Leadbelly/Irene Goodnight

Alongside Woodie Guthrie, Leadbelly would have to be one of the most important figures in music recorded in Alan Lomax Archive of American Folk Music. Alan Lomax and his father  met Lead Belly in the Angola Penitentiary in 1933. While reading about Leadbelly and coming across many of photo's I cant help but get a feeling a sense of triumph. When I look at Leadbelly's I read alot of stories. I see how his emotions have shaped the contours of his face. When you look at Leadbelly's face you see truimph. He's not particulariy a good looking fellow but when he sings the blues, his face should becomes this visual representation of what the blues is. You sing the blues when you have the blues but I feel that theres always a feeling of triumph why singing the blues. The feeling of triumph is not only precieerved by looking at Leadbelly facial features. When Alan Lomax speaks about Leadbelly's voice he decribes it as truimphant and that it be heard from almost half a mile away.

      Irene Goodnight embodies the emotion evoked by the blues. It sounds as if Leadbelly is almost preaching while he's singing this song. Verse by Verse the listener visualizes the pain caused by the parting of his wife. Stop rambling, stop your gambling, stop staying out late at night.Go home to your wife and your family,stay there by your fireside bright

                                                      Will The Circle Be UnBroken

                                   

Will the Circle be Unbroken. The lyrics of this song very melancholic. The song is sung as it's written. What I found interesting about the lyrics is how visceral the fear of losing a loved is. Its as if even without realizing how to feels to lose a loved one the feeling is almost instinct. What's sad about the song is understanding what circle is unbroken. It's not really an ambiguous theme in the lyrics because the circle could be life and death. What if the circle was more? The circle could be experiencing the feeling of losing a loved one.  When I think of the unbroken circle the picture that comes to mind to is being in limbo. Stuck in a world where colors are limited to emotion. I feel that the visual representation of melancholy should be a world limited of colors. That's why for these two pieces I worked simply in form, why using two colors. 

Blowing Down that Road

Alan Lomax used Folk music as a way of distributing war information through many channels like the phonograph record , the radio program , church folk, and the folk theatre. Alan would then go to towns and collect major folk songs and war content. Alan Lomax succeeded in getting on the air on more than hundred radio shows where he would promote artist like Woody Guthrie, Pete Seger and others artist in the Lomax circle. Folklore music is representative of the past, nostalgic, it was dying. Lomax was convinced that Woody Guthrie was one of the greatest writers of his time. Lomax even considered dropping everything in order to help Woody succeed.

For Woody Guthrie I decided to create a piece for the song " Blowing Down The Road". Woody Guthrie's songs symbolized the working class. Blowing down the Road is a song that embodies the hardships of the american life in the 20th century. I feel a connection with this song mostly because I'm a person who has to work while in school. At times I feel like I'm blowing down that Dusty Road. I'm working hard for a better life and I'm searching for that place where the dust doesn't blow. At the end of my journey I'll be able to find the place where the water taste like wine.

Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight

In class we went over Children's Ballads and there respective origin. James Child is the man responsible for gathering and creating many Children's Ballads. After doing research on the Children's Ballads I found that many of the ballad's origins are of Germanic Folklore. Many of the ballads implicate the presence of the supernatural. In the Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight I found that the according to germanic folklore the Elf Knight is called a "Nix' A Nix is a shapeshifting water spirit which would lure women to their doom. Its not implied in many of the versions of the ballad but the Elf Knight has lured many princesses to their doom. However in many versions instead of the knight succeeding in killing his next victim, Lady Isabel uses the Knights obsession with beauty against him. In that moment she slays the elf knight. I found that many of the live song versions of Children's Ballad are very cheery, when in fact I expected them sound more eerie. Mainly because the ballads I read had to do with death.  Above is a master copy I did of an illustration of the Lady Isabel and the Elf sadly I couldn't find the name of the artist.

Mississippi John Hurt plays a huge role in american folk music. I believe that as american folk artist he underrated. Unfortunately I hadn't heard of John Hurt until  we covered a bit of his history in class.  John Hurt recordings spanned across a myriad of genres which included blues, blue grass, spirituals and rock n roll. I created this painting with the intent of metaphorically displaying how I feel about John Hurt's experience in the American folk music realm. The visual noise I tried to create in the painting is a representation of his presence in the american folk music realm. He is important part of american folk music and he is included in Harry Smith Anthology of American Folk music. However I was disappointed in myself that as African American I hadn't heard of John Hurt until most recently. 

You Must Be Born Again Lyrics

Long ago, I didn't know nothing about Jesus and His love
I had heard about Him, but I had never felt
this manna which comes down from above
In this life of sin I could no longer stand
I asked my mother how do you get to know the man
She said you must be, don't you see you've got to be ....Born again
You must have that fire and Holy Ghost
that Burning churning keeps the prayer wheel turning
The kind of religion you cannot conceal
It makes you move, makes you shout,
Makes you cry when it's real
I've got my hand right in the windin' chain
My souls been anchored in my Jesus' name
I'm filled within, I've free from sin
You know I've been born again
I started to walk, I had a new walk
I started to talk, I had a new talk
I looked at my hands, my hands looked new
I looked at my feet and they did too
I've got my hand right in the windin' chain
My souls been anchored in my Jesus' name
I'm filled within, I've free from sin
You know I've been born again

 While exploring Harry William’s anthology of American folk music I reached volume two and I heard “ Must be born again “ Now if you are a Christian African American born and raised in Atlanta Georgia, its no coincidence that you may feel a connection with this song. I felt one.  I think a connection was established the moment I read the name of the song. While listening to the song I began to recollect being a child on a warm and humid day in Georgia going to church. Its Sunday morning my room is dirty as always. My moms voice lurks through the cracks of my closed bedroom door. I crawl out of my bed realizing its Sunday. I don’t know how many other children felt about waking up early and going to church in the morning but it was not one of my favorite things to do. My brothers and I never made going to church easy. The constant search for dress shoes and ties aided in slowing down how fast we left for church. If successful we would be at least 30 minutes late to service. There is a funny thing about Georgia weather; It would rain at least twice a week. Sometimes my mom wouldn’t wake my brothers and I to go to church if the weather was bad but I guarantee you it rarely rains on Sunday in Georgia and lets not forget to mention that Sundays for whatever reason are the hottest day of a Georgia week. My mom drove a small red Nissan with peeling red paint. It was never a joyous occasion when we went to church. If my brothers and I didn’t want to pass out in church we would sleep during the 15-minute car ride.  

As I continued to listen to “Must be Born Again” I wasn’t feeling the angst of my childhood. Instead I felt the feeling of appreciation.   I could clearly picture how a Sunday morning was in church. It’s hot and muggy. I could see church benches, rows of them. Made out of oak wood that glimmers in the sunlight. They were always so uncomfortable to sit on as a child but there a comfortable part of me. I remember all the old heads and how they dressed they’re best every Sunday.  The constant “amens” shouted in agreement to the pastor words. I recollect sitting next to a group of old lady’s who would secretly my brothers and I candy.  I remember the singing choir and pastor who habitually would ask us to turn to certain pages in the hymnbook to sing along. I can tell you that old black people didn’t seem that lively any other day of the week. You could see dust particles illuminating in the light as the sun crept through the colors of the stained glass windows.  As a child I didn’t enjoy being at church but when I sang along with people who were two generations ahead of me its easy to understand why spirituals are a huge part of my identity. My people have always sung spirituals and as result I can’t help but feel a connection that resonates with my past and my identity. “ Must be born again” took me to that place. In the Baptist, when you join the church you are constantly asked if you’ve been born again and if you’ve accepted Jesus Christ as you lord and savoir. Old churches in the south have become precious anachronisms and the spirituals that you hear in them are an important part of history.

This is the painting that I did for the song autumn leaves.  The painting has changed however and before it was altered it originally was a a green background displaying a hint of orange. I wanted to experiment with colors for this piece. Experimenting with a method that could possible evoke various meanings as it did in class. Now, the painting has strokes of white which obscure the green as well possibly denote another meaning. Autumn leaves is a metaphor for various things. One of which, that is the most apparent is love. Love comes and goes, and so does autumn. Whilst being a sad concept it also is elevating. I don't agree with the concept of love coming and going. I believe love comes and it stays. Depending on its growth and the strength of its connection love can be eternal regardless between who or what you love. Maybe its naive for me to think so. Maybe its naive for musicians, playwrights, singers,  and painters to eternalize this feeling. Maybe just like the obscurity that exists on the painting above is the same as my understanding of love