Exploring American Folk Music

by Kip Lornell

  Held in perpetuity this material will always be available for researchers. Fieldwork, however, is equally energizing, rewarding, frustrating, enlightening, and capricious. It also adds valuable material to the very archives that people explore for their primary research. If accomplishing your own original fieldwork sounds like a daunting prospect, it need not be. The opportunities for fieldwork abound; it can be as simple as stepping out your door to speak with some children playing outside or as complicated as relocating across the country for an ill-defined period of time. You may venture into a church to speak with members of a gospel choir or even interview members of your own family. No matter the project, your basic task remains the same: to select and document some aspect of a musical community directly tied with American folk or folk-based music. (Specific research topics within a musical community are suggested later in this chapter.)

  MUSICAL COMMUNITIES AND FIELDWORK

  Communities represent one way to examine musical phenomena. Musical communities are a generally loose-knit, often eclectic group of people coalescing around a shared, specific musical interest. Such communities can be found in any genre of American music—jazz, blues, rock, old-time, alternative, classical, or bluegrass. Many of our musical communities are casual and ephemeral, while others (such as those that coalesce around a symphony orchestra) are generally more stolid and well organized.

  The community of black gospel quartet singers in Memphis, Tennessee, for instance, has evolved over more than eighty years into a truly extended family through birth, marriage, religious beliefs, proximity, and shared values. In addition to the musicians themselves, disc jockeys, record company officials, promoters, and enthusiasts can be included among the members of such a “family.” I spent three years documenting this rich, complex community and wrote an ethnographic study, Happy in the Service of the Lord: African American Sacred Vocal Harmony Quartets in Memphis (2nd ed., University of Tennessee Press, 1995) based almost entirely on my fieldwork.

  A family, quite possibly your own or one of your friends, is another place upon which you might concentrate your research. Our families are often the first place that we encounter music. For example, Bessie Jones’s (with John Stewart) book For the Ancestors: Autobiographical Memories (University of Georgia Press, 1990) talks about the religious and folk music found within her own family, who for many years lived on the Georgia Sea Islands. We can look at families through many lenses and in different contexts, such as a record collection, radio, church services, or family musical sessions. Just as all of us have family folklore (when to open Christmas presents, how birthdays are celebrated, nicknames, or the name for automobiles with one headlight), there is often music that we learned within our family. Many parents sing lullabies to their children; perhaps you sing them to your own. Summer camp songs are often transmitted within families, among siblings, or between parents and their children, in addition to being perpetuated in context. Perhaps you learn Christmas or Kwanza songs from your parents, reaffirmed each year during the early winter holiday season. Someone in your family may have informally taught you simple instrumental tunes—“Go Tell Aunt Rhody,” “Red Wing,” “Chopsticks,” or “Turkey in the Straw”—on the piano, guitar, or another instrument.

  Ralph Rinzler conducting fieldwork in Louisiana for the Smithsonian Institution in 1964. Courtesy of Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, Smithsonian Institution.

  Secular organizations of all descriptions incorporate some type of musical activity associated with them. Sports teams, for example, often have pep or marching bands taking part in each game or match. All of the branches of the United States military support ensembles that perform many types of music for a variety of occasions. Educational institutions on all levels sanction many musical groups such as choral singers, wind and jazz ensembles, and orchestras. University-level conservatories are the focus of ethnomusicologist Henry Kingsbury’s fascinating book Music, Talent, and Performance: A Conservatory Culture System (Temple University Press, 2001). Fraternal lodges (VFW, American Legion, Elks, or Moose) sometimes include bands as part of their organizations. Some service groups hold musical competitions as a means of fund-raising or for disseminating scholarship money to promising young musicians.

  Willie “Red” Smith, East Bend, Alabama (circa 1954.) Courtesy Ralph Rinzler Archive, Center for Folklife and Cultural Studies, Smithsonian Institution.

  Many of us are exposed to music through religious affiliations. There are many examples of musical communities in the context of religion. Music, of course, is part of nearly every sect’s weekly services. The music of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) has a distinctly American tradition that goes back to the 1880s. Methodists prefer the grandeur of hymns written in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, often set to the music of masters such as Bach. Glenn Hinson’s Fire in My Bones: Transcendence and the Holy Spirit in African American Gospel (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2000), for example, focuses on one church in central North Carolina. Those brought up in the Pentecostal faith recognize the camp meeting songs of the nineteenth century and more recently composed gospel songs, which are often performed by family groups or other ensembles. Similarly, people belonging to African American Baptist churches are familiar with the twentieth-century gospel songs that predominate in the Sunday services and Wednesday evening prayer meetings.

  Musical communities also spring up around commercial enterprises. Charles K. Wolfe took one such organization—powerful radio station WSM and their Grand Ole Opry program—and wrote A Good Natured Riot: The Birth of the Grand Ole Opry (Vanderbilt University Press/Country Music Foundation Press, 1999). Much of the music that we consume on a daily basis—in elevators, on most radio stations, by way of television theme songs, or on our CDs or MP3 players—is performed by paid professionals. Commercial music frequently bombards our senses through means outside our control such as in grocery stores, some of which even have their own “stations” that praise the quality and goodness of their operation. In other contexts, like concerts or in our own homes or automobiles, we can choose the types of music to which we listen. The commercial music industry in America is enormous, multifaceted, and, for most of us, pervasive. And here in the early twenty-first century, the Internet has become an important means of disseminating popular music, either through Web broadcasting or down-loading for personal consumption.

  ACCOMPLISHING FIELDWORK

  Fieldwork is rarely the overwhelming hurdle that people, especially those with no experience, expect it to be, but it is difficult to do well, especially in the beginning. With a lively interest, careful preparation, and experience, timidity decreases while the quality of the results increases. A persistent fieldworker who is genuinely interested in a topic and the people whom he or she meets often uncovers information and documents material that simply does not exist in libraries and archives. Your field research can often be combined with previously published articles or information into an original paper that really adds something new. Fieldwork rarely stands alone; it almost always needs to be placed into the context of our existing knowledge.

  The key to successful fieldwork includes these following steps:

  1. Select a subject.

  2. Focus on your topic.

  3. Research and listen to related materials.

  4. Prepare questions for your interview.

  5. Communicate your intent.

  6. Interview attentively.

  Topic

  Your fieldwork situation should relate to some aspect of American folk music. I suggest that you investigate one of the genres covered in this book. Because you are likely to be neophytes in this arena, or simply shy, you may wish to select a more familiar musical style. Above all pick a musical style that truly appeals to you or with which you have had personal experience. Here are seven possible subjects that involve fieldwork: the folk revival in your area, an ethnic music group, members of an occupa
tional group (cowboys, miners, railroad workers, etc.), the organizers of a coffeehouse or folk music festival, a folk instrument maker, traditional songs or elements in the repertoire of a contemporary rock music group, or a blues performer. Many state and a few local arts councils have folklorists on their staff who can sometimes offer suggestions for fieldwork.

  Focus

  Once you have selected a topic, be aware that its focus may change as you ask questions and learn more. Focus is an important key to fieldwork. You may begin with a general line of inquiry or interest, such as Bohemian American polka music, but you need to refine your research to ask a more specific question. Studying the development of Bohemian American polka music in central Minnesota, for example, refines your subject further. With even greater research you may decide that a focus upon the importance of Whoopie John Wilfahrt in the development of Bohemian American polka music in New Ulm, Minnesota, specifies precisely what you wish to know. Now you have a manageable core topic, arrived at by a refinement process that began with a general interest. Don’t be afraid to let the topic lead you into new areas of inquiry about which you knew nothing or for which your background research did not prepare you. The troika of an open mind, library and listening preparation, and the process of refinement leads to the best fieldwork.

  Preparation

  Successful fieldwork begins with careful preparation before you go into the field. After you select a topic that interests you, check what literature has been written on the subject. Your search may prove futile because so many areas of American music await the scrutiny of intelligent writers. However, if you select the folk revival, blues, cowboy songs, or gospel music, then a wealth of published information is at your disposal. An informed fieldworker needs to be familiar with the important figures in the music, its historical development, and, above all, with the sound of the music itself. Listen to the music! The suggested readings that close the chapters in this book list the important literature and musical selections in American traditional music. Use them as a stepping-stone for further inquiry, but you need not try to read everything on a subject. A library or archive provides you with the background tools necessary for work in the field; your true mission lies outside its walls.

  Questions

  Fieldwork involves asking the right questions . . . of the right people. The identity of “right people” is sometimes obvious from the beginning of a project. If you have decided to study an individual—a dulcimer maker, blues singer, ballad singer, or disc jockey—your focus will almost certainly lead you in the correct direction. But gaining entrees to other communities may not be so easy. Fieldwork can be hindered by the researcher’s gender, age, ethnic background, or race. On the other side of the coin, being an in-group member often facilitates fieldwork because of the known contacts and immediate acceptability.

  Your questions should cover such basic information as the date and location of the interview; the full name of the interviewer; date and location of the interviewer’s birth; and the previous places he or she lived. You will probably want to include some of these general questions:

  How long have you been involved in this activity?

  From whom did you learn?

  Where have you traveled to perform your music?

  Was this tradition within your family?

  Who first exposed you to this type of music?

  What role have books or the mass media played in your learning of music?

  Who else do you know that I should talk to about this?

  Communication

  Once you have located someone of interest, a straight-ahead approach works best to assuage fears and suspicions or simply as a matter of courtesy to explain your research. You must clearly identify yourself and your own role as a student and delineate the nature of your project as well as your interest in the music. This can be done quickly and efficiently, and such candor often places people at ease. Always tell people who referred you or how you came to speak with them. Initial inquiries about a musical community frequently lead to the head of an organization—barbershop quartet, folk music festival, musicians’ union, or gospel group. Such contacts may not immediately yield results, but a formal introduction helps to sanction or legitimize your work and will probably lead you in the right direction.

  Interview

  The interview itself is a critical part of fieldwork. A written list of questions or topics for discussion is often a good idea, but don’t be dogmatic about using this list. They are merely guideposts; let the interview proceed into new or unexpected areas if they seem fruitful or interesting. Remember that your interviewees know more about the subject than do you, which is why you are seeking their knowledge and perspective. You may start with simple factual questions. As the situation relaxes and the questions flow more easily (hopefully they will), then move on to more complex issues. Use your intuition. If a subject appears too difficult or painful to discuss, then move on. A poorly conducted interview may be better than no interview at all, but if it is not going well, do not be afraid to take a break or suggest that you come back at a better time.

  Rarely will you want to interview people as soon as you meet them. It takes a while to ascertain their actual position within the musical community and what might be important to discuss. With an intricate or more detailed research project you will probably find that a single interview is insufficient. With further reflection on your part and often on the part of the subject, you will often gain new insights or information with multiple interviews. These are also often accomplished by letting the interviewee lead the way and by your tacit encouragement—simply nodding your head or a quick verbal affirmation. Most people enjoy talking about themselves and providing their viewpoints.

  Here are some other tips: Verify the correct spellings of names; ask if you are not sure. Clarify dates as precisely as possible; “the summer of 1971” is more helpful than “in the early 1970s.” Ask for specific locations; Reno, Nevada, is more precise than “somewhere out West,” or even Nevada. Ask about older photographs or written materials, such as a diary, that might stimulate their thoughts. If undertaken in the right spirit and within a nurturing context, the interview can yield an immense amount of valuable information. Rules, so goes the cliché, are meant to be broken or at least bent. If you are unable to easily interview someone again, then it may be necessary to push certain issues or topics. You also might need to interview someone the first time you meet. Use your intuition, good judgment, and you may profit by breaking the generally accepted maxims.

  I wish that I had violated them on several instances. In the fall of 1979, while working within the community of black gospel quartet singers in Memphis, I conducted a brief interview with Elijah Jones. I knew only that Jones trained gospel quartets and that he was not in the best of health. Within two months it became abundantly clear that he was one of the important keys to my entire project, so I called for another appointment. During the intervening eight weeks Jones had died of a heart attack and his wife had thrown out all of his personal effects related to his fifty-year musical career—hundreds of photographs, placards, contracts, and newspaper clippings! My short initial interview is the only account of Jones’s place in musical history. In 1970 I was searching with good success for down-home blues singers in Albany, New York. I came across an elderly black man who played the fiddle and used to work with medicine shows, but he didn’t interest me because he was not directly part of the blues tradition. Three years later, after I became more aware of African American string band music and had met several medicine show performers, I went back to visit this gentleman. I could not even recall his name, but remembered the house. He, too, had passed away, another potential treasure of information irrevocably lost. These anecdotes are another way of reminding you of fieldwork’s timeliness and that you can add to our knowledge of American music history, too.

  Ethics

  Much space has been devoted to the ethics and the morality of fieldwork in the literature
of anthropology, folklore, and ethnomusicology. These questions become more problematic in cultures outside of our own, but American fieldwork is usually much less cloudy. Honesty and clarity of communication are the fundamental keys to confronting these occasionally sticky issues. There are sometimes legal issues regarding the ownership and rights of musical performances captured on tape and stored in an archive, but these are more often overshadowed by the researcher’s extralegal responsibilities. Be sure to ask if the interviewee wishes to place restrictions, for whatever reasons, on the material.

  Your responsibilities as an active and ethical fieldworker might someday include keeping folks informed about the release of recordings, giving them copies of your own work (if they desire), arranging for public performances, or gaining newspaper, television, or radio publicity for musicians within the larger community. This list implies a level of activity and commitment that may transcend your initial research project. Nonetheless such work is often on the agenda of many ethnomusicologists, folklorists, and American music scholars. These scholars are taking an increasingly avocational role in their work, particularly in helping the music reach a larger audience or to underscore the music’s importance within its own community base. Others take a more benign, hands-off role, arguing that objectivity and distance must be maintained to preserve scholarly integrity. Each fieldwork situation comes with its own organic problems and rewards. Some lend themselves to public presentation or tend to place the fieldworker in the role of a social or musical advocate, while this may be wholly inappropriate in other contexts. Fieldwork within a musical community presents new opportunities, challenges, and research possibilities each time you go out. If field research were wholly predictable or too easy, then the thrill would be gone.