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

After listening to many alternate versions of “Mary Don’t You Weep” I felt that the version by Inez Andrews resonates with me the most. I wondered why though. I wondered if it was the fact that it was song as gospel. I’ve listened to gospel music almost my entire life. As a result I stopped listening to Gospel music. However there was something strikingly peculiar about this song. The same could be said about a lot of gospels sung by the African American race. It’s as if I can feel the emotion with the high and lows’ in Inez’s voice. It becomes nostalgic, but not in the sense of remembering the abundance of gospel music in my past. It goes beyond my past and I could feel it in my bones. Every time I here old African American gospel music I can feel the howling of my ancestors and they’re thoughts murmuring in my bones.  I can close my eyes and feel a wave of emotion crash into to me.

So I saw in Anthony’s post for Mary Don’t You Weep He provided the class with some history of the song.  I thought I should dive deeper. So Mary Don’t you Weep eludes to two very important stories told in the Bible. One of which was the story of Saint Mary of Bethany and the raising of her brother Lazarus. In earlier centuries artwork was mainly religious. The story of Mary of Bethany is one of the most important pieces of artwork in those times. There are many renditions of this painting by many masters’ that share a similar context whilst alluding to various contexts within the bible as well as evoking specific emotions. One version of the painting of Mary of Bethany and Jesus, which happens to be my favorite, is done by Velasquez.  We see a picture of a maid, and we see a painting in the background that’s a visual representation of the story from the bible. Or it could be a mirror? Velasquez utilizations of mirrors keep his paintings fresh with controversy and room for thought.

Nat King Cole - Autumn Leaves

I thought I would post this beautiful video of Nat King Cole. Lately keep finding myself constantly reconnecting with the metaphors of nature and love. Since you went away the days become long. I miss you most of all, my darling. The autumn leaves of red and gold.