"Don't Start Me to Talkin', I'll Tell Everything I Know"

William "Bill" Moore

2009-05-02T05:13:00.007-05:00

My introduction to the music of William Moore came through friend and fellow “Music of the Depression Era” enthusiast Lightnin’ Wells. When Lightnin’s cover of Moore’s “Ragtime Millionaire” caught my ear, it didn’t let go until I learned to pick this catchy ragtime tune. I recorded it, along with Moore’s “One Way Gal” on my CD, “Hero Worship.”

Many blues fans, even those whose listening doesn’t extend beyond B.B. King and Buddy Guy, are familiar with the music of the enigmatic Robert Johnson and some of the other practitioners of the “Delta Blues” style. Indeed, the shuffle rhythms, 12 bar structure and I-IV-V chord progressions that dominate that style also dominate the sound most often heard at blues clubs and festivals. However, William Moore performed in a different style most frequently referred to as the “Piedmont Blues.”

Piedmont Blues (also called “East Coast Blues”), is characterized by a more delicate, syncopated and sophisticated approach to the guitar than the Delta style. Its roots are in the parlor guitar music playedby Victorian Era white folks, early banjo picking and ragtime piano. During the 1920s, blues was the popular form amongst black audiences who bought records released under the “race” category by Paramount, Okeh, Brunswick and other labels. Sales by Piedmont artists such as Blind Blake and Blind Boy Fuller rivaled those of Delta and Texas blues pickers Charlie Patton and Blind Lemon Jefferson. Generally, Piedmont guitarists were not as widely recorded as those elsewhere in the south, and releases by Virginia blues guitarists are especially rare. Luke Jordan is another Old Dominion guitarist who recorded (for the Victor label), however William Moore’s 16 recorded sides represents the largest number by guitarists from Virginia who recorded in the 1920s and '30s.

Unfortunately for fans of Virginia blues in general, and William Moore in particular, Paramount only released eight of the songs recorded in Chicago in 1928. These 78 records were released over time and the fact that the first three were released under the name “Bill” Moore and the final record under the name William Moore has caused some confusion about whether all eight releases are by the same player. However, even a cursory listen to the existing tracks reveals that the guitarist on all 8 is the same. The fact that copyright applications for all 16 songs recorded at that session were submitted together supports that they were recorded by the same person.

The real confusion about William “Bill” Moore's released tracks is because on three of four instrumental releases there are spoken “asides” in a voice markedly different from the voice that sings on four other tunes; “Tillie Lee,” “One Way Gal,” “Ragtime Millionaire” and “Midnight Blues.” However, the guitar part for one of the instrumentals, “Old Country Rock,” is identical to that of “One Way Gal.” Another instrumental, “Ragtime Crazy” has vocal asides that sound like they could be spoken by the singer of the four vocal numbers. So what's going on?!

It was not unusual for vocalists to react verbally to their guitar pyrotechnics. Charlie Patton, Blind Blake and Kokomo Arnold frequently interjected their instrumental numbers with exclamationsand self-encouraging remarks. Also heard on recordings from this period were vocal interjections from non-playing “guests” at sessions. Uncle Dave Macon can be heard cajoling, carousing and exultingthroughout the instrumental numbers of the young white mountain guitar picker Sam McGhee. Check out McGhee's recording of “Buckdancer's Choice” to hear how Macon's exhortations push McGhee to a furious pace!

I'm inclined to side with Max Haymes, who believes that xylophonist Jimmy Bertrand is the “speaker” on the two Moore instrumentals “Raggin' Dem Blues” and “Barbershop Rock.” Bertrand is cited as providing “speech” on the Blind Blake release “Doggin' Me Mama Blues.” Bertrand's voice and delivery on Blake's records are certainly similar to those on Moore's. Whether the speaker on these numbers is Bertrand or not, the commentary on Moore's tracks is often second person, such as “whip that box, Bill, whip it.” Finally, the commentary on these two tunes often comes during the passages that are most difficult to play. I can testify from personal experience that this is nigh impossible to pull off!

Conspiracy theories aside, we know some facts about William “Bill” Moore. Born in Dover, Georgia, in 1893, Bill Moore moved to Tappahannock, Virginia at a young age. He opened a barbershop there and supplemented his income with a little farming. In Warsaw, Virginia Moore met and married his first wife Gwendolyn Gordon. They had seven children. Gwendolyn died in 1930 during childbirth (although the child survived). Moore later remarried.

Moore was a popular entertainer in the Tidewater towns and countryside near his home, playing fish fries, dances, schools, and house parties. His "Barbershop Rag" testifies to his fluid style and his profession. Although most of Moore's numbers are firmly within the ragtime style, audiences would have also appreciated his “harder” numbers like "Midnight Blues." He also played minstrel number, like "Tillie Lee"and novelty songs like "Ragtime Millionaire" (derived from two songs by black composer and entertainer Irving Jones). Like many musicians of his era, Moore was a multi-instrumentalist and friends and family recalled his ability on guitar less than his skill on fiddle and piano.

Soon after World War II, Moore moved to Warrenton, Virginia, to live with his son, Winston, due to declining health. He died of a heart attack in 1951 and is buried in Sherwood Cemetery. Moore's legacy, however, lives on. John Jackson, a great guitarist and singer of the generation that followed Moore's, saw and heard Moore perform at his father's farm in Northern Virginia. Although Jackson now has also passed, many contemporary pickers like Lightnin' Wells and myself learned from him and continue to carry on Moore's Piedmont pickin' tradition.

The Rumor Mill

2009-04-15T06:21:00.005-05:00

So by now most of you have heard or read the news, the Pickin' Porch is closing its day-to-day retail operation and I am dedicating myself to being a full-time guitar (and infrequent mandolin and ukulele), teacher.

If you follow my wife's blog, you've probably already got a chuckle out of what the dowtown Floyd rumor mill has been churning out about me and my "dog and pony show" endeavors. The fact that the store closing is "official" and fully explained will probably not put an end to speculation, but here's the "straight scoop" on the most pernicious and outrageous canards!

Rumor #1: The Pickin' Porch is bankrupt!

Truth: I opened the store five years ago with a small business loan and my personal savings five years ago. The loans were paid off within 2 years. Although never as profitable as I would have liked, the store has operated in the black for several years. I currently own every string, capo, instrument and book. Hopefully there will be far less of those items in my possession come May 2nd!

Rumor #2: I am terminally ill!

Truth: I've got bad news, we're all going to die! Being born human is a terminal illness and there's no cure. To the best of my knowledge I'm no worse off than most of the rest of you!

Rumor #3: I'm moving from Floyd County!

Truth: You may wish! I'm sorry to report that I have no plans of leaving any time soon; but, hey, every man has his price -- make me an offer!

Rumor #4: My wife is leaving me!

Truth: In a few weeks Lisa Kae and I celebrate 20 years of marriage and while neither of us would ever try to pretend every moment has been pure bliss, we have never been more together! I mean really, have you checked out the pool of available men in this county? I'm no great catch, but let's face it, the prospects for "trading up" are slim-to-none! As far as I am aware, Lisa plans on sticking with "the devil she knows!"

Rumor #5: I am losing all of my students!

Truth: Two years ago I taught about 25 half-hour lessons per week. I currently teach almost 50. I love being a guitar teacher and am humbled by the number of folks who have entrusted me with their musical education. You can hear all my students perform at our spring/summer recital on June 7th and 14th at the Jesse Peterman Library and count for yourself!

Rumor #6: I'm closing the store because another music store is opening downtown.

Truth: While it is true that some self-proclaimed "players" in the downtown scene conspired, successfully I might add, to keep interested buyers from moving the Pickin' Porch downtown; I am not afraid of competing in the marketplace. Simply put, I'm ending retail operations to simplify my life and focus on my family, our farm and my true vocation, teaching. Who knows, maybe I will finally learn to play the guitar myself with all my new-found "free time!"

I think that answers most of the fabrications that people have mentioned to me or have asked about. If you've heard one I've missed, feel free to share it with me. I'm always ready for a goood laugh!

Keeping the Blues Alive?

2009-03-30T13:19:00.003-05:00

Here is the latest offering from your 'ol pal (and increasingly curmudgeonly), Oh Papa. This story currently appears in Americana Rhythm Music Magazine.

There are many organizations that must believe that blues music is in need of life support. “Keeping the Blues Alive” is common theme in the mission statement of several blues organizations such as the Cincy Blues Society. The Blues Music Foundation presents an award for “Keeping the Blues Alive” annually. Other organizations, such as the Mississippi Valley Blues Society, seek to “preserve” the music. Several groups seek to do both! I wonder if the blues knows it's in such rough shape!

Musical expression, especially older roots music styles, only survive because they are living traditions. They continue to thrive because people continue to play and listen to them. Artists and audience continue to listen to older styles because they remain relevant musically and lyrically. Artists study the recognized masters of the past as they develop their own style and sound. Music has always been shared and open to interpretation and “fair use.” Sometimes these interpretations lead to “new” styles. I like to refer to these new styles as “fruits” which of course, cannot survive without the roots.

Blues is a tradition that arose as a popular style in the black community around the turn of the 20th century. It fell off the popular radar as that community's interest moved on to Jazz, R&B and Soul; but it was incorporated into other popular white styles such as Bluegrass and Rock & Roll. The visibility of blues music has waxed and waned over the years, but it has never completely disappeared and has indeed, resurfaced from time to time such as during the “Revival” of the late fifties and early sixties.

“Keeping the Blues” alive implies that it is too weak, vulnerable or unhealthy to survive on its own. I don't believe this is the case. This argument was used to secure funding for the House of Blues club chain. Surprisingly, they rarely sponsor blues concerts. Organizations such as the Blues Music Association try to fulfill this mission by promoting the Blues Music “industry” much the same way the Country Music Association represents Country artists, producers, record labels, and other professionals. The CMA has certainly made what they call country music popular, but I wonder if the originators and early stars like Hank Williams and Jimmie Rogers would recognize it. Popular music these days is generally a watered-down form that owes its popularity more to corporate money and access to media than talent and artistic integrity, never mind audience demand. Popular music may sometimes incorporate elements of roots music, but the result is usually forgettable and “sweet.” I'll take my blues straight up, rough and dirty, thank you just the same!

When something is “preserved” it is actually killed (stay with me here)! For instance, when fruit is preserved it is picked or boiled and canned in sugar water. Vegetables are picked and pickled or boiled and canned. Meat is desiccated (covered in salt) and or smoked and hung. Flora specimens are picked and pressed between glass; fauna specimens are placed in killing jars and pinned under glass. Even non-lethal preserves like nature preserves are usually fabricated environments made to look like, but never can be, the real thing. I don't know about you, but give me the real thing over canned goods or a museum piece any time!

The blues is tough music created and perpetuated by tough people. A rugged and beautiful response to the dehumanizing treatment of black people as they struggled through slavery, failed reconstruction and the Jim Crow south. The seed that grew into the musical blues tree comes from an African flower. It traveled to the United States in the belly of a slave ship. It was sown in the fields of the southern plantation system and watered with the blood and sweat of slavery. It poked through the ground during the Civil War and was nurtured by the dim light of Reconstruction and the Jim Crow system. It was fertilized by European harmonic ideas and folk songs, but retained its African lineage through the banjo and African rhythmic ideas. It bloomed at the turn of the 19th Century just as the first recordings of American music were being made, giving all of us a historical record of its early beauty. It is not just African or black, but perhaps more than anything, truly American. A blossom whose beauty openly mocks the pain and suffering that created it.

You want to “keep the blues alive?” Go to a live show. Join an organization like the Music Maker Relief Foundation or the Rhythm and Blues Foundation that give direct financial aid to those that helped create and sustain the music. Buy CDs by independent roots musicians. Support and celebrate a living, changing and thriving tradition. Being popular and being vital are not the same thing!

Magazine Removed from Local Businesses as Part of Beautification Effort!

2009-03-25T07:33:00.004-05:00

Local musician, Scott Perry, is no stranger to readers, watchers and listeners of the local media. Several articles have been written about Scott in local newspapers like the Floyd Press and Roanoke Times, he's appeared on local CBS affiliate WDBJ/Channel 7 and WBRA, the local PBS affiliate. His music can be heard on several local radio stations as well. However, Perry's appearance on the cover of "NRV Magazine" has caused some publicity he could probably do without.

"It just doesn't fit into our efforts to beautify and improve our downtown business scene," said one popular Blacksburg restaurateur who removed the publication from the waiting area of the eatery. "Too many diners were complaining that they lost their appetite after glancing at the cover."

Another business, a beauty salon, placed their copies of the magazine beneath decades old copies or "Redbook" and "Better Home and Gardens." "That guy needs some serious work," said the proprietor. "We might be able to help him, but we'd have to double our fees."

Many retailers continue to display the magazine, but do so face down. "Too many parents of small children were complaining that the cover 'creeped them out,'" said a garden shop owner. "Now we keep it face down next to the gargoyle display."

Karl Kazaks, who interviewed Perry states, "I didn't think he was that ugly...but it was really dark when I interviewed him." However, photographer Chuck Herron grumbled, "I broke two wide angle lenses photographing that bozo." When asked if he had to touch up the photos, Heron responded, "Photo shop can't help that guy!"

Those with strong constitutions and ten minutes to waste can view the cover and read the article by clicking here !

Editors Note: No picture appears with this post. Attempts to download the cover caused a total network meltdown and a blackout of the "Upper Simpsons" area of Check, VA.

What I Love (& Don't Love) About Floyd's Music Scene (P. 6)

2008-11-30T16:44:00.010-05:00

THE DIVERSE (& DYSFUNCTIONAL) FAMILY OF MUSICIANS

Awhile back Floyd's most prolific blogger, Doug Thompson, wrote that pettiness among Floyd's community of musicians led to the demise of an event organized by another of Floyd's favorite malcontents, Tom Ryan. Commenting on Ryan's event "The Second Annual Dysfunctional Family Picnic" Thompson wrote that Tom "also planned the first annual gathering of Floyd County 'All Stars' musicians but had to cancel that event because too many of the proposed all stars aren't speaking to each other -- a malady that seems to affect musicians."

Now I would never claim that Floyd's musicians are above divisiveness. Lord knows I've had my fair share of differences -- personal, professional and artistic -- with my musical brothers and sisters. However, one doesn't have to read to far into Doug's blog before they realize that pettiness is not the sole purview of Floyd's musicians! Small towns breed familiarity, which often breeds contempt. However, more often it breeds compassion as demonstrated by the large number of benefits we play.

Taking Doug's comment at face value, I was surprised at the cancelation and admittedly a little hurt to have not been contacted by my friend Tom about this event. I was also saddened that it had been seemingly sabotaged by my brothers and sisters in the Floyd musician family. For several weeks after Doug's post I asked the Floyd musicians I met on my daily trek to town what they knew about the situation and became confused when every musician I spoke to was as clueless as I about the event and the supposed feud that led to its demise. I've since learned that the "too many of the proposed all stars" Doug refered to where actually 2 specific Floyd musicians who had recently had a falling out.

Floyd is loaded with musical talent and like any group, including bloggers and bartenders, this group can have its moments of pettiness, egomaniacle behavior and outright stupidity. But to credit the behavior of 2 individuals having a tiff as indicative of a group as large as Floyd's musical community is more than a little irresponsible.

I for one have, at one point or another, performed, jammed or listened to most musicians in this county. Indeed, I have credited Floyd's talented and diverse musical community with broadening my musical horizons many times. To be sure, there have been times when I have had differences -- personal, professional and artistic -- with some of these fine folks. But that has never stopped me from exchanging pleasantries on the street, answering an email, or joining in at a fundraiser or jam. I believe that most of my fellow travellers in the Floyd community of musicians would say the same.

Perhaps the real "malady" Floyd musicians are afflicted with is being an easy target for abuse.

What I Love

Floyd's musicians are a talented and diverse bunch with distinct personalities and a genuine love for what they do.

What I Don't Love

Floyd musicians have enough obstacles in the way of their artistic and professional pursuits. I love 'em all!

Back from LEAFing

2008-11-08T05:32:00.010-05:00

I enjoyed the best festival experience ever just a few weeks ago at the Fall edition of the Lake Eden Arts Festival in Black Mt., NC. According to its press release "LEAF, one of the top small festivals internationally, is set apart from other festivals by the resplendent beauty of its location, dedication to community outreach, and bringing together family and friends all generations." That is just the tip of the ice burg! LEAF has Healing Arts Workshops, Handcrafts, a National Poetry SLAM, Camping, an adventurous Zipline, Canoes, Kayaks, and Swimming, Talent Contest, Fiddle Contest, Mountain Drum Circles, Wacky Games in the Kids Village including Kids Bedtime Stories, Jam Sessions, Gourmet Food and more! LEAF also connects to its historic creative past with Black Mountain College Tours. My first LEAF experience was during the Spring of 2007 was pretty amazing, but this past Fall's festival topped it!

My second LEAF experience began with a few days of blues workshops at the WD Williams Middle School in Swannanoa, NC. There I worked with Jamie Munn's third grade class to develop a 30 minute presentation on the historical and musical importance of blues music. The program included the children singing a work song, a couple of blues standards and a song that they wrote called "School Blues." We had a blast performing at the school and at LEAF! My LEAF experience ended with a performance with the W D Williams kids at the Sundance Power Tent on Sunday.

Other LEAF highlights included my performance at Eden Hall opening for the legendary Leon Redbone and a solo show in the Barn. I had a chance to visit with Leon Redbone during sound check and after his show and really enjoyed talking with his piano player, Paul Asaro. My Barn performance felt particularly good and I'm told my ukulele rendition of John Lenon's "Imagine" moved a few people to tears. I think that's a good thing!

My wife Lisa Kae and son Emerson enjoyed the Chinese acrobats and Tuvan throat singers and we all took in Scythian and several other great shows. Lisa and I even cut the rug to Martha and the Mood Swingers. Soaking in the beauty of the site and the fall foliage was it's own entertainment as well!

I met several new friends and reconnected with a few old ones while at LEAF. All in all it was a weekend I'll remember fondly for a long time! Thanks to all the fine folks at LEAF!

Thanks to Jamie Munn and Lisa Kae for the pictures!

What I Love (& Don't Love), About Floyd's Music Scene (P. 5)

2008-09-18T05:18:00.010-05:00

BEING A GUITAR TEACHER

I have been giving guitar lessons in Floyd for three or four years now. It was not an intentional career move. I started giving lessons mostly by default. Although Floyd is loaded with guitar players, not many of them were willing or able to provide instruction when I got started. Thankfully, that role came naturally to me and fit within my work as proprietor of the Pickin' Porch.

What I Love:

There's a yoga sutra that states "To learn, read. To know, write. To master, teach." This applies directly to my accidental journey as a guitar teacher. Although I am far from mastery, teaching has deepened my understanding of music and the guitar more than all the years of playing and reading that came before. Teaching basic music theory, chord theory and a wide variety of musical genres and guitar techniques has focused my attention in ways I never could on my own. Boiling difficult ideas and techniques to their essential concepts and movements has improved my own playing immeasurably. Catering lessons to student's interests has broadened my own musical horizons and helped me find connections between and within idioms.

I started my teaching practice with just a few students, soon it grew to a dozen. I remember a few years back I said I'd never teach more than 20 lessons a week, then it became 25. For the past year it's been over 40! The first student recital I ever held was a half-dozen students performing at Oddfellas Cantina before my show. Now we rent the June Bug Center for two days!

I've have held jam sessions for students on the back porch of my store and had students perform with me at Sweet Providence Farm, the Floyd County Harvest Festival, school talent shows, church socials and Rescue Squad and library fund raisers. Many of my students perform regularly at their church, the nursing home and at school. Many more share their music with family and friends and several have started bands. I often joke with my students that when they get rich and famous I expect a 40% cut. Usually they quip that I'm not entitled to more than 15%. I don't think it will be too long before I wish I had that in writing!

This winter some of my intermediate and advanced students will participate in a new project that I am really excited about. Several of my students have written original songs that are very good. We've arranged them and performed them at some of the events listed above. Those students and others who have worked up public domain songs and a few willing to pay the license fee for copyrighted tunes will record and release a CD early next year. Students will learn how to write and arrange their tunes, coordinate the playing and vocal delivery and rehearse with other musicians. They'll also gain valuable experience in the studio and learn how to copyright and publish their compositions, see how CDs are mixed, mastered and pressed, and end the project with a CD release party and show at a local music venue. Stay tuned to keep up with our progress!

You can see video of some student performances on YouTube:

Amy Adams posted some videos from Sweet Providence Farm here.
Students Elijah and Ken Wheaton have some videos here.

I am eternally grateful to my students, their parents and spouses, and their friends and family for entrusting their instrumental instruction to me. The small but stable income being a guitar teacher provides allows me to remain a self-employed musician here in rural America where performance opportunities come all too infrequently. My guess is that I won't be remembered as a performer, recording artist and songwriter for very long after I leave this earth. My legacy will be the over 100 students who will claim me as the one who got them started on their musical journey. At least I hope they'll claim me!

What I Don't Love:

I've got a great group of students. Each has a supportive network of parents, brothers, sisters, grandparents, husbands and wives. What's not to love!

Rabbit Muse

2008-09-08T19:56:00.004-05:00

Just a few weeks ago we held a big cookout and jam session at the Pickin’ Porch to celebrate the birthday of one of Floyd County, Virginia’s favorite sons, fiddle maker Arthur Conner. Arthur will be the subject of a future article, for now I want to tell you about a gift Arthur gave to me on his birthday.

During the jam session I pulled out my reso-phonic ukulele to accompany a rip-snortin’ rendition of “Sweet Georgia Brown.” Arthur enjoyed the tune and asked that it be played again. Then he asked if I heard of that “little black guy from Franklin County that used to play ukulele and scoot around on his behind.” I knew instantly that he was talking about Rabbit Muse.

Lewis Anderson “Rabbit” Muse was born May 11, 1908 in Franklin County. His mother played the accordion and his father sang and played guitar. Muse learned the soprano ukulele from a childhood friend after watching a minstrel show around 1920 in which a black performer who wore blackface makeup played one. He later took up the baritone ukulele, which chords and sounds similar to a guitar. After his father foiled a youthful attempt at running away to become an entertainer, Muse learned to pick blues, country, jazz standards and hokum style novelty numbers. He also incorporated kazoo breaks, tall tales and an idiosyncratic dance that was part two step, part tap dance and part pantomime into his act which he honed while he toured with a medicine show. For a while he played in a family band that included both his parents and a cousin on washboard. He later performed at fairs with famous acts like Don Reno and Red Smiley, and not so famous acts like Bill Jefferson and the Playboys.

Muse was a slender, loose-limbed man with a droopy-eyed, hang-dog visage. His appearance, choice of instrument and gentle singing voice gained him entrée into many performance situations that would not have been open to a tall dark and handsome guitar totin’ bluesman in the segregated south. “I fooled around with hillbillies and went into rough joints,” he said. “I never had any trouble because everybody liked me.” In this way he reminds me quite a bit of Mississippi John Hurt, who played with white square dance bands and whose double entendre riddled “Candyman Blues” comes across more like a children’s song than a boastful paean to sexual prowess. Indeed, one of Muse’s two albums is titled “60 Minute Man” and on it Muse’s delivery makes the Dominoes dirty ditty crossover hit sound more like a nursery rhyme!

Muse was a fixture in the local music scene for six decades, yet he only recorded two albums. “Muse Blues” and “Sixty Minute Man” were released by Outlet Records, a now defunct Rocky Mount, VA label. Both albums remain out of print. The Blue Ridge Institute at Ferrum College produced several albums in the 1970s and ’80s that feature Virginia musicians for the Global Village label. Muse appeared on an album titled “Western Piedmont Blues.” About the time I picked up the ukulele I bought that album and immediately learned Muse's “Rabbit Stomp.” I recorded it for my last album but had to leave it off. I plan to add it to my next release.

“Rabbit Stomp” is frequently part of my solo set and in this area I get lots of comments from old timers who remember seeing Muse perform or hearing him on the radio. He infrequently appeared on the radio with a group of white radio musicians who formed a bluegrass and comedy troupe and called themselves the Tides. They introduced themselves as “Ebb Tide, Hi Tide, Lo Tide and Rip Tide.” When Muse joined the clan he called himself “Black Tide.” When the Tides moved to television on Channel 10, Muse was not brought along.

A few days after Arthur's party, he and his wife Eileen popped over to my home for a surprise visit. We sat on the porch and visited and drank lemonade. Arthur told tales of his life as a soldier driving trucks on the “Burma Road” during World War II and stories of his childhood. As our visit wound down Arthur said “Hold on, I've got something I want you to have.” He went to his car and came back with an old LP. It was a copy of Muse's Outlet release “Muse Blues.”

The album includes blues like “Rocking Chair Blues” and old pop songs like Steven Foster's “Swanee River.” Foster actually called it “the Old Folks at Home” and his misspelling of Florida's Suwannee River stuck (it was perhaps misspelled because he never actually visited it). He also recorded Tin Pan Alley classics like “Melancholy Baby” and original compositions like “Cincinnati Shout.” Muse's renditions of these songs are simple and thoroughly engaging. His rhythmic uke playing providing simple, yet buoyant support for a soft tenor that is both joyful and poignant. His kazoo breaks are brilliant; short on novelty factor, and instead come across as a natural part of the arrangements.

Muse died Aug. 27, 1982 at age 74. If you aren't fortunate to have a friend like Arthur Conner who drops by with a copy of one of the out of print Outlet Records, you can find him on the internet. Some of the recordings are online at the Digital Library of Appalachia (www.aca-dla.org). Ferrum College's Blue Ridge Institute also has some taped interviews, performances and storytelling of Muse in its archives. Like Arthur Conner, he's a Virginia treasure worthy of more attention.

Yes, the Pickin' Porch Is for Sale!

2008-08-12T07:53:00.002-05:00

We interrupt the preceding program to bring you this breaking news...!

That beacon of truth and journalistic inquiry know as the Roanoke Times just published a feature on the the Pickin' Porch's best kept secret; it's for sale! I have admittedly not tried very hard to advertise this fact, much to my wife's chagrin. However, since ace reporter, Amy Matzke broke the story on Wednesday, August 12th, a veritable flood of inquiries and potential buyers has begun lining up all the way to the Country Store!

Here's a reprint of what I sent out in my last email newsletter regarding the Pickin' Porch's status.

THE RUMOR MILL

I have fielded numerous inquiries regarding the sale of my store, the Pickin' Porch. Here are the most frequent offenders along with the reality check!

Rumor: The store is closing.
Reality: Absolutely not! While rising gas prices, falling home values and general bad news about the economy has claimed a few local businesses, the Pickin' Porch continues to thrive and survive! We are maintaining and enlarging our inventory of musical instruments, instructional books and DVDs, and music supplies. If you haven't been by in awhile stop by and say howdy!

Rumor: I'm selling the store and moving to Europe.
Reality: You wish! Heck, I wish! The Pickin' Porch is for sale so I can concentrate on my hefty load of guitar students, my obligations as a husband and father, and maintain my 40 acre homestead in Check. Oh yeah, whatever time I have left will be dedicated to becoming a better guitar player and resurrecting my performance career.

SO WHAT'S THE DEAL?

Option 1: Purchase the store's inventory at cost (actually last year's cost less shipping), and open elsewhere. All furniture, fixtures and displays ($2500 worth), included free.

Option 2: Purchase store's inventory as above and the business name, logos, dealerships. Additionally I'll be available as a Consultant for 1 year.

Option 3: "The Whole Enchillada!" Same as option 2 but purchase building, too. Have access to Town of Floyd without the town taxes and zoning!

The Pickin' Porch is a successful and unique acoustic music store located just outside the bustling musical burg of Floyd, VA. We cater to the needs of our community and they respond by supporting us! We also enjoy meeting all the folks visiting Floyd as they travel the Crooked Road. The store has appeared in multiple national publications including "Every Day with Rachel Ray" magazine, "the Washington Post" and most recently in the May edition of "Motor Home" magazine.

What I Love (& Don't Love), About Floyd's Music Scene (P. 4)

2008-07-27T09:49:00.002-05:00

SWEET PROVIDENCE FARM
On Saturday, August 2nd I will be joined by several of my guitar students at Sweet Providence Farm for some porch picking. Sweet Providence is a family owned and family run farm, store and bakery. They sell local produce, local chicken and beef, locally made music and artwork and some of the best BBQ this side of Memphis. John Paul and Rainey Houston and their 7 (soon to be 8), children all pitch in along with several other employees to make sure that "every day is an event." My friend Amy Adams has helped the Houstons organize a weekly concert series and promotes the events on her YouTube Channel. You can see several student performances from our last visit there at NewVisionAmy'sChannel.

I was a big fan of the Houston's store long before my first performance there. John Paul asked me to perform there last year and although he offered to pay the usual performance fee we worked it out as bartered arrangement. Unfamiliar to most outsiders, bartering is still somewhat common in Floyd. Instead of cash, Sweet Providence gave me and my family my usual fee's worth of credit at their store. With all the shopping we do there it didn't take long to use it up! I had several students join me at that session and they were scheduled into my three appearances this year.

What I Love:

Local business supports musician (and his aspiring students), by hiring him and paying him (albeit "in kind"), to perform in a clean, family friendly environment -- once again we have a winner! My crowd gets turned on to another local business they may not otherwise have tried and my students earn valuable experience performing in a low stress environment. Everybody seems to win in this deal.
What I Don't Love:

Once again it's all love with this venue. The performance area is tight and there's not a lot of seating, but I'm not complaining and I haven't heard anyone else complain either! Bring a lawn chair and come join us!

What I Love (& Don't Love), About Floyd's Music Scene (P. 3)

2008-07-24T05:45:00.002-05:00

HOUSE CONCERTS

While not a new idea, house concerts have only recently begun to pop up in Floyd County. Local old time musicians Mac and Jenny Traynham have hosted several as has blogger Fred First. I have played two house concerts at Ambrosia Farm Bed & Breakfast and will appear there again with my band, Front Porch Swing on August 30th at 6:30 PM. Earlier this summer I convinced the parents of two of my guitar students to host a house concert on their deck and "Fewsterfest" was born with entertainment by FPS (picture below by Debbi Fewster). Last year the Pickin' Porch hosted several "Back Porch Concerts" house concert-style and threatens to do one later this summer.What I Love:

House concerts are quite an undertaking. Hosts bear the responsibility of creating a performance space inside (or outside), their home, often provide some refreshments, and market the event to friends and family. The usual dynamic is that all collected money goes to the performer. So who puts forth this kind of effort with no hope of financial reward? My favorite people -- music lovers and supporters! House concert hosts are a rare and wonderful breed and I am thankful to all, here and abroad, who have welcomed me and my music to their homes. House concerts have been responsible for my most lucrative "pay days" as a musician as they are attended by people who appreciate and value live music and gladly pay a $10 (or more), "donation" to attend and often purchase CDs as well. More importantly, house concerts have been among the most artistically rewarding shows as they are completely music centered.

If you'd like some insight into how to host a house concert visit Concerts in Your Home.

What I Don't Love:

Hmmm.... Local music fans open their homes to local musical performances, make sure that people come and that musicians get paid. Again, I'm stretching to find the downside! Sure, folks who don't have any experience with staging or marketing a music event can overlook unimportant (and infrequently important), details. But a house concert's "all about the music" vibe makes it easy for performers and audience members to forgive honest mistakes. My only complaint? We need more house concerts in Floyd!

What I Love (& Don't Love), About Floyd's Music Scene (P.2)

2008-07-13T15:57:00.004-05:00

THE CHATEAU MORRISETTE CONCERT SERIES & SUNDAY SOUNDS SERIES

Last weekend I performed again at the Chateau's "Our Dog" Blues Festival with Bob Margolin. I think I've played this event 6 times now (I'm pretty sure this was the third time with Bob). On August 9th my band, Front Porch Swing, will perform at the Chateau's "Black Dog" Jazz Festival. Later that month I will perform solo in the Sunday Sounds Concert Series in the new courtyard.

What I Love:

The Chateau crowd likes good music and spends their money! I've sold hundreds of CDs at my appearances there. I've met some really nice folks and the staff at the Chateau are always friendly, helpful and gracious. The stage is spacious and the entire atmosphere is relaxed and music centered. The crowd does enjoy their wine which can make for some really interesting dance moves later in the afternoon!

What I Don't Love:

This is another venue, like the Oak Grove Pavilion, where it's a struggle to find a down side! I have had nothing but good experiences there. I heard complaints last year about the quality of the sound, but in their usual fashion, the Chateau has fixed that and this years event was the best sounding yet!
What I Really Love:
I've played several shows with Bob Margolin over the years. Each time he has invited me on stage to play a few songs with him and each time he has given me lots of encouragement to keep on keepin' on! Bob Margolin is one of the best guitarist on the scene, has serious credentials (Muddy Waters was once his employer), and is about the most sincerely nice guy you'd ever want to meet. He plays this area with some frequency (he used to live in Blacksburg), and his newest album, "In North Carolina" is his best yet. Check him out!

What I Love (and Don't Love) About the Floyd Music Scene (P. 1)

2008-07-09T08:03:00.003-05:00

Greetings friends and neighbors! Your ol' pal Oh Papa is going to try to resurrect his flagging blog with a series of short pieces about a topic that's been on my mind-- the Floyd music scene. I initially titled this piece "What I Love & Hate About the Floyd Music Scene," but as I thought about my topic, I realized there was nothing I truly "hated." By the same token, love is not blind or unconditional. I do love Floyd. However, anyone paying attention can't help but notice that the look and feel of this county is changing rapidly. Change may be inevitable, but it is not always "good" and certainly not always "progress." Any criticisms I list are meant constructively and I am always open to reasoned debate, discussion and even argument about the scene's merits and problems. This series will look at both sides of this coin as it impacts local musicians, fans and venues.

Today's piece focuses on...

OAK GROVE PAVILION CONCERT SERIES

What I love:

I've lost count of how many seasons of the OGPCS I've performed at and yet it remains my favorite place to play every year. The series features local acts that are sponsored by local businesses. A goodwill donation is collected at intermission and the monies collected support local charities that include the Floyd Free Clinic, Floyd Volunteer Fire Department, Floyd Rescue Squad, Floyd RIF ( Reading is Fundamental), NRV Women's Resource Center , and NRV Literacy Volunteers (Floyd Chapter).

The acoustics of the pavilion are astounding. Listeners out on the lawn or parking lot hear as clearly as those in the pavilion. This marvel of acoustic engineering is entirely accidental as it was not planned or built by some high-powered, expensive architectural firm, but rather by volunteer parishioners of the Zion Lutheran Church. Dumb luck? I think it has more to do with the spirit in which the Zion Oak Grove Pavilion was created.

The concert series is family friendly and many make an evening of it by picnicking on the lawn before the show while the kids make use of the playground. The series is also music focused. When acts are introduced by the evening's host (usually a church member/volunteer), folks are encouraged to turn off their cell phones and refrain from talking or other distracting activities during the performances. People come to hear the music and express their appreciation w/ applause, CD purchases and donations.

What I Don't Love:

Let's see, local venue makes sure that local musicians get paid a reasonable fee to play for an appreciative audience in an acoustically friendly venue and donates all proceeds to local charities. What's not to love?! If I had one criticism it would be that as Floyd has grown audiences have had many more venues and events competing for their attention. The OGPCS could do a better job of advertising their events, but this is forgivable since it is strictly a volunteer effort. The church provides a good sized "built-in" audience and most acts have a crowd of their own to add to the mix. Still, OGPCS is the best kept secret in Floyd's music scene and I'd like to see it's audience grow.

Mac & Jenny Traynham P. 2

2008-06-17T06:17:00.002-05:00

Mac Traynham and his wife, Jenny, are fixtures in the old-time music scene here in Floyd. However, they are also known throughout the country due to their long-time devotion to the music’s traditions and appearances at the National Folk Festival, the Augusta Heritage Workshops in West Virginia and the Swannanoa Gathering in North Carolina. Last time we looked at their biographies and early introduction to old-time music. Now we look at their immediate influences and thoughts on the contemporary old-time scene.

Mac’s growing interest in old-time music deepened and led him to find authentic sources to learn from. He sought second-hand sources like the field recordings of the Library of Congress, old ‘country’ music 78s from before WWII, and personal visits with old-timers who still performed the songs. “For dance tunes and fiddler’s convention playing I take particular interest in sound of the older players from this region,” he says, “their rhythmic ‘untrained’ playing is reflective of the rural culture that produced the kind of people who lived close to the land. The old-time music played today in the Blue Ridge region at fiddler’s conventions and at the Floyd Country Store is in a style that has evolved to match up with the rhythmic flatfooting tradition that distinguishes this region’s rural tradition. Some elements come from bluegrass tradition like bass and guitar back-up and integrate with the old-time knock down banjo style and rhythmic fiddle bowing.” Among those older players that Mac learned from directly are regional fiddler’s Hick Edmonds, Ivan Weddle and Norman Edmonds, and banjo players Dent Wimmer and Wade Ward. Mac also counts guitar players John Lee Hylton and Ivery Kimble as inspirations.

Although they enjoy teaching at music camps, Mac muses that they “get the most enjoyment out of playing fiddle or banjo for flatfoot dancers who are keeping good time. It gets to become a good party like at the Friday Nite Jamboree where I sense a magic happening when dancers and the band are feeding off each other’s rhythm. It's a two way street. Good dancers make a band play better and a good band make the dancers dance better.”

On the state of old-time music today Mac says “Old-time music is becoming like ‘folk’ music did in the 60’s,” with a smoother, more commercial sound creeping in. “However, there are more young people who recognize this trend and are trying not to sound that way and bring their own sound closer to that of the root, ‘old-time,’ sources. The African roots and other cultural influences are being exposed to audiences these days so hopefully more people will open their mind to accept the more rustic sounds as worthy of having in their listening collections.”

When it comes to adding outside influences, self-expression and personal style to the old-time music tradition, Mac suggests that "A little creativity goes a long way." Stating further he surmises that “too much analysis takes the fun out of the music, but it’s good to understand how what you do relates to the music made by those who have come before.” Further, “I obviously help represent the ‘traditional side of the scene’ while there exists a non-traditional side of the scene full of creative musicians and songwriters who are still considered old-time by the pundits. You have to decide for yourself if it even matters or not. Love and respect for each other no matter what style you think you play is bottom line.”

Like old-time music, the places where it’s played have changed. take, for instance, Floyd, Virginia's recent face lift. Local entrepreneur Woody Crenshaw and his wife, Jackie, purchased the building still known to locals as Cochram's Store. Since 1983, this has been the home of the Friday Night Jamboree; an event that began as a rehearsal session for old man Cochram’s band and grew into one of the longest running weekly jam sessions in the area.

With the assistance of multiple grants, the Crenshaws have enlarged and renovated the building and some of their other real estate holdings in town. Whereas the store had been closed other than for the Friday Night festivities, now the Country Store keeps regular retail hours and in addition to hosting music, also serves country cookin', ice cream, penny candy, CDs, and t-shirts alongside Carhartt clothing. The Crenshaws have spearheaded other downtown renovations and are packaging and marketing the downtown as a tourist destination. Some locals cast a wary eye on the building facade renovations, rising rents, and “tourist-centered” focus of the downtown businesses. Can an event that occurred spontaneously and grew naturally through the support of locals remain authentic while it is managed and packaged for outsiders? I asked Mac what impact these changed have on the presentation and enjoyment of the music.

“I think it will be good overall. The town does look a bit over designed with all the timber frame elements everywhere and the parking lot is awkward for my truck. I would be willing to be more involved if the town could make it worth my while to commit to showing up for the street playing. If there was a budget for a couple of core bands or individuals to show up then that would interest me as a self-employed artist. I guess they’ll hope the spontaneous thing happens to keep the Friday festive reputation up, I won’t show up any more than usual. I generally go up to meet up with some of my playing buddies but even that takes advanced planning. I may occasionally lead a jam at the Country Store at some time other than Friday or Saturday nights if it's worthwhile. Jenny and I are willing to put on professional performances if contracted to do so for any group of tourists who make advanced arrangements with us. We won’t hold our breath, maybe we’ll sell a few CD’s in the local outlets.”

In the end, change is inevitable. Old-time music cannot be placed under glass and preserved like a museum piece and continue to live as a vibrant and vital cultural expression of this region. On the other hand, a music that was once performed largely by folks who had little and received little for their musical talents is now a commodity being marketed by folks from outside the tradition to folks from outside the tradition in the hopes of monetary gain and growth. While Floyd’s efforts and those of the Crooked Road try to capitalize on the area’s rich musical heritage, those who create and sustain that heritage receive little or no compensation. What effect will this have on the music and the town? As Mac says, “Who knows what will happen.”

Mac & Jenny Traynham P. 1

2008-05-17T06:29:00.003-05:00

Years ago I hosted a monthly “Roots and Blues Night” at a local eatery and invited acoustic musicians proficient in other roots music styles to join me on stage. Mac accepted my invitation and we gathered one night at the home of one of his musical acolytes to go over some tunes. We started the evening with the tune “June Apple.” A finger-picker by nature, I dug a plectrum out of my gig bag and jumped into the tune with what I thought was a competent rhythm guitar accompaniment. After a few choruses Mac gave me a sideways glance and suggested, “Try fewer notes.” Jumping back into the tune with a simpler bass line didn’t get us much further. “Not so many upstrokes,” Mac suggested with a slightly cautionary tone after another false start.

And so it went for much of the evening. The simpler my guitar back up got, the fewer interruptions to our practice session. Thus I learned the role of the guitarist in the old-time ensemble. A relative newcomer to old time music, which is largely driven by the driving rhythms of the clawhammer banjo style and rough-hewn, melodic fiddling, the primary role of the guitar is to supply a steady rhythm and not compete with the interplay between the banjo and fiddle.

Rehabilitating finger-picking bluesman aside, Mac, with his wife, Jenny, are leading figures in the old-time scene as performers and teachers. He and Jenny have performed at the Carter Fold and the National Folk Festival. Mac has taught at the Augusta Heritage Workshops in West Virginia and the Swannanoa Gathering in North Carolina.

Jenny never joined our roots and blues sessions but I’ve seen her perform with Mac several times at the Floyd Country Store’s weekly Friday Night Jamboree. The husband wife performances feature classic harmony singing, instrumental variety and a stage show that is as educational as it is entertaining. The influence of the Carter family and Delmore brothers on their sound is readily apparent, but their influences go further and deeper.

Mac’s family roots are in Southside Virginia. Most of his ancestors were rural farmers, however his father was a Presbyterian minister in the small tobacco town of Oxford, NC. Mac’s family moved back into Southside when he was 15 and finished high school in Nottoway County where his mom still lives. Jenny was raised in Alexandria, Virginia near Washington DC. Her dad came to the area from Buffalo NY and met her mom who was from Denver CO.

Mac and Jenny met in the 70s while both were students at Virginia Tech. In Mac’s words the couple was “very free spirited.” They picked apples in New Hampshire for seasonal money and were not concerned with careers. Old-time music and a “back to the land’ lifestyle brought them to Grayson County where they had musical friends andMac Traynham is a fiddler and clawhammer banjo player (and maker), and one of the most recognizable and knowledgeable figures in the contemporary old-time scene. When I moved to Floyd ten years ago I was a dyed-in-the-wool blues man however, folks like Mac have broadened my musical listening by virtue of their knowledge and talent. I have a deep interest and love for old-time music thanks to Mac.

During their four-year stint in Grayson County, Jenny got a nursing degree while Mac worked in construction and later in a cabinet shop in Galax. Later Mac went back to Tech for a teaching degree in Industrial Arts so he could get a decent job with less risk to his fingers and more time for music. The couple’s son, Ben, was born while Mac was back in school and the couple released an album on the Heritage label.

Mac graduated from Tech again, and in 1984 he moved his family to Franklin County for a teaching job. Jenny became pregnant and was uncomfortable in the lower elevation and returned to stay with a friend Montgomery County. Mac finished the school year and resigned to get back up on the mountain with Jenny and Ben. For the next three years the family, now a foursome with daughter Hanna, lived in Christiansburg. They were ready to sink some roots and get back to a rural lifestyle and chose Floyd County with the Friday Night Jamboree and station WPAQ easy to tune in, the Traynhams moved to Willis in 1990.

Mac picked up the harmonica from his father who played in a tongue blocking style learned from his black playmates as a kid in Southside. He also dabbled in several guitar styles including blues, however, “being a white boy from the South” he identified with the music of the Blue Ridge Mountains and took notice of flat pickers like Doc Watson and Norman Blake and his friend Wayne Henderson. He liked the sound of bluegrass he heard on the Grand Ole Opry show and studied the playing of old-time players like Maybelle Carter, Riley Puckett, and the Delmore Brothers. During the ‘70s he attended the Galax Fiddler’s convention and was introduced to the old-time scene, he saw other young people playing and took notice of how the banjo and fiddle played in unison rather than taking turns. “It was something linked to the distant past but at the same time it was new to me,” says Traynham, “and with cloggers reacting to the energy of the music in such an active way, I’d found the ideal music for a great party.”

We’ll investigate Mac’s influences and his thoughts on the current old-time scene next time. Until then you can find out more about Mac and Jenny’s music, their performance schedule and latest CD at their website: http://macandjenny.blogspot.com/

David Freeman & County Sales Part II

2008-04-06T11:32:00.004-05:00

Floyd, Virginia is getting attention these days. Since the opening of the Crooked Road, Virginia’s Heritage Music Trail, the town has been featured in countless magazine and newspaper articles from the obscure Subaru’s Drive, to the ubiquitous Everyday with Rachel Ray. It’s also experiencing growth and change due to grant and government money that is reviving and renewing its downtown buildings and businesses. The jury is still out as to whether all this interest and “rural renewal” will bring an economic boom or destroy its homegrown funky character; but it is probably fair to say that the attention is inevitable. Floyd has been “discovered” as a distinctive community and treasure trove of authentic musical expression for decades. One of the primary stops made by Crooked Road pilgrims is located down a nondescript alley marked by a small faded wooden sign - County Sales.

Like many successful businesses that thrive in rural America, County Sales’ success is due to a convergence of one person’s passion with a market’s need. David Freeman was an avid collector of old records and spent his spare time scouring the southern states for old 78s and 45s. To pay for his travels (and the records), he sold duplicates through auctions. Soon, record collector friends in England and North Ireland convinced him to supply their mail order customers with American country LPs. He took a leap of faith and began a mail order business, County Sales (in October 1965), and a record label County Records (in 1964).

He met his wife through a mutual love of Bluegrass music and wanted to move south when their first child was born. While returning from the Galax Fiddlers Convention one year they saw an ad in the Roanoke Times for a farmhouse in Floyd, and ended up moving therein the mid-seventies. Five years later they moved to Roanoke, then to Charlottesville in 1996. They now live in Chapel Hill, N.C. however, County Sales is still in Floyd. Freeman’s label, County Records, and another label, Rebel Records, remain in Charlottesville where son Mark has taken over most of the duties.

Freeman heard the country music of the 1940s and 50s before he “discovered” old time and bluegrass. His early favorites were Hank Snow, The Louvin Brothers, Mac Wiseman, Bill Monroe and Flatt & Scruggs. Wiseman, Monroe and Flatt and Scruggs were considered country artists until the late 1950s when the term “Bluegrass” started to be used to describe their sound. His interests broadened to include old time acts like the Carter Family, Charlie Poole and Blue Sky Boys. Early country blues artists like Charlie Patton, Blind Willie McTell and Robert Johnson caught Freeman’s ear as well, but he couldn’t afford to collect them as well as the country items he found.

Although he tends to prefer more traditional forms, Freeman feels that there are first class contemporary Bluegrass bands who are grounded in tradition but have a contemporary touch in their instrumentation and choice of material. He especially likes Blue Highway, Rhonda Vincent, Del McCoury, the Lonesome River Band, Lost & Found, and Kenny & Amanda Smith. He enjoys the great gospel groups like Paul Williams, the Forbes Family and the Marshall Family.

In fact, Freeman generally feels positive about the state of old time music today due to the healthy number of younger groups who keep the old styles and tunes alive. As for bluegrass, he is amazed at the number of youngsters and family groups playing bluegrass well these days and keep the spirit of Bill Monroe, Ralph Stanley and Jimmy Martin. Making the traditional styles work for them, even as they adapt newer material, keeps the music vibrant and relevant. Freeman also believes the overall quality of musicianship has improved dramatically since the early days. However, he sometimes rues the loss of the hard-edged, down home rural flavor that bluegrass used to have, but is thankful for what has been preserved on record. Freeman’s catalogue makes both the old and new available.

Over the years County Sales has seen several changes in how music is distributed. LPs were a relatively new format when the catalogue began and 45s still had a market. Digital downloading now threatens major labels and their retail outlets, yet the music available through County Sales is more sought after by an older generation that is not as interested in downloading. Although they have been able to keep their heads above water selling CDs, Freeman admits that sales of actual CDs are down. Some of the loss is made up by selling through i-tunes, Napster, e-music and other online outlets. In fact, Freeman embraces this new method of distribution as helpful to labels, retailers, artists and the audience for their product.

Like the town of Floyd itself, Freeman’s Floyd business has undergone some significant changes over the years. Freeman was attracted to the music because of its rural nature, and believes very little of that is left in most of the acoustic music coming out today. According to Freeman this “is to be expected, because every aspect of our lives has become so homogenized by TV and the media that there really is hardly any ‘rural’ America any more.” This might be true of the changes the town of Floyd is going through. Once again Freeman’s words offer encouragement; “I feel that even though the rural edge is gone, there still can be great acoustic music today, based on the music and traditional of yesterday.” Perhaps that’s true of Floyd as well.

David Freeman & County Sales

2008-04-06T11:07:00.002-05:00

As I've followed my musical path, I've met fellow travelers who've stayed in touch. Since settling in Floyd County, I've assisted in bringing many of them to Floyd to perform at various venues. Paul Rishel and Annie Raines, Catfish Keith, Paul Geremia, Steve James and Del Rey have all performed here and conducted workshops at my music store. They often they stay at my home, and in an effort to be a good host (and support the local economy), I take them on a tour of local shops, eateries and sites. Without exception the most requested stop by these folks is located down a nondescript alley just south of the town's sole stoplight. Steve James calls it "Mecca," and many like-minded fans of roots music share his adoration.

County Sales is known internationally as the best source and biggest supplier of old time and bluegrass music. They carry just about every disc put out by the major independent bluegrass and old time labels (Sugar Hill, Rounder, Pine Castle, Hay Holler, Yodelahee, 5-String Products, Acoustic Disc), and many smaller independent and self-promoted titles. They also carry books and performance DVDs of artists past and present. Like most enterprises in Floyd, there is an interesting character and story behind this endeavor. David Freeman created County Sales, a mail order company and record label. He's also the founder of Rebel Records in Charlottesville, VA.

Freeman was born and raised in New York City. Not the most likely place to be exposed to authentic old time and bluegrass music; live or on the radio. He has a degree in Classics from Columbia University, (does anyone with a liberal arts diploma apply their major to their career path?). So how does an Ivy League educated New Yorker journey from a life of declining Latin verbs and translating Cicero to digging up 78s and promoting the recordings of Ralph Stanley?

As a teenager, Freeman couldn't stomach the pop music of the time or deejays like Alan Freed who were pushing rock & roll. He first heard real country music in 1953 at the age of 14 on the car radio during a family trip from New York to New Orleans. This was before the interstate system, and as the family drove down old Route 11, he heard Bluegrass and hard country while traveling through Virginia and east Tennessee. He also heard some blues going through Alabama and Mississippi and recalls eating in a restaurant in Johnson City, Tennessee where they had two different juke boxes: one for pop music and one for country. He was stunned to see and hear music like the Stanley Brothers and Flatt & Scruggs on red label Columbia record (78s) labels, the same label that released the pop records that were all over New York.

Upon his return from this trip, he was determined to find radio stations that played rural music, both white and black. He found a New Jersey station that played all black gospel groups like 5 Blind Boys of Alabama and another that played several hours of country a day. He thought he was the only person in New York who liked country music, until he went to shows in New Jersey to see Reno & Smiley, Flatt & Scruggs and Kitty Wells. Soon he started making trips in the summer to the country music parks like Sunset Park and New River Ranch.

As soon as he was old enough to drive, Freeman began making trips south, scouring the countryside for old records (mostly 78s, but also 45s). To pay for his travels (and the records), he started selling duplicates through record auctions (which he still runs). About the time he had compiled a good-sized mailing list of Bluegrass, country & old-time record collectors, he started getting requests for LPs (the new format in the late 1950s and early '60s). A couple of record collector friends in England and North Ireland convinced him to take over supplying their mail order customers with American country LPs, which were almost impossible to find in those days anywhere outside the American South.

With those two mailing lists Freeman took a 6-month leave of absence from his job with the Railway Mail Service and tried to survive on the $500.00 he had saved up. Miraculously, the leap of faith succeeded and he never returned to his job. His mail order business (COUNTY SALES, started in October 1965) and label (COUNTY RECORDS started in 1964) found an eager audience and continued to grow. Five years later Freeman, his wife and first son found Floyd and set up shop their.

The Forgotten Johnson

2008-03-31T20:48:00.001-05:00

One of the stock gags in my act usually comes right before I play Lonnie Johnson's "Troubles No More" or "In Love Again," both staples of my set. I start off by listing the "Holy Trinity of the Kings" of electric blues: B.B. King, Albert King and Freddie King. Then I explain that there is a similar "Trinity" in the acoustic blues pantheon. There's the well known Robert Johnson, the lesser known Tommy Johnson and finally the "forgotten Johnson," Lonnie. Usually I insert a lame joke like "And it's always a bad idea to forget your Johnson!" But I always point out that of the three acoustic Johnsons (and there are many more, including the truly holy Blind Willie Johnson), Lonnie was by far the most sophisticated guitarist and urbane vocalist.

His career is in part a bridge between the country blues of the prewar period and the urban blues that followed. It also bridges the blues, jazz and swing idioms. By all accounts a quiet and unassuming man, Lonnie weathered personal tragedy (the death of most of his family during the influenza epidemic of 1918), and professional ups (recording with jazz luminaries Louis Armstrong. Duke Ellington and Eddie Lang) and downs (work as a steelworker during the Great Depression and a janitor late in life). Yet even a cursory listen to his extensive recorded output reveals that he was a giants among guitar players of his, or any other era; influencing Robert Johnson and B.B. King among countless others (including yours truly).

Recently NPR's "All Things Considered" did its part to raise Lonnie Johnson's profile. You can hear it by clicking here.

Blues, Bluegrass and Beyond

2007-11-26T06:36:00.000-05:00

As I’ve been writing these articles on the impact of the blues on old time and bluegrass music here in southwest Virginia, a specific image keeps coming to mind. It’s a pencil drawing by Galax area artist Willard Gayheart. Willard is also a musician and music making is a common subject of his drawings. My favorite is one titled “All In the Family” and features a veritable “who’s who” of old time, bluegrass, rock and roll and country music icons, shadowed by their influences. All of them are not white and most of them are important figures in the development of the blues.

Some of the images are folks I’ve already discussed in previous articles. For instance the Carter Family is pictured with Leslie Riddle. Actually, Riddle is pictured twice, next to both A.P. and Mother Maybelle. Riddle was a black guitarist who assisted A.P. Carter in collecting songs. He may well also have been the inspiration of Mother Maybelle's distinctive picking style. It is said that she learned "The Cannonball" directly from Riddle. Other images in Gayheart's drawing are firmly identified as bluegrass players including the genre's progenitor, Bill Monroe.

Bill Monroe was born into a musical family in Rosine, Kentucky. The man who put the mandolin center stage and is credited with creating bluegrass music (named for his band, the Bluegrass Boys, in honor of his home state), picked up the instrument more or less by default. The youngest of eight children, Bill's siblings all picked up the more desirable instruments leaving Bill with the lowly mandolin. To add insult to injury, young Bill recalled that his brothers insisted that he remove four of the eight strings from the instrument so that he would not play too loudly! Monroe got the last laugh however, by fusing the influences of his two childhood mentors, Pen Vandiver (who raised Bill when he was orphaned as a teenager), and black country blues guitarist Arnold Schultz. Vandiver, Monroe's maternal uncle, played the fiddle, and had a deep repertoire of songs that Monroe drew from throughout his career. However, Schultz is credited with the blue notes and blues licks that spiced up Monroe's mandolin breaks and give bluegrass its distinctive edge. Monroe supposedly seconded Schultz on guitar as a child and rated him a primary influence in his musical growth

At Monroe's first recording session he gave energetic performance of Jimmie Rodgers's "Mule Skinner Blues." Jimmy Rodgers, known as "the Father of Country Music" and "the Singing Brakeman," turned to a musical profession when tuberculosis ended his railroad career prematurely. His career was launched at the famous Bristol Sessions (the same session that launched the career of the Carter Family known as "the Big Bang of Country Music"). When the group he came to record with, the Tenneva Ramblers, argued over who was to receive top billing, Jimmy was given a chance to sing on his own and a star was born.

Rodgers picked up guitar playing and his signature "blue yodel" from fellow railroad workers and later medicine show entertainers, many of whom were black. Indeed, many of Rodger's songs were blues outright and feature the genre's distinctive directness, feeling and imagery. In Gayheart's drawing, Rodgers is pictured with New Orleans trumpeter Louis Armstrong who, with his wife pianist Lil Armstrong, recorded with Rodgers on "Blue Yodel #9" (also known as "Standing on the Corner"). Indeed, Rodgers also recorded with black pianist Earl "Fatha" Hines and was one of the earliest white artists to openly record with racially mixed groups at a time when it was strictly taboo. One such session, "Everybody Does It in Hawaii," featured a real Hawaiian band.

Speaking of Hawaiian influence, seminal dobroist Bashful Brother Kirby Oswald's career was heavily influenced by the Hawaiian sound that swept the country in the 1920s. In Gayheart’s picture the well-known dobroist (born Beecher Ray Kirby), is shadowed by the progenitor of the Hawaiian lap guitar style Joseph Kekuku. Oswald learned the style from Kekuku acolyte Rudy Waikiki while performing at house parties in Flint Michigan where lived temporarily while working in the auto plants with many other transplanted southerners. Oswald was a fixture in Roy Acuff’s Smokey Mountain Boys and regular on the Grand Ole Opry and is credited with popularizing not only the Dobro in bluegrass and country music but also the bluesy and exotic sounds of the Hawaiian style.

The history of bluegrass music is tied to not only the mandolin picking of Monroe but also the banjo playing of Earl Scruggs. Scruggs got his start in the Bluegrass Boys and his syncopated three finger picking style is credited with driving and popularizing Monroe’s music. The banjo itself is of African origin and this is illustrated in Gayheart’s picture by pairing Scrugg’s with Uncle John Scruggs (no relation). Although it can easily be argued that Scrugg’s did not invent the three-finger style, he took it far beyond any of his predecessors. When Scrugg’s and fellow Blue Mountain Boy, guitarist Lester Flatt, left the band they partnered up to form a band whose popularity rivaled their former employer’s. They did much to popularize and further bluegrass music. We know Uncle John only from a brief 1920s film clip outside a sharecropper’s cabin, playing to an audience of dancing children. It is readily available on YouTube.

Another musical icon pictured in Gayheart’s drawing is Bob Wills and his influence, Bessie Smith. Wills, “the King of Western Swing” fused the bluesy inflection of Bessie Smith’s singing with jazz chords and rhythmic sophistication to create one of the most engaging and danceable sounds in all American music. As a teenager Wills once rode fifty miles on horseback to hear Bessie Smith sing. In fact his first recording was Smith’s “Gulf Coast Blues.” His “Steel Guitar Rag” was a lap steel driven version of a black guitarist slide instrumental, Sylvester Weaver’s “Guitar Rag,” a tune that has become a bluegrass standard.

If Jimmie Rodgers is the “Father of Country Music” Hank Williams was its first born son. The man who birthed the contemporary country music and honky tonk sound got his early musical education from a black street singer named Rufus Payne, known to the locals in Hank’s hometown as “Tee Tot.” Like Rodgers, William’s early blues singing strongly informed his country music performance with his fondness for 12 bar blues and heavy use of blue notes in his singing attack.

Finally, Gayheart’s picture features Elvis Pressley and Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup. Elvis, also known as the “Hillbilly Cat” had his first big hit with Cruddup’s “That’s Allright Mama.” It was one of three Cruddup compositions recorded by Elvis. Interestingly, the flip side of that single was Monroe’s “Blue Moon of Kentucky. All in the Family indeed!

Hill Billy Blues

2007-11-21T06:15:00.000-05:00

What of the blues’ impact on old time music? The Okeh record label recorded the first blues record, Mamie Smith's "Crazy Blues," in 1920 under its "Race Record" series marketed to black record buyers. When Georgia's Fiddlin' John Carson waxed "The Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane" and "The Old Hen Cackled and the Rooster's Going to Crow" for the label it appeared in the company’s "Popular Music" catalog alongside operatic singers and Tin Pan Alley jazz and pop. The company soon placed Carson and others like him in a separate "Old Time Music"' category and we've used the label ever since.

But blues and old time share more than an original record label. Old time music is most often driven by the fiddle (a European instrument), and banjo (an African instrument). Although other instruments including guitar and Appalachian dulcimer are quite commonly heard, this very instrumentation illustrates the marriage of European and African influence on the music. The approach to these instruments was also heavily influenced by the phrasing and syncopation introduced by African American players.

Many of the vaulted personalities in the old time pantheon cited black blues musicians as major influences. West Virginia’s Dick Justice and Frank Hutchinson both credited their playing style to black musicians. Hutchinson credited a black bluesman named Henry Vaughn around 1904 for inspiring his own playing. Indeed, Sherman Lawson, a fiddler who recorded with Hutchinson in 1928 claimed to have learned from a crippled black fiddler named Bill Hunt some time before 1910. The song “Worried Blues” that Hutchinson recorded with Lawson was reportedly learned from Hunt. The irascible Howard Armstrong praised Hutchinson’s ability to play blues guitar although he was not quite as generous about Hutchinson’s harp blowing. “Really bad,” was Armstrong’s blunt assessment.

The sound created by the hallowed Carter Family was driven, largely, by Mother Maybelle’s “Chicken Scratch” guitar picking. Although she is often credited with birthing this style, it was not dissimilar to the picking of many black guitarists throughout the Appalachian and Piedmont region. A.P. Carter’s insatiable thirst for old time tunes led him to collect many tunes from around the region, many of which he often co-opted and claimed as his own. In this venture it was a black guitarist, Lesley Riddle, who served as a guide and gatekeeper introducing A.P. to bluesman Brownie McGhee and the music of the obscure Tarter and Gray. A.P.’s practice of collecting and publishing songs from the oral tradition was paralleled by W.C. Handy did in the blues field. Some even claim that Riddle is the source for Maybelle's picking style.

In the area that surrounds my hometown of Floyd, VA the string band music of black players such as Turner Foddrell and his family reveal the similarities between blues and old time in this region. Turner's blues served the same function as that of the old time players, to make folks dance. Turner frequently performed with his brother, Marvin, and son, Lynn around Patrick County, VA. Perhaps the most definitive evidence that, categories like "blues," "old time" and "bluegrass" are meaningless and unnecessarily confining is that Turner often was called upon to fill in for guitar players in area bluegrass bands! Rabbit Muse, from nearby Franklin County, Virginia performed vaudevillian-styled songs on ukulele, often with kazoo accompaniment. His performances bring to mind many of the vaudevillian and minstrel inspired ditties of Charlie Poole, banjoist and leader of the North Carolina Ramblers. Poole is claimed by old time and bluegrass enthusiast alike and often ventured into Floyd and Franklin County to play and sample the area's most notorious export, moonshine. Poole's hit "Don't Let Your Deal Go Down Blues" was also often performed by black blues players such as John Jackson and Etta Baker.

While much of the old time repertoire borrowed from European ballad tradition (tales of false knights and the Four Marys), "new" songs about bad men (Railroad Bill and John Hardy), rail disasters (Wreck of the Old 97), unrequited love (Careless Love), abound. Many of these songs or variants of them were also recorded by blues players. Which tradition created these songs first? The answer is lost on the swirl of pre-recorded history and is far less important than the music itself, which demonstrates plenty of cross-fertilization between black and white musicians in the rural south.

Blues in the Blue Ridge

2007-11-16T05:34:00.000-05:00

Blues emerged as a distinct musical form shortly before the turn of the century. Historically, although the Mississippi Delta, Texas and the Durham, NC areas were mined deeper and more vigorously by race record labels, Virginia proved to have a rich and talented, if under-recorded, collection of blues pickers. Luke Jordan from Lynchburg recorded 10 sides for the Victor label in 1927 and was reported by some of his acolytes to be just one (and not necessarily the best), professional blues players from that area. William Moore, a barber from the Richmond area recorded eight sides for Paramount in 1928 (I recorded two of his numbers, “Ragtime Millionaire” and “One Way Gal” on my last CD release, “Hero Worship”). Carl Martin, from Big Stone Gap, had a long recording career spanning from the 30s through the revival of the 60s and 70s and often recorded with the irascible Howard “Louie Bluie” Armstrong and Carl Bogan as well as solo and with other acts. Stephen Tarter and Harry Gray, also from the Big Stone Gap area waxed a few sides for Victor in Bristol in 1928. Their tune “Unknown Blues” displays the syncopated ragtime influenced interplay of dueling finger picked guitars and a standard blues lyrical structure. Their session was the only blues recorded at the Bristol sessions where one year earlier the Carter Family and Jimmy Rogers recorded at what is now known as “the Big Bang of Country Music.”

Although not recorded commercially, the area that I live in harbored a thriving blues scene captured in recordings made by Ferrum College’s Blue Ridge Institute of Franklin County artists Turner and Marvin Foddrell and John Tinsley. Other Franklin County blues acts include Archie Edwards and Rabbit Muse. Archie Edwards moved to Washington D.C. where, like William Moore, he was a barber in addition to a blues guitarist. Since his passing, his barbershop has become a nonprofit foundation supporting and promoting acoustic blues. Rabbit Muse contends with Blind Lemon Jefferson, King Solomon Hill and Furry Lewis for the coolest name in bluesdom in addition to being one of the most highly individual instrumentalists, adding a bluesy twang to novelty and hokum numbers he learned as a medicine show entertainer while playing ukulele and kazoo. His “Rabbit Stomp is a staple of my sets.

Most of these Virginia blues players who recorded during what is called the “Commercial Era,” were multi instrumentalists. Some, like Stephen Tarter were credited with being able to play “anything with strings.” William Moore is reported to have been an exceptional fiddler and piano player. Although the entire recording legacy of most of these players is guitar blues, Virginia musicians were able to play in a variety of styles and the string band and ragtime traditions come forth in all of these artists records.

Contemporary Virginia blues players include the late John Jackson. I spent a few afternoons at John’s house picking tunes and listening to stories. He often interspersed his blues sets with songs like the “Singing Brakeman” Jimmy Rodgers’ “Waitin’ for a Train” (complete with blue yodel), and an occasional banjo tune. His nephew, Jeffrey Scott is keeping John’s legacy alive playing and singing Jackson’s songs and telling his stories with almost frightening exactness. The most visible keeper of the flame these days is John Cephas, who with harp blowing partner Phil Wiggins, travels the globe performing traditional blues.

I’m trying to do my part to put the blues back in the Blue Ridge. Of course, I keep good company with folks like Sheryl Warner and the Southside Homewreckers and Barbara Martin. We all conduct workshops about blues music in schools, colleges and community centers around the area. Greg Kimball, guitarist with the Housewreckers, has also worked with the James River Blues Society to create a brochure about traditional blues in Virginia called “Old Dominion Songsters” and helped erect historical markers dedicated to Virginia bluesmen Luke Jordan and Carl Martin. Additionally the James River Blues Society and the Blue Ridge Blues Society of Roanoke provides lists of area musicians and venues, sponsor blues festivals and concerts and facilitate educational programs about blues.

When I moved to Floyd County eight years ago and began to book my act at various venues in the area, owners and promoters often greeted me with incredulity. "Our audiences only want to hear bluegrass and old time," was the frequent response. My dissertations on the historical give and take between blues, old time and bluegrass musicians in the creation and development of these styles fell on deaf ears. “Folks want to hear a banjo and a fiddle around here.” Fortunately, the funky little burg of Floyd County was more welcoming and open minded. We’ve got old time, bluegrass and gospel acts to spare of course. But they co-exist peaceably with Latin pop, Celtic, reggae, heavy metal, jazz and Grateful Dead tribute bands along with singer-songwriters and other soloists. Floyd’s eclectic and receptive cultural landscape allowed me to establish myself as resident blues and roots man. Thanks Floyd and everyone who supports the Blues Ridge!

Oh Papa; Recovering Bluesman, Part 5

2007-09-25T14:17:00.000-05:00

For myself, I waved the “I’m a bluesman” flag briefly. It seems that once I was able to proclaim myself a bluesman I got over it, just as admitting a bad habit often leads to recovery. I began to explore other interests. Just when I had acquired enough skill and critical recognition to claim the title I had so long been too intimidated to say aloud, I began to dabble in old time and mountain guitar styles. The optimism and flair of gypsy jazz, the cleverness of Tin Pan Alley standards and the swagger of honky tonk began to call me and find its way into my broadening repertoire. There are those that will argue my “right” to perform these styles as well. For most musicians, labels mean little. We are drawn to new challenges by the thrill of acquiring new tools for self-expression. Most of the old bluesmen didn’t label themselves anything other than musicians and most played music of all types. Like them, my only ambition is to avoid “real work” and live a creative life. The cranking of critics and academics means less than nothing next to the need for artistic gratification. Ultimately the “market” (audience), decides what is “good” or “bad” and they are often as wrong as the reviewers and pundits.

A player plays; the rest is out of our control. Blues will always be a primary source of inspiration to me. But like all the originators of the form, it is not my only source. Ultimately, the only critic or authority I answer to is myself and I am harder to please than any audience or authority.

Oh Papa; Recovering Bluesman, Part 4

2007-09-18T13:55:00.000-05:00

The seed that grew into the musical blues tree comes from an African flower. It traveled to the United States in the belly of a slave ship. It was sown in the fields of the southern plantation system and watered with the blood and sweat of slavery. It poked through the ground during the Civil War and was nurtured by the dim light of Reconstruction and the Jim Crow system. It was fertilized by European harmonic ideas and folk songs, but retained its African lineage through the banjo and African rhythmic ideas. It bloomed at the turn of the 19^th Century just as the first recordings of American music were being made, giving all of us a historical record of its early beauty. It is not just African or black, but perhaps more than anything, truly American. A blossom whose beauty openly mocks the pain and suffering that created it. Whether or not Guy Davis or anyone else likes it, the fruit of the blues tree is available for all to pick regardless of race or nationality. Many have taken seeds and cuttings from it, we plant and graft them as best we can in the hope that others will recognize our unique hybrid.

The black experience that blues developed from is now accessible only through second and third party sources. The blues arose as a popular style in the black community but fell off the popular radar as their interest moved on to Jazz, R&B and Soul and became incorporated into other popular “white” styles of Bluegrass and Rock & Roll. The handicap that all musicians who want to learn to play and sing the blues are faced with, is that blues is of a time, place and community available only through recordings and second-hand reminiscence. Whether you’re Guy Davis or Scott Perry, this is a sad fact. It is unlikely that either of us will resurrect the blues as a popular form. Why would anyone want to limit access to its fruits?

Oh Papa; Recovering Bluesman, Part 3

2007-09-11T13:41:00.000-05:00

Here’s my position distilled, as best as I’m able, to its essence: music is an expression of culture; it is learned, not genetically or racially imprinted. The logical extension of the argument that blues is black music and can only be authentically performed by blacks, is that opera can only be properly understood or performed by Italians or Germans. Only the French can make a convincing crepe or soufflé, Greeks are the only true philosophers and Christians are the only folks going to heaven.

These statements ring false to any thinking person. Yet when a privileged, educated black guy from New York states that only blacks can perform blues, or some self-proclaimed authority writes a review that a black artist is more authentic then a white one, the argument gains traction. Again, any logical refutation against this position is fruitless. It is a position protected and insulated by liberal white guilt and reverse discrimination and, like the legacy of institutional slavery and racism, only time will lessen its grip.

I’ve had the privilege to hang out and perform with Honeyboy Edwards, Big Smokey Smothers, Johnny Shines, John Jackson, Big Boy Henry, Nat Reese and many other second-generation black blues players. They all said I could play and gave me nothing but encouragement. I’ve played for black audiences and been as well received as any black artist. Maybe they were being polite, but frankly I don’t think so. I’ve heard these same artists and audiences let folks know when they weren’t cutting it. I approach the music with sensitivity and respect for the conditions from which it arose and the artists who created it. I make no apologies for the color of my skin and let audiences and critics alike form their own opinions.

Oh Papa; Recovering Bluesman, Part 2

2007-09-04T13:20:00.000-05:00

A few years back, Guy Davis was heralded as a young “great black hope,” reclaiming acoustic blues as black music along with other young black artists like Corey Harris and Alvin “Youngblood” Hart. Davis admitted to his rather “unbluesy” privileged upbringing as the son of two successful actors, Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, in an article he wrote for Blues Revue Magazine. He grew up in a large Harlem brownstone with access to the best education and far removed from the poor, rural, and southern roots often associated with “authentic” blues credentials. Yet in the article he firmly stated his belief that blues is “a treasure that belongs to my people.” For Davis, “The issue is racism. White folks can never really know what it means, what it feels like, to be a nigger.”

This article got under my skin like no other, largely due to the hypocrisy of Davis’ arguments. He accused his white peers as being imitators who learned from books and tried to imitate black vocal delivery. Yet Davis was unwilling to admit that he learned from the same books and is guiltier than most of a contrived whiskey and cigarette growl in his singing.

Davis grew up in a world of relative wealth, entitlement and culture. He is educated and talented, but his whining that he wants to see “more black faces” in his audiences rings hollow to me. Without any real effort, I’ve played for plenty of black audiences at schools and clubs. Davis could do the same. If he wants, as he stated in a Dirty Linen interview, black kids “to learn how to play blues…from black-skinned people” perhaps he could donate money from his trust fund to finance such an endeavor. Trying to disprove or discredit my abilities or merits (or those of any other white performer), to validate his own, will not get Davis far in my eyes. Being white doesn’t mean that I can’t understand the painful legacy of racism any more than being black gives him automatic insight into something outside of his direct personal experience.