Participation Type
Roundtable
Session Title
Seeds and Songs: co-creating participatory contexts in seed-saving and old-time music.
Session Abstract or Summary
Old tunes and seeds have much in common. Heirloom seeds, like old-time music, have been handed down and re-transmitted through generations within particular family circles. Some are localized, while others are universival. Some have been replaced by newer, more efficient, homogenized versions of the old––trademarked and packaged for large scale use and monetary gain. Still others are known only to the communities that created and sustained them.
This roundtable will explore the connection between old-time music and heirloom seed-saving. Furthermore, we will consider how seed-savers, musicians, and practitioners of Appalachian folkways can co-create, and re-create, participatory contexts that maintain the face-to-face nature of seed-saving and traditional music in an era of increased access to material culture (through internet recordings, how-to’s, and seeds via catalogs). Participants are invited to contribute to the conversation by sharing relevant ruminations, poems, songs and (of course) seeds.
Presentation #1 Title
Seeds and Songs: co-creating participatory contexts in seed-saving and old-time music.
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
Old tunes and seeds have much in common. Heirloom seeds, like old-time music, have been handed down and re-transmitted through generations within particular family circles. Some are localized, while others are universival. Some have been replaced by newer, more efficient, homogenized versions of the old––trademarked and packaged for large scale use and monetary gain. Still others are known only to the communities that created and sustained them.
This roundtable will explore the connection between old-time music and heirloom seed-saving. Furthermore, we will consider how seed-savers, musicians, and practitioners of Appalachian folkways can co-create, and re-create, participatory contexts that maintain the face-to-face nature of seed-saving and traditional music in an era of increased access to material culture (through internet recordings, how-to’s, and seeds via catalogs). Participants are invited to contribute to the conversation by sharing relevant ruminations, poems, songs and (of course) seeds.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
William Ritter is the Farm and Cultural Resources Manager at the Patterson School Foundation, and an alum of Appalachian State University’s Appalachian Studies Graduate Program. He is particularly interested building community through old songs, old stories, heritage apple trees and heirloom seeds.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #2
Abby Huggins has been connected to seed saving and traditional music and dance through oral history interviews and as a coordinator of Hindman Settlement School’s East Kentucky Food & Dance Trail. Abby now works with the Highlander Research and Education Center to support their Appalachian Transition Fellowship program.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #3
After getting bit by the ballad bug, Susan Pepper sought out and documented the music and life stories of several older ballad singers in Western North Carolina over a period of years and produced an album of field recordings of their music. She shares the music given to her through teaching workshops and performing, working with the Junior Appalachian Musicians Program and most recently, producing a narrative film about Appalachian music and culture.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #4
Shawn Terrell received his DVM from Auburn University in 2009, and his MA in Appalachian Studies from Appalachian State University in 2015. His thesis was on Ethnovetrinary Medicine in the Blue Ridge of North Carolina and Tennessee.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #5
Dr. Jim Veteto is an environmental anthropologist specializing in ethnoecology, agrobiodiversity studies, sustainable agricultural systems, climate change, food and culture, and alternative political ecologies. Currently, he serves as Associate Professor of anthropology and Cherokee studies at Western Carolina University, Executive Director of the Appalachian Institute for Mountain Studies, and Director of the Southern Seed Legacy.
Seeds and Songs: co-creating participatory contexts in seed-saving and old-time music.
Old tunes and seeds have much in common. Heirloom seeds, like old-time music, have been handed down and re-transmitted through generations within particular family circles. Some are localized, while others are universival. Some have been replaced by newer, more efficient, homogenized versions of the old––trademarked and packaged for large scale use and monetary gain. Still others are known only to the communities that created and sustained them.
This roundtable will explore the connection between old-time music and heirloom seed-saving. Furthermore, we will consider how seed-savers, musicians, and practitioners of Appalachian folkways can co-create, and re-create, participatory contexts that maintain the face-to-face nature of seed-saving and traditional music in an era of increased access to material culture (through internet recordings, how-to’s, and seeds via catalogs). Participants are invited to contribute to the conversation by sharing relevant ruminations, poems, songs and (of course) seeds.
