Participation Type
Workshop
Session Title
“I Don’t Want to Die in the Storm”: An Appalachian Community Sing
Session Abstract or Summary
This session will be a chance to move your body and use your voice as I teach and share Appalachian songs from a diversity of traditions. Whether out foraging, in the church house, laboring in fields, or picketing for the union, Appalachians have woven song into their everyday lives. Our time will be spent with a focus on group song practices including Shaker hymns, African-American church song, Shape Note hymns, children’s song and coal mining anthems. Of course, all songs have a story behind them, and I’ll accompany the material we learn with a narrative about its origins and place in mountain experiences. We’ll especially focus on learning tunes taught and written by women and people of color in Appalachia. These will include songs from union organizer Sarah Ogan Gunning of Kentucky and Civil Rights activist Memphis Tennessee Garrison of West Virginia. We will end the session with a short discussion about the ethics and the how-tos of evolving traditional songs for new contexts. This is an open session, so some time will be given to attendees who bring songs to share.
Presentation #1 Title
“I Don’t Want to Die in the Storm”: An Appalachian Community Sing
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
This session will be a chance to move your body and use your voice as I teach and share Appalachian songs from a diversity of traditions. Whether out foraging, in the church house, laboring in fields, or picketing for the union, Appalachians have woven song into their everyday lives. Our time will be spent with a focus on group song practices including Shaker hymns, African-American church song, Shape Note hymns, children’s song and coal mining anthems. Of course, all songs have a story behind them, and I’ll accompany the material we learn with a narrative about its origins and place in mountain experiences. We’ll especially focus on learning tunes taught and written by women and people of color in Appalachia. These will include songs from union organizer Sarah Ogan Gunning of Kentucky and Civil Rights activist Memphis Tennessee Garrison of West Virginia. We will end the session with a short discussion about the ethics and the how-tos of evolving traditional songs for new contexts. This is an open session, so some time will be given to attendees who bring songs to share.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Saro Lynch-Thomason is a ballad singer, illustrator and audio storyteller living in Asheville, NC. She shares stories of Appalachia’s labor and environmental histories through multimedia projects and performances.
Saro is scheduled to receive her Certificate in Documentary Studies from Duke University in December 2015. Current projects include an audio series “PayDirt: Voices from the Gas Rush in Central West Virginia and Surrounding Communities” which is in negotiation to air on Inside Appalachia.
“I Don’t Want to Die in the Storm”: An Appalachian Community Sing
This session will be a chance to move your body and use your voice as I teach and share Appalachian songs from a diversity of traditions. Whether out foraging, in the church house, laboring in fields, or picketing for the union, Appalachians have woven song into their everyday lives. Our time will be spent with a focus on group song practices including Shaker hymns, African-American church song, Shape Note hymns, children’s song and coal mining anthems. Of course, all songs have a story behind them, and I’ll accompany the material we learn with a narrative about its origins and place in mountain experiences. We’ll especially focus on learning tunes taught and written by women and people of color in Appalachia. These will include songs from union organizer Sarah Ogan Gunning of Kentucky and Civil Rights activist Memphis Tennessee Garrison of West Virginia. We will end the session with a short discussion about the ethics and the how-tos of evolving traditional songs for new contexts. This is an open session, so some time will be given to attendees who bring songs to share.
