Roots Music Journey

Roots Music Journey
On our way to the Hopi Mesas!

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Travel Itinerary


Travel Itinerary
This itinerary includes destinations and approximate length of stays along with specific cultural centers, events, clubs, and museums we plan on visiting. I hope to contact most venues in advance to make arrangements for special access or tours when possible. The exact order of stops may change depending on music and festival schedules for spring 2012.
• at all sites I will be taking extensive photos whenever possible.
• I plan to do recorded interviews with curators and musicians when possible

                        Place                                                   Duration                                      Purpose of Visit                                                                       
Bakersfield         














After Bakersfield we plan to detour to Springdale, Utah and Santa Fe, New Mexico for a few weeks and then plan to hit the road in ernest at the beginning of Feb.
2 or 3 days

Investigate current country music scene including Buck Owen’s Crystal Palace (contemporary country music venue)
Kern County Museum
Bakersfield Country Music Museum
(Both museums have exhibits on the history of the legendary, hard edged, Bakersfield Honky Tonk scene that emerged out of the Dustbowl Migration of the 1930s





Drive to Texas                              
1 week
follow rural roads thru Arizona and New Mexico with investigations of Native American Music
(Casa Grande Ruins music festival Feb 2012)
San Antonio
2 or 3 days
San Antonio remains one of the primary centers of Tejano music and is the home of the Tejano music awards in March. I plan to visit clubs and other music venues including Main Plaza with a focus on Tejano/Norteno music and culture
Austin


Austin continued
2 or 3 days
Investigate the roots of Austin’s nationally recognized music scene
(Austin is currently the home of “South By Southwest” one of the largest contemporary national showcases for new rock of all styles)
Visit Texas Music Museum
Clubs on Sixth Street-Antone’s and many more
Travel thru rural Texas
(before and after visits to Austin and San Antonio)
3 to 5 days

Small towns we plan on visiting include Luckenbach (made famous by Waylon Jennings song), Liberty (cover photo of my textbook), Navasata (Home of blues legend Mance Lipscomb)
All are some of the oldest towns in the state
New Orleans and Louisiana Bayou country


New plan to try to be in New Orleans for Mardi Gras . . .Fat Tuesday here we come.
2/21/12
2 to 3 days with longer 10 day visit later in trip for Heritage Music Festival
Attend Jazz and Heritage Music Festival
Explore French Quarter:
Investigate contemporary music scene and reflect on both commodification and commercialization of New Orleans rich musical heritage
Congo Square
Lafayette-home of Zydeco originator Clifton Chenier, visit Clifton Chenier Center
Explore Bayou Country- focus on culture, climate, music and geography
Blues Trail exploration of the Mississippi Delta and surrounding areas






Blues Trail continued
2 to 3 weeks
Travel on routes 55 and 61 from New Orleans to Memphis along the Mississippi with stops at historic homes and birthplaces of Blues legends including
Hazlehurst-Robert Johnson
Hinds County- Charlie Patton
Dockeries Plantation- (often referred to as the birthplace of the blues)
Greenville- Home of the Delta Blues Festival
Vicksburg- Willie Dixon
Junction of Rt 61 and 49-
“The Crossroads”
Itta Bena- B.B. King
Indiola: Miss “Ebony Club”
Clarksdale- visit Delta Blues Museum and birthplace of WC Handy
Lyon- Son House
Yazoo City- Muddy Waters
(The intent of this section of the trip will be
Morgan Freeman’s Club “Ground Zero”
• explore how these legends are remembered and celebrated in their hometowns.
• experience the climate, rural isolation and poverty of the Mississippi Delta
• further investigate contemporary theories that have challenged the primacy of many of these blues legends as the inventors of the blues
Memphis















Memphis continued
1 week
Visit Sun Studios Museum
• Experience Sam Phillips roots music studio and home of legendary recordings by Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash and others
• Visit Beale Street: one of the first African American Business districts in the US, now home to numerous clubs.
• Visit Graceland: Home of Elvis Presley, investigate how and why the idolization of Presley continues to this day
• Visit Stax Museum of American Soul Music (located on the site of Stax studios; one of the 3 legendary soul studios of the 1960s and 70s)
• Beale St Zydeco Music festival last week in Feb 2012
Nashville
1 to 2 week
• Visit Country Music Hall of Fame: focus on country music’s cultural roots
• Attend a show at the Grand Ole Opry
• Check out the current club scene of Nashville: investigate the current trends of live performance in one of the nation’s most vibrant music scenes.
• Attend a country recording session of possible: check out the current Nashville studio scene
Trip thru rural Appalachia including Tennessee, Kentucky, parts of North and South Carolina and Georgia
1 week
• explore the rural roots of Country and Old Time Music with stops in the historic home towns of country artists and sites historic importance including
Bristol, TN-first country music recordings of the Carter Family and Jimmy Rogers,
Goodlettsville, TN-Bill Monroe
Sevierville, TN-Dolly Parton
Maces Springs (Hiltons), VA-Maybelle Carter
Clintwood, VA- Ralph Stanley Museum and Traditional Mountain Music Center. 
This segment of the trip will be very similar in focus to the Blues Trail with emphasis on the culture, geography, and climate
Georgia Sea Islands
And South Carolina Sea Islands
3 to 5 days
Investigate Gullah Culture and language: one of the oldest and best preserved African cultures in America with roots in Sierra Leone and one of the most distinct linguistic dialects in the country
Visit St Helena, SC- considered a center of Gullah culture today
Hilton Head Island, SC-home of the Gullah Cultural Celebration during Feb
Return to California with additional stops as time allows
1 to 2 weeks



Sunday, December 11, 2011

Glenn's Bio


Glenn Appell is a professional musician and educator who has been teaching at the college level for twenty five years. Residing in the San Francisco Bay Area, He currently coordinates popular music studies at Diablo Valley College, Pleasant Hill, CA , where he currently teaches Rock and R&B History, and has taught Jazz History, American Popular Music History, Jazz Theory and Improvisation, Jazz Ensembles and Jazz Combos including Latin Jazz . He is the former director of the jazz program at Contra Costa College in addition to teaching at Solano College and Ohlone College. He received his B.S. in Music Performance and Education from the City University of New York (CUNY) in 1980 and received his interdisciplinary MA in Multicultural Music Education from San Francisco State University in 1998. Glenn has published on jazz education and music advocacy in urban schools.
In addition Glenn is the co-author of the recently published textbook American Popular Music: A Multicultural History. Co-authored by David Hemphill, Associate Dean for Graduate Studies in Education at San Francisco State University, the text was published by Thomson Schirmer (2006) and includes a 2 CD set of listening examples. The interdisciplinary text provides a sweeping survey that tells the story of American popular music from African American, European American, Latino, Asian and Native American perspectives. Of particular interest is an extensive chapter on the history of Mexican American/Chicano music, an area that rarely receives the academic attention it deserves. The text has received rave reviews from a number of popular music scholars and historians including George Lipsitz, Daniel Sheehy, and Chris Strachwitz.
For more information on the textbook visitwww.thomsonedu.com/music/appell
Glenn has also maintained an active freelance career for over twenty five years performing on trumpet, flugelhorn, harmonica, and Native American flute. He has toured and recorded with a variety of artists and performing groups including The San Francisco Mime Troupe, The Johnny Nocturne Band, Pete and Sheila Escovedo, O.J. Ekemode, Charles Brown, David Bromberg, Dr. Loco's Rockin' JalapeƱo Band, and songwriter Alex Call. In addition Glenn has also done extensive recording for documentary and feature films. He currently leads the Tutti Forza! Trumpet Quartet and the Just Say Jazz Sextet, whose primary focus is jazz education. This professional group has performed in over 150 schools, museums and community centers in Northern California over the last 14 years. Glenn also currently performs with the acclaimed ten piece brass ensemble Brazzissimo and Soul Power, one the the Bay Area's hottest Funk/R&B bands. 
Glenn is available for a variety of workshops and lectures including
  • American Popular Music: a Multicultural Perspective
  • A Multicultural Perspective on Jazz History
  • Just Say Jazz: Developing Jazz Education programs for Children

We are almost ready to hit the road!

Hey folks its finally happening, we are almost ready to hit the road. My grand sabbatical trip is about to begin. My wife Kate Squire and I will be heading out in just a few short weeks for a 4 month Roots Music Journey across the Southern US.