{"id":3891,"date":"2013-11-21T12:55:41","date_gmt":"2013-11-21T17:55:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.massfolkarts.org\/blog\/?p=3891"},"modified":"2013-11-21T12:55:41","modified_gmt":"2013-11-21T17:55:41","slug":"the-beautiful-music-all-around-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.massfolkarts.org\/index.php\/2013\/11\/the-beautiful-music-all-around-us\/","title":{"rendered":"“The Beautiful Music All Around Us”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Stephen<\/a><\/p>\n

Last week I had the\u00a0good fortune of introducing Stephen Wade at the Cambridge Forum<\/a>\u00a0in Harvard Square. Like an archaeologist revisiting a dig site 75 years later, Wade went back to\u00a013 Southern towns where folklorists working for the\u00a0Library of Congress had recorded locally known singers and musicians.\u00a0 These field recordings went on to\u00a0become iconic\u00a0of Southern\u00a0old time banjo and fiddle music, blues, children’s\u00a0lore, cowboy songs, and other forms of American folk music.<\/p>\n

\"William<\/a><\/p>\n

In addition to doing some serious library research, Wade was able to track down living relatives or acquaintances, finding himself in places where everyday people made music:\u00a0\u00a0living rooms, front porches,\u00a0church pews, prisons, and\u00a0dance halls. During his November 13 presentation in Cambridge, he\u00a0told stories from his travels in researching and writing The Beautiful Music All Around Us: Field Recordings and the American Experience<\/em><\/a>. He also\u00a0performed on a number of banjos, including one originally belonging to musician\u00a0Hobart Smith. Take a look and listen —<\/p>\n