Don't Go, Don't Hinder Me: The African American Sacred Song Tradition
By Bernice Johnson Reagon
Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon, founder of a cappella group Sweet Honey in the Rock, centers four essays on spiritual music with the theme of African American migration.
Bruno Walter: A World Elsewhere
By Erik Ryding and Rebecca Pechefsky
With a new introduction by the authors
A biography of conductor Bruno Walter, following his career in Germany and the United States, his friendships with people such as Gustav Mahler, and his essential recordings with the Columbia Symphony Orchestra.
Whale and Star is pleased to announce the release of our new book
XX
148 pages, 87 color illustrations,
hardcover. $45.00
XX celebrates the twentieth anniversary of Cowboy Junkies, one of the most distinctive and influential rock bands in recent years. Starting with the seminal album The Trinity Session, the Canadian band's signature sound, based on traditional blues and post-punk rock, has garnered much critical acclaim and an uncommonly devoted international following. Cowboy Junkies are: guitarist and songwriter Michael Timmins, bassist Alan Anton and Timmins' siblings Margo (lead vocals) and Peter (drums).
Michael Timmins has created narratives-poems-of everyday life. They bring to mind the musical legacy of Hank Williams, Robert Johnson and Lou Reed as well as the poetry of Sylvia Plath, Miguel Hernández and Robert Frost. Timmins' poignant and deceptively simple images and songs embody truths without feeling pedantic or overworked. The understated quality of his songwriting finds a medium in the haunting and warm voice of his sister and the rich and spare sound of the band to deliver songs of gain, loss, vulnerability and hope.
XX, the first book solely devoted to Cowboy Junkies, offers an intimate look at the band from the point of view of their own photographs and many of the original handwritten lyrics of Michael Timmins, who also chose the selection of songs. XX is conceived as a record of twenty years of journey as well as an artist book. Each lyric is accompanied by a work on paper created by Enrique Martínez Celaya, a world-renowned artist and a friend of the band. He helped arrange the photographs and Michael's notes, and created the watercolors over a period of a few months while listening to Cowboy Junkies' music.
XX is available in bookstores around the world or through our distributor, the University of Nebraska Press. Visit our website at www.whaleandstar.com. To celebrate the release of the book, Whale and Star will host a special acoustic performance by Michael and Margo
Timmins as well as a book signing on October 7th, 2006, which will be held at GRIFFIN, 2902 Nebraska Avenue, Santa Monica, California at 8:00 pm. The watercolors created for the book by Enrique Martínez Celaya will also be on view.
Space is limited. To place your name on the guest list, please call GRIFFIN at 310.586.6886 before October 3. Those on the guest list should be at the gallery on or before 7:15 pm. The general public will be invited to enter at 7:30 pm. No one will be admitted after 7:45 pm.
