For those who commented on my posts, thank you very much for all the great suggestions. I think whenever some form of music is labeled as "traditional", it opens up a lot of questions as to what traditional means and to whom. Keeping these themes of "authenticity" in mind, I had many discussions with various patrons at the bar on my second visit and found a range of conflicting ideas regarding the music, some saying that it is "as it would be played in Ireland" while others saying that it sound like "Irish music being played in America". Though I had a lot of details from my first visit, the comments made on my blog got me thinking about why the idea of a traditional Irish seisiun would be important to people in Massachusetts. I asked around on my second visit and found that almost everyone I talked to was either originally from Ireland or believed that they were of Irish lineage. Though there was no consensus on the "authenticity" of the music being played, it seemed to me that those present at the seisiun found something important in the experience, as if the Saturday-night seisiun didn't need to emulate Irish tradition precisely to be a local tradition of their own. It was almost as if the "myth of return" could be accomplished by attending the seisiun, that it was as real to the people there as any mythicological Ireland could ever be. I also tried to pay more attention to the structural elements of the performance, such as how songs were selected, who was deferred to, and how the performers interacted with the audience. With all these helpful things to think about, I noticed a great deal more on my second visit than on my first, which I will detail in my paper and on my blog in the future.
Thanks!
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Field Notes 2
Irish Cultural Centre of New England in Canton, MA (3/8/08)
Several more musicians than last time, though many of the same ones.
Lots of mics, recording equipment, realized fairly quickly that parts of the performance were being recorded.
Photographer showed up at about 9:00 (during the playing), seemed as though performers were really excited about being recorded/photographed.
Lots of musicians’ friends were there, taking pictures and cheering for their musician friends at the ends of songs.
Noticed the way instrumental songs were structure: songs were played in sets of three shorter that blended seamlessly from one to the other, the repetition of each shorter song determined before beginning to play. At one point, the younger fiddle player got wouldn’t play one of the sets of three because he said (jokingly, it seemed) that one of the three songs didn’t go with the other two and that “everywhere else in the world” they played a different third song. The band leader smartly replied “here we do it this way”.
When songs were being recorded, band leader would told people only to play the songs if they knew them. The young fiddle player echoed “if you know it, play it. If you’d fake it, don’t.”
At one point, a different guitar player/singer (not the group leader) took up the chair by the singing mic and started playing a song that sounded Irish, but referenced California. My mom, sitting next to me, pointed out how much American “country” music was based on Irish and Scottish folk music.
While this man was singing about California, he accidentally knocked over his beer near a collection of instruments that weren’t being used. While he rushed off to find a towel, the rest of the musicians kept playing, laughing at the situation, and repeatedly singing the chorus while the man who spilled the beer, quite flustered, tried to clean up the mess. The young fiddle player jumped up from his seat and started dancing and clapping, to which the audience responded by clapping along. When the man was done cleaning the mess, he sat back down and was about to start playing again when the rest of the musicians stopped. Very light-hearted moment.
Younger man seemed to recognize me, my brother, and my brother’s friends from the last time we’d come and swung by our table to ask in his thick Irish accent “how we were holding up”, continuing right along to bar before we could respond.
Just as last time, audience seemed constantly aware of the music while continuing to socialize, indicated a comfort with the setting that didn’t require them to sit somberly and watch the performance in silence (lots of singing along of vocal songs, extremely enthusiastic clapping when each song ended).
I talked to several of the people at the bar about what there thoughts were on the Saturday night seisiuns.
Bartender:
She’s worked every Saturday night for last two months.
Traditional Irish music “as it would be heard in Ireland”
Very social atmosphere, the music creates social ambience, but audience always “becomes silent” whenever a soloist is performing or someone is singing (unless they’re singing along)
Usually groups of twelve or more musicians, many recurring yet many “guests” who are familiar with tunes
When I asked how long the seisiuns usually go for, told me that she usually has to “kick the musicians out by 12:30”, saying they would play indefinitely if they could
Teasingly, told me being twenty-one would have made my experience more enjoyable (yet gave some insight into the “assumed” drinking culture of Irish pubs)
Older Man:
Actually from Ireland (thick accent) but hasn’t lived their for forty years
Quite hard of hearing, said that the music they play on Saturday seisiuns is “okay”, fairly similar to what he used to listen to in Ireland, but still felt as though he was listening to Irish music in America
Hasn’t returned to Ireland much since his parents died
Bodhrán player:
Playing bodhrán for only a year, but by playing at seisiuns three times a week has met over two-hundred musicians
Professionally, she is a high school teacher
One of the reasons she loves to play at Saturday seisiuns is “to have a front row seat to watch the great talent of some of the regular musicians
Said “when you come into one of these rooms, it’s as though the music comes out of the walls and through you”
Said that most of the people who participate in seisiuns (audience and performers) identify themselves with “Irish” if they aren’t actually from Ireland
Told me a romantic tale about the male fiddle player (the young man who greeted us at the door while smoking a cigarette the last time I went): “He’s an Irish citizen who came over during Thanksgiving to visit family, met a girl, and has been here since. Because of his great playing, he’s on the payroll at the Cultural Centre. Everyone who plays at the seisiuns is really excited because of the energy he brings”
Said the “communal” social atmosphere is based on the tradition of Irish farmers, after long days of work, getting together with instruments in their fields and homes and playing for each other and themselves
Told me that Irish folk music is an “oral tradition” with people learning to play from exposure to the music over many years
Proceeded to tell me that the young fiddle player didn’t know the names of many of the songs he was playing, rather he knew the melodies by heart from hearing the songs (he often times would sit and listen to the song that was being played for a moment before joining in, seemingly trying to figure out what song was being played)
Seisiun group leader (guitar player, singer):
Told him about the study I was doing and said he’d love to help, only it would be difficult for the next couple of weeks due to St. Patrick’s day making things a bit crazy in his life.
Told me he’d e-mail me about doing a “formal” interview when he got a chance
Middle-aged woman:
Said she used to attend shows like this when she was in college, always made her feel like she was down in the country: home
Used to have many records (vinyl) of Irish music but had lost them during her divorce, though she recognized many of the tunes that were being played
Said there was something “honest about traditional folk music” that you couldn’t find in other types of music, which explains why it “affects people so much”
Several more musicians than last time, though many of the same ones.
Lots of mics, recording equipment, realized fairly quickly that parts of the performance were being recorded.
Photographer showed up at about 9:00 (during the playing), seemed as though performers were really excited about being recorded/photographed.
Lots of musicians’ friends were there, taking pictures and cheering for their musician friends at the ends of songs.
Noticed the way instrumental songs were structure: songs were played in sets of three shorter that blended seamlessly from one to the other, the repetition of each shorter song determined before beginning to play. At one point, the younger fiddle player got wouldn’t play one of the sets of three because he said (jokingly, it seemed) that one of the three songs didn’t go with the other two and that “everywhere else in the world” they played a different third song. The band leader smartly replied “here we do it this way”.
When songs were being recorded, band leader would told people only to play the songs if they knew them. The young fiddle player echoed “if you know it, play it. If you’d fake it, don’t.”
At one point, a different guitar player/singer (not the group leader) took up the chair by the singing mic and started playing a song that sounded Irish, but referenced California. My mom, sitting next to me, pointed out how much American “country” music was based on Irish and Scottish folk music.
While this man was singing about California, he accidentally knocked over his beer near a collection of instruments that weren’t being used. While he rushed off to find a towel, the rest of the musicians kept playing, laughing at the situation, and repeatedly singing the chorus while the man who spilled the beer, quite flustered, tried to clean up the mess. The young fiddle player jumped up from his seat and started dancing and clapping, to which the audience responded by clapping along. When the man was done cleaning the mess, he sat back down and was about to start playing again when the rest of the musicians stopped. Very light-hearted moment.
Younger man seemed to recognize me, my brother, and my brother’s friends from the last time we’d come and swung by our table to ask in his thick Irish accent “how we were holding up”, continuing right along to bar before we could respond.
Just as last time, audience seemed constantly aware of the music while continuing to socialize, indicated a comfort with the setting that didn’t require them to sit somberly and watch the performance in silence (lots of singing along of vocal songs, extremely enthusiastic clapping when each song ended).
I talked to several of the people at the bar about what there thoughts were on the Saturday night seisiuns.
Bartender:
She’s worked every Saturday night for last two months.
Traditional Irish music “as it would be heard in Ireland”
Very social atmosphere, the music creates social ambience, but audience always “becomes silent” whenever a soloist is performing or someone is singing (unless they’re singing along)
Usually groups of twelve or more musicians, many recurring yet many “guests” who are familiar with tunes
When I asked how long the seisiuns usually go for, told me that she usually has to “kick the musicians out by 12:30”, saying they would play indefinitely if they could
Teasingly, told me being twenty-one would have made my experience more enjoyable (yet gave some insight into the “assumed” drinking culture of Irish pubs)
Older Man:
Actually from Ireland (thick accent) but hasn’t lived their for forty years
Quite hard of hearing, said that the music they play on Saturday seisiuns is “okay”, fairly similar to what he used to listen to in Ireland, but still felt as though he was listening to Irish music in America
Hasn’t returned to Ireland much since his parents died
Bodhrán player:
Playing bodhrán for only a year, but by playing at seisiuns three times a week has met over two-hundred musicians
Professionally, she is a high school teacher
One of the reasons she loves to play at Saturday seisiuns is “to have a front row seat to watch the great talent of some of the regular musicians
Said “when you come into one of these rooms, it’s as though the music comes out of the walls and through you”
Said that most of the people who participate in seisiuns (audience and performers) identify themselves with “Irish” if they aren’t actually from Ireland
Told me a romantic tale about the male fiddle player (the young man who greeted us at the door while smoking a cigarette the last time I went): “He’s an Irish citizen who came over during Thanksgiving to visit family, met a girl, and has been here since. Because of his great playing, he’s on the payroll at the Cultural Centre. Everyone who plays at the seisiuns is really excited because of the energy he brings”
Said the “communal” social atmosphere is based on the tradition of Irish farmers, after long days of work, getting together with instruments in their fields and homes and playing for each other and themselves
Told me that Irish folk music is an “oral tradition” with people learning to play from exposure to the music over many years
Proceeded to tell me that the young fiddle player didn’t know the names of many of the songs he was playing, rather he knew the melodies by heart from hearing the songs (he often times would sit and listen to the song that was being played for a moment before joining in, seemingly trying to figure out what song was being played)
Seisiun group leader (guitar player, singer):
Told him about the study I was doing and said he’d love to help, only it would be difficult for the next couple of weeks due to St. Patrick’s day making things a bit crazy in his life.
Told me he’d e-mail me about doing a “formal” interview when he got a chance
Middle-aged woman:
Said she used to attend shows like this when she was in college, always made her feel like she was down in the country: home
Used to have many records (vinyl) of Irish music but had lost them during her divorce, though she recognized many of the tunes that were being played
Said there was something “honest about traditional folk music” that you couldn’t find in other types of music, which explains why it “affects people so much”
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Critical Review - Tricia Rose
In "A Style Nobody Can Deal With", Tricia Rose describes hip hop as being an "Afro-diasporic cultural form which attempts to negotiate the experiences of marginalization, brutally truncated opportunity and oppression" (71). Rose also notes that hip hop is not entirely resistive, for there are many instances in which hip hop is complicit to the dominant hegemonic white-led society that is partially responsible for the unequal financial and societal circumstances many African-Americans find themselves in. Rose goes on to detail the various historical events that precipitated hip hop in New York City, including the construction of the Cross-Bronx Expressway, which displaced thousands of working class African-American families, and the looting that follow the blackout of 1977. During its early years, hip hop consisted of four distinct practices: graffiti, break dancing, DJing, and rapping. According to Rose, each of these practices operated via the concepts of flow, layering, and rupture, concepts which are analagous to the manner in which African-Americans must operate in America on a day to day basis: African Americans create "sustaining narratives" (flow) and "accumulate them" (layering) as an affirmational practice, but are constantly on the look out for ruptures in the fabric of their culture (racism, poverty, etc.) that they must combat in order to survive (82). In many ways, hip hop revolves around competition, around gaining status and being celebrated for one's skills, ultimately around "having a style nobody can deal with". In her concluding statement, Rose articulates that in providing a forum for "counterdominant narratives", hip hop is the real "urban renewal" that is so needed in communities where there appears to be little hope for improving the quality of life (85).
Question: if we are going to call African-Americans a diaspora group, how must we define the term "diaspora" to incorporate a group whose members may feel alienated from "dominant" society but don't necessarily feel an allegience to a homeland outside of their own community?
Question: if we are going to call African-Americans a diaspora group, how must we define the term "diaspora" to incorporate a group whose members may feel alienated from "dominant" society but don't necessarily feel an allegience to a homeland outside of their own community?
My Research Materials
Here are a bunch of research materials that I'm going to use for my ethnography:
Websites:
http://www.irishculture.org/
http://www.allaboutirish.com/library/music/dir-music.shtm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celtic_music_in_the_United_States
http://worldmusic.about.com/od/newsarticles/tp/WeekConcerts.htm
http://www.bostonirishpubs.com/
http://www.irishmusiccentral.com/
Scholarly Articles:
Two Irish Folk Tunes James Travis The Journal of American Folklore > Vol. 55, No. 217 (Jul., 1942), pp. 169-170
The Social Context of Irish Folk Instruments Thomas F. Johnston International Review of the Aesthetics and Sociology of Music > Vol. 26, No. 1 (Jun., 1995), pp. 35-59
Irish Folk-Song Phillips Barry The Journal of American Folklore > Vol. 24, No. 93 (Jul., 1911), pp. 332-343
Review: The Irish Diaspora Author(s) of Review: Jay P. Dolan Reviewed Work(s): The Irish Diaspora in America. by Lawrence J. McCaffrey Reviews in American History > Vol. 5, No. 2 (Jun., 1977), pp. 174-179
The Origins and Character of Irish-American Nationalism Thomas N. Brown The Review of Politics > Vol. 18, No. 3 (Jul., 1956), pp. 327-358
Websites:
http://www.irishculture.org/
http://www.allaboutirish.com/library/music/dir-music.shtm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celtic_music_in_the_United_States
http://worldmusic.about.com/od/newsarticles/tp/WeekConcerts.htm
http://www.bostonirishpubs.com/
http://www.irishmusiccentral.com/
Scholarly Articles:
Two Irish Folk Tunes James Travis The Journal of American Folklore > Vol. 55, No. 217 (Jul., 1942), pp. 169-170
The Social Context of Irish Folk Instruments Thomas F. Johnston International Review of the Aesthetics and Sociology of Music > Vol. 26, No. 1 (Jun., 1995), pp. 35-59
Irish Folk-Song Phillips Barry The Journal of American Folklore > Vol. 24, No. 93 (Jul., 1911), pp. 332-343
Review: The Irish Diaspora Author(s) of Review: Jay P. Dolan Reviewed Work(s): The Irish Diaspora in America. by Lawrence J. McCaffrey Reviews in American History > Vol. 5, No. 2 (Jun., 1977), pp. 174-179
The Origins and Character of Irish-American Nationalism Thomas N. Brown The Review of Politics > Vol. 18, No. 3 (Jul., 1956), pp. 327-358
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Critical Review - Rodano
Rodano argues that many historians have fabricated elaborated ideas about slave music from "shards of evidence" and "inadequate alternatives" that attempt fill gaps in a history that is most lacking in credible evidence and documentation. Rodano stresses that much of black music's "originary voice" was a result of/reaction to slavery as opposed to a natural African predisposition to a certain way of creating and performing music. He believes that the tendency to view black music as static, that it's the fundamentally the same now as it was hundreds of years ago, must be done away with in favor of a view that acknowledges how enslaved African-Americans shared their enslavement more than there heredity and that the music was "created by them" as slaves, not as a homogenous body of Africans. Many of the stereotypes held about black music seem to date back as far as the seventeenth century, when observed African behavior was described constantly as "instinctive", "bestial", and "primitive". Even though these stereotypes came more from Africans "being unacquainted with the manners of customs of Europe" than from primitive savagery, they are still used to this day to describe many of the aesthetics of black music. Rodano concludes with a discussion of how "place", physical and psychological, contributed tremendously to the development of slave music and that places should be seen more as "events" than "things". Ultimately, Rodano hopes to denounce the idea that an "African essence" is the sole contributor to black music.
Question: can immersion in a "place" where one is treated as though a primitive savage cause one to believe that they are as they are treated and if so, could one develop an aversion to one's own culture?
Question: can immersion in a "place" where one is treated as though a primitive savage cause one to believe that they are as they are treated and if so, could one develop an aversion to one's own culture?
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