Q&A | Thoughts on "A Cappella"
Added 2018-09-14 15:16:59 +0000 UTC"Hey Clifton, recently I've been working on my singing and to do so I've been learning some acapella songs. I wondered if you sing any songs unaccompanied, and how you find it?" - Daniel
Daniel Hester's channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCC6QUtXv-Tav6wpyHn3rBtw
Comments
Enjoy your insights into banjo, been trying to learn for a couple years now, mostly self taught. I purchased your album From the Hills & From the Plains and play it non stop, especially love your version of Little Bird. If you ever get a chance it would be great if you'd post a short tutorial!
Todd Gallien
2018-09-20 13:53:32 +0000 UTCHey Clifton that's a beautiful East Virginia
Jordan F Edwards
2018-09-18 20:32:52 +0000 UTCEmily, I have never really toured but I do occasionally play folk festivals and similar events. I was on stage briefly at the Swannanoa Gathering outside of Asheville, NC a month or two ago and later this month on September 29th I will be playing the North Georgia Folk Festival outside of Athens, GA. I guess I should put a formal post up here about this one coming up...
Clifton Hicks
2018-09-14 22:41:41 +0000 UTCI wish i could hear you play live somewhere. Do you tour around the southeast?
Emily Ellis Richards
2018-09-14 22:37:31 +0000 UTCHi Joe, sorry to hear you're having such difficulty in finding your local heritage music. I must say it took me a long time too to find what I was looking for. Publications and archives are good, archive.org usually has some interesting documents on it, its just a matter of knowing what to search for. I also tried going to local museums in my initial phase of research, however that mostly ended up not coming to much for me. I do get a lot from the other traditional musicians that are local to my area, however finding them wasn't an easy task either; a lot of this stuff is somewhat underground it seems. For me, it was a lot of searching around online until I eventually made a breakthrough. Perhaps try searching for 19th century poets local to your area, and ask in music shops about local musicians/sessions that go on, hopefully you'll be able to find something eventually!
Daniel Hester
2018-09-14 19:19:17 +0000 UTCQuestion for Daniel: How do you find material that came from your geographic location? Are there publications, historic archives, or do you just talk to folks around there? <br><br>I've been trying to find some music that was sung and played in the Southwest Colorado mining camps and high elevation ghost towns around here but I have had zero success. For my job, I frequently travel by narrow gauge railroad (there is no other way in) to the first hydroelectric power plant in the state of Colorado, and the guys who drive us up there know a lot about the history of the area, but don't know about the music that was played and sung there. I'm sure it existed, but I don't know where to learn about it. I've asked everyone who seemed like they would know. People here just don't seem to care about it.
Joe
2018-09-14 17:23:00 +0000 UTCSpot on, Mick. I should've been more enthusiastic about a cappella singing in this little video. It really is a crucial tradition and so, SO many of our old songs only survived because mothers and fathers sang to their children.
Clifton Hicks
2018-09-14 16:06:03 +0000 UTCUnaccompanied singing is a major part of the American vernacular musical tradition. Singing to yourself while in a car is great practice, too. I know a lot of people don't really care for it, but I for one would be happy to hear some unaccompanied singing if anyone wants to share some.
Micheál Mac Labhrás
2018-09-14 15:54:31 +0000 UTC
