Road Reports

All-Star Concert in Asbury Park: A View From Behind the Lens

The experience of live music can make everything else fade into the background. On Sunday, March 13, nine groups ranging from gospel to rock took the stage of the Paramount Theatre along Asbury Park’s legendary boardwalk to celebrate the roots and continued life of music in New Jersey—the proceeds going toward the Asbury Park Oral History Project, a new initiative collecting the personal stories of the Shore's music greats. For three hours, the world outside faded into the background. I was lucky enough to stand backstage and see that everyone else felt the same way.

But before all that...

To kick the day off, I took a local tour of Asbury Park’s rock landmarks. The big ones—from The Stone Pony and the Wonder Bar—to the little-known gems of Asbury Park where highlighted. Of course, around every corner there was a piece of Bruce Springsteen history. It was great to be in the place where Bruce rocked with fellow New Jersey locals and began to shape his signature sound. Many of the favorite music joints and landmarks are gone, but talk to any resident of Asbury Park, and it’s obvious that the music is a central part of their identity.

Asbury Park residents love their local musical sons and daughters. Even in mid-March when a cold, fierce wind blows in your face, they still have the tunes of summer playing over the boardwalk—coming from the candy store, beach shop, and arcade. A blues guitarist entertained the passing crowd on the boardwalk. Asbury Park is experiencing a comeback, and the draw of music is tied closed to its resurgence.  

Great as rock and roll, rap, rhythm and blues, and modern country are, however, it’s all thanks to roots music. So, on to the concert! Going behind the scenes for this concert, balancing both a camera and a microphone, was a dream come true. I wanted to capture the spirit and the sounds of the day. During sound check I was able to pull bluegrass musician Richard Morris aside to get his thoughts on the day. He had been through the New Harmonies exhibit at its opening. For Richard, it all goes back to Bill Monroe. Richard played rock and roll when he was younger, but once he discovered Bill Monroe, his course was set. Before I left, he picked and strummed out a quick tune on his mandolin.

The Tyron McAllister Gospel Choir opened the night and stirred our souls. Richard and his bluegrass jam band brought a touch of Appalachia to the Jersey shore. Steve Forbert was a one-man tour of force. With just a guitar and harmonica, Steve could quiet the crowd or set everyone’s foot tapping. Drummer Chico Rouse and his jazz band seemed to cover all the bases of New Harmonies—mixing traditional jazz with rock, blues, and dance. Steel Mill with Vini Lopez (one of the first drummers to play with Springsteen) played in the same spirit, showing clearly how rock is a blend of so many roots forms. Curator of New Harmonies and director of the Los-Angeles-based Grammy Museum, Bob Santelli, peeked around the curtain offstage to watch. He was drawn into the music as well, tapping his foot and bobbing along with the music like everybody else.  

Long overshadowed by the rockers and singers of eastern Asbury Park are the soul and Doo-wop musicians of western Asbury Park. Sunday night, they got the recognition they desired. Nick Addeo and Friends headed up the set, and guest stars—including Billy Brown—took the stage and were asked, unexpectedly, to sing. Billy gave us a solo, hitting notes you never thought possible. 

Interspersed with the performances were readings from legends in roots music, read by Carol Harsh, Mary Rizzo, Felipe Rose (from The Village People), Brian O’Halloran, Lou Libratore, Ed Johnson, and Daniel Wolff.

The night closed out with a high-spirited jam session of musicians ranging from Billy Hector to Bobby Bandiera (from Bon Jovi) to Max Weinberg (from the E Street band). They had never played together before, but you never would have guessed.  When the curtain closed, the crowd left the theatre humming, and backstage was buzzing. The artists wondered aloud why they didn’t do this before. I wonder when they’ll do this again! 

--Tiffany Ruhl, Museum on Main Street, Washington, DC

"New Harmonies" Strikes a Chord with North Carolina

MoMS “New Harmonies” exhibit tugged on a lot of heart strings in Mars Hill, North Carolina. The community welcomed their first traveling exhibit with open arms, and after such a resounding impact, it was tough to let go.

Installed at Mars Hill College, the exhibit became an integral part of the students’ lives. Many helped to assemble the show, acted as docents, and “built their lives around the exhibition while it was here,” reports Program Coordinator Dr. Karen Paar. To accompany to the exhibit, the college created a class called “Introduction to Public History” conducted by Dr. Kathy Newfont, which included lessons in museum studies, a field trip to Raleigh, and a section detailing archival work (taught by Dr. Paar). The class was such an instant favorite among students that the school will likely offer the course in permanent rotation. Students “were just so honored and proud to have a traveling Smithsonian Institution exhibition on our campus, and some even described it as a defining experience of their undergraduate careers,” says Paar. And the setting helped to draw in more people, and many "who generally would not be comfortable coming to a college campus seemed to feel more welcome if their children had already been there to the exhibition.”

 

And like music itself, the exhibit’s programming was a harmony of entertainment, learning, self-expression, and pride. Museum visitors could decorate their own CD covers, and their artwork was then displayed on a wall—culminating in a vibrant mosaic enticing visitors to come back to see what new tiles had been added. According to Paar, one little boy “came every weekend with his father. He drew a new CD cover each visit, and he would tell the docents on his way out the door, ‘See ya next Sunday!’” Roger Howell, fiddle tune collector, hosted another program for children and impressed the importance of keeping local traditions alive. He said, “I learned these tunes from the ‘old people,’ but I guess I’m the ‘old people’ now!”  And Howell was one of the local greats—along with Arvil Freeman, Bobby Hicks, and Paul Crouch—to play a free concert starring the area’s fiddle traditions. Thanks to these big names, the North Carolina Humanities Council awarded a grant to have the concert filmed, with hopes for eventual broadcasting on public television.

But eventually, “New Harmonies” struck its last note in Mars Hill, and many were sad to see it go. According to Paar, one young girl, a daughter of a docent, attended nearly every event and tagged along with Mom during some docent shifts. When her mother told her “New Harmonies” was leaving, the girl burst into tears. But for the consolation of this young this girl (and others!), the success of this exhibit has Mars Hill tuning up for future shows.

 

-- Alexandra Charleston, Museum on Main Street, Washington, DC

Lakota Night at the Museum

The MoMS experience often highlights the ways in which stories from all towns, organizations and nations within America strengthen the story of the country as a whole. This past March, Lonnie Little Hoop of Alliance, Nebraska discussed the unique facets of  Lakota culture during a New Harmonies program.

Lakota language, stories and culture were celebrated during Knight Museum and Sandhills Center’s “Lakota Night at the Museum.” Lonnie Little Hoop opened the Lakota presentation with a victory song, while his daughters danced in elaborate regalia. During the celebration Little Hoop also shared his experience growing up as a young Lakota in Alliance, NE, highlighting the prejudice he faced due to his cultural heritage. The Nebraska Times-Herald reports; “For him, growing up as a minority in the schools and township of Alliance was tough…when he was a boy, the schools didn’t teach Native American history.” While Little Hoop admitted that he and other Lakotas “got by by surviving,” he made sure to acknowledge the progress of acceptance and equality that has developed throughout his lifetime.

    

We are enthralled by these powerful images, and are always thrilled when such meaningful narratives arise from innovative programming.

Thank you to The Knight Museum and Sandhills Center, and to Alliance Nebraska’s Times-Herald for the detailed report and photographs from this event.

 

-          Roxanne Berschler, SITES, Washington, D.C.

Community Connection -- Spotlight on Idaho

In 2008, Ketchum and Lava Hot Springs, Idaho examined the familiar to make an exhibit their own.

The two host sites incorporated community members and local history into their Between Fences programming as a means of fleshing out the exhibit while heightening its relevance to the people of their respective regions. Read on to learn of the historic tales that transformed the Between Fences exhibit into a unique experience for these two communities.

Ketchum, ID:

These publicity photos from Ketchum, Idaho, were taken of Dave Tatsuno and his son Rod. Dave is the only known person to have recorded home movies of the Japanese internment in the Topaz camp during World War II.

                                      

Rod Tatsuno was one of the speakers during the Between Fences celebration in Ketchum, Idaho. The “Between Fences” theme adopted a fresh sense of poignancy in the presence of a Camp Topaz survivor.

Lava Hot Springs, ID:

 “Their might, Their Power; Eight Women Influential in Area History” was the play created in Lava Hot Springs to accompany the Between Fences exhibit. According to the Idaho State Journal, this local production “looks at the early history of South Bannock County and the women who played a role in it.” The Bannock County Historical Museum relied on an important partnership in order to bring this project to fruition; Jamie Romine of Idaho State University’s drama department authored the play while specifically incorporating local history and the “fence” theme into her writing.

                

Upon addressing the play’s subject matter, Between Fences exhibit coordinator Cathy Sher said “Many things can be a fence, including gender… History is usually told from the viewpoint of men, this is a different perspective.”

Our appreciation to both communities for digging deep to create a community connection with the Between Fences exhibit!

 - Roxanne Berschler -- SITES, Washington D.C.

See It and Hear It for Real! New Harmonies Opens in Winfield, Kansas

Opening activities for New Harmonies: Celebrating American Roots Music at the Winfield Public Library in Winfield, Kansas included an exciting musical performance. The local Winfield Courier posted a video of their coverage of the opening on YouTube. Give it a look!

See and hear New Harmonies: Celebrating American Roots Music at a site near you. The Kansas tour of New Harmonies is made possible through the great support and coordination of the Kansas Humanities Council. Check the exhibition schedule at http://www.museumonmainstreet.org/newharmonies/harmonies_sched.htm.

-- Robbie Davis, SITES/Museum on Main Street, Washington, DC

Opening Acts: Warming Up The Crowds for New Harmonies

Mendota, Ilinois has pulled out all the stops in an effort to create a buzz about the upcoming Smithsonian exhibition on roots music, New Harmonies, with a series of performance events presented over the 6 months prior to the opening of the exhibit. To be perfectly honest, as the Illinois State Scholar, I was a bit concerned about the idea of having most of the programing prior to the arrival of New Harmonies. In retrospect, it has proven to be a brilliant move, creating a wide sense of awareness and expectation for the soon-to-arrive exhibit.

The early visibility proved to be quite vital for fund raising both on a grassroots level ("pass the hat" contributions were more than double what was budgeted). And, it garnered an outpouring of support from local and regional sponsors and arts and humanities Councils (over 14 sponsors to date). Mendota also made use of its quarterly newsletter: a self-produced and printed booklet made with Windows Publisher. It is simple: three sheets of 8 1/2" X 11" paper printed on both sides and folded in half to make a booklet. This goes out to their membership via mail and was passed out at the events through the summer. Perhaps I'll devote an entire blog to this sometime and show examples from the different sites in Illinois.

MMHS Newsletter

The performance events began with a series of Sunday evening concerts in the park. Mendota will get New Harmonies on November 16th, 2007, so the concerts in the park ran through the summer. I was fortunate enough to perform at one of these. It was a beautiful July evening in the town park surrounded by 100-year-old maples and oaks in front of the Carnegie Library that now houses the Mendota Historical Museum.  It was a perfect location for a roots music performance and, no doubt, had been the site of many such concert in years past. Other concerts included a local jazz band in June and a performance by members of the Northern Illinois Bluegrass Association in August. The series was deemed such a success that plans are in the works to continue the tradition next summer.

My concert was to be supported by an Artstour Grant from the Illinois Arts Council. We applied too late and the funding was gone (get the application in early in the grant cycle!) but this is a good program you should know about. Artstour is a relatively simple grant that pays up to 50% of the artist's fees. You can read more about it at the Illinois Arts Council's web site at http://www.state.il.us/agency/iac/artstour/includes/grant/htm. Many states have similar programs through their state and regional Arts Councils. Don't forget, if you are presenting live performances, Arts Councils that might not otherwise fund a museum will support your programing!

The September Barn Dance proved to be a very big hit with all that attended. I asked Museum Manager Shirley Pierson to describe the event in her own words. Here's what she had to say:

We received a large building as an in kind contribution from a member of the Mendota Museum and Historical Society, Dale Cotton. Five volunteers, including my husband and I, spent three hours the day before the dance sweeping, dusting and decorating. We asked people to bring lawn chairs, but realizing that some would not, we planned ahead. We found 4 large, heavy pews and moved them to the perimeters of the dance floor. We cleaned and supplied three restrooms with the necessary paper products and soap.

When we arrived the next evening, Boy Scout Troop 106 was already present setting up a food booth. They served sandwiches, beverages and popcorn through the night. As a special treat, later that evening they served fruit cobbler that had been prepared in Lodge kettles. It was the hit of the food stand!.

At 7:00 when the dance was to start, Martha Tyner and the band were in place and beginning to play. The floor was ready and the people came. Approximately 125 people streamed through the doors over the next 1/2 hour.

When Martha began the first squares, it was like pulling hen's teeth to get people on the floor. No one wanted to make "fools of themselves". However, three or four squares entered the dance area, after much urging, and the evening began. Once on the floor, realizing how much fun they were having, they rarely left. 

Getting a square together

The greatest pleasure was seeing the variety of ages present. The youngest was 8 and the oldest was probably in her 80's. One of the oldest participants quietly sat in her lawn chair by the perimeter of the dance floor. When the dance was over, she folded her chair and as she walked to her car informed members of the MMHS that it was a fantastic evening for her.

Martha called her last dance for the evening at approximately 9:30. The majority of the people were still there and reluctantly wandered to their waiting vehicles to part for the night. The comment heard most frequently as we parted for the evening was "When are you going to do this again?"

In October, blues musician Eric Noden performed 6 assemblies for the Mendota grade schools (partially funded through the local parent teacher group and one of the schools) creating quite a stir among students there. Building on his previous experience as an Artist in Residency in Mendota, Eric shared his excitement about roots music with a whole new group of kids while re-kindling his connection with his previous students.

Each of these events was well covered by local and regional press which resulted in a continuous flow of very effective and free publicity that has helped create awareness of both the soon to arrive exhibition, and the ongoing efforts of the Mendota Museum and Historical Society.  All in all, it should make for a successful showing!

-- Chris Vallillo, Illinois State Scholar for New Harmonies

Southern Illinois Gets Roots Music in the Mall

Carbondale Community Arts opened its leg of the the Smithsonian Institution's traveling exhibition on roots music New Harmonies in a unique location; a shopping mall. An empty store front in University Mall (1237 E. Main St., Carbondale, IL) became an interactive museum space in a new, high traffic area. New Harmonies will be on display in Carbondale, IL between September 29th and November 10th, 2007.

I'm the state scholar for the New Harmonies tour of Illinois, Chris Vallillo. For the past year, I've been involved in helping communities put together the events they were presenting in association with the exhibition. I've also assisted the local sites with the part of the exhibit they create to tell the story of their region's particular roots music. My position is largely advisory. I can make suggestions, but it's up to the local sites to use or ignore them. They do both!

For this event, Illinois' fifth of six sites, I was joined by musician and historian Bucky Halker onstage for the opening performance. Either myself or Bucky and I have performed for each opening event in the state. This has been a great way to start the exhibition since it lets presenters get their feet wet with a live performance (many have never had any prior to this) that they don't have to produce. It's also proven to be a fine experience for Bucky and I since his specialty is Woody Guthrie, Labor music and the Dust Bowl era while mine is the music of the rural Midwest from the mid 1800's through the mid 1900's. Between the two of us, we can touch on a great deal of the music New Harmonies focuses on.

Chris and Bucky perform at the opening of New Harmonies in Carbondale.

The unique location in Carbondale proved to be inviting and accommodating. The room was well-lit and spacious enough to allow for a modest performance space in association with the exhibit -- a nice touch.  The location in a shopping mall made it a point of interest for passers by, particularly during the sound check! 

The local aspect of the exhibtition highlighted many of the local roots musicians in the region from legendary bluesman Snooky Pryor, to "hot jazz" band leader Frank Trunbauer, to contemporary singer songwriter Shawn Colvin as well as many lesser known performers. Demostrations of acoustic guitar building, a collection of old music machines, and vintage musical instruments all collected from local sources, all helped bring the regions own rich heritage in roots music to life while excellent pictorial displays touched on the music of the Mississippi River, local dancing, live radio music, theatrical music, and the music of community bands.

Other upcoming events include a performance and lecture on Celtic Music, performances of Old Time music, R and B, Jazz, Gospel, Cowboy music, a contra dance and a lecture on the term Roots Music".  Most events are free to the public; there is a modest fee for the contra dance.

New Harmonies on display in Carbondale.

For a complete listing of events, locations and times, go to the following link:  http://www.carbondalearts.org/special%20events%20page/schedule%20of%20events.html 

-- Chris Vallillo

Celebrating Palauan Heritage on Guam

The Peleliu Club of Guam kicked off its showing of New Harmonies: Celebrating American Roots Music with a rousing program, "Palauan Music: A Life of Song and Dance." Palau is a Micronesian nation in an island chain southwest of Guam. Thousands of people of Palauan heritage make their homes on Guam. New Harmonies provided an excellent opportunity to showcase the richness of the music and dance Palauans brought with them to Guam. The exhibition, sponsored by the Guam Humanities Council, and related programs remain on display through September 16 at the Royal Orchid Hotel in Tumon.

 

Dancers perform for more than 200 program participants. Photo courtesy of the Guam Humanities Council

 

Visitors enjoy an excellent local exhibition on the roles of music and dance in Palauan culture. Photo courtesy of the Guam Humanities Council

The online edition of Guam's Pacific Daily News also features a photo gallery from the event at:

http://www.guampdn.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=M0&Dato=20070811&Kategori=NEWS01&Lopenr=811001&Ref=PH