Bristol TN and the Carter Family Fold (PS I'm tired of trying to catch up)

Wow, we are so far behind with blog posts. . . .Cajun Country, the Mississippi Delta, Memphis, Nashville and more, but . . . .

Mighty pretty up here in The Blue Ridge Mountains!

Spring has sprung and there are more dogwoods blooming than you have ever seen

We were staying at Natural Tunnel State Park and this is the tunnel. This place was way cool. . . .Coal trains still going thru the 850 foot tunnel 10 times a day. . . .a total boy thing. You can't tell that we are at the bottom of a 500 foot cliff which was impossible to photograph but during the summer they actually run a ski lift to get folks down here. . . . 

Hi Friends, I hope this doesn’t mess with your mind too much but I am jumping ahead for some recent news. We just finished a few days in Northeastern Tennessee and Southwestern Virginia in what many people call the birthplace of country music. In 1927 the town of Bristol, Tennessee was where record producer Ralph Peer first recorded the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers within just a few short days of each other.

Today these 2 legendary artists/groups are known as the 2 founding schools of country music. The Carter family came to represent family, home, and hearth along with a big dose of Christian values, while Mr. Rodgers was known for ramblin’, riding the rails, and hard livin’. In 1927 it was known as hillbilly music and I can assure you that the music was not invented that year. However, the record industry and many tourist associations today like to pair the recording of music with its invention, or birth.

If they had invented the music that same day they recorded it, I highly doubt we would be talking about it today. None-the-less the town of Bristol is working hard to keep this wonderful myth alive. The downtown association and Chamber of Commerce have placed reminders throughout the downtown. The only thing missing is a real music scene to back it up.

Downtown Bristol TN

Jimmie's Plaque downtown in front of the building where the recordings were made although it burned down many years ago

Lots of Monuments 

and cool street signs. . . .

and cool murals . . . .not so sure about the choice of stage placement. . . . 

and monolithic road markers. . . .

and, oh my goodness, is that Fidel Castro heading in for some supplies? what are the chances. . . . .

and giant guitars. . . . and 

There is a museum in a shopping mall, I kid you not. . . .the Mountain Music Museum . . . a mile from downtown. 

There is also a performance space in the mall, The Pickin’ Porch that has live Bluegrass every Thursday night. . . . for free. The music is also broadcast live on the radio on a show by the same name. The museum is run by volunteers and it is quite good. It includes a section on the close relationship between African American and European American musicians in the early days of country music, a subject that is often ignored.

For some reason the downtown association seemed disconnected from the museum and the live music, but they are planning another museum downtown even though the folks at the mall have been working with the Appalachian Cultural Music Association (ACMA) and having live music for close to 15 years. It all seemed a bit confusing.

I never got to chat with these folks but it looks like 4 generations of Tennesseans to me (Oh yea the baby is gone from the shot)

The bass player was 15 and the banjo player was 14 and they were good. I will post a video soon.

Also in all fairness there is an annual music festival in downtown Bristol, The Bristol Rhythm and Roots Reunion Music Festival, held every fall but there still seemed to be some kind of disconnect between the current scene and what the chamber of commerce wishes they had. . . . 

Bristol TN and the Carter Family Fold Part 2 (updated 4/20/12)

Jammin' at the Fold. . . That's Rita, Janette's daughter seated on the right and these are students from 

Hazard Community and Technical College 

The Carter Family Fold on the other hand is a magical venue started by Janette Carter, daughter of Sara and AP Carter on the sight of her family’s historic home in Hiltons Virginia, 20 miles from Bristol. They have music every Saturday night and can seat close to 900 people. There is also a museum in AP Carter's original Cabin that was moved to the sight.  On the night we attended the music was provided by the students from the Kentucky School of Bluegrass and Traditional Music which is a certificate program at Hazard Community and Technical College in Hazard Kentucky. The program is only 5 years old and draws students from all over the US. Imagine that. . . . a community college that is paying attention to its own local cultural treasures. . . . 

I really love Janette Carter's handwritten statement of purpose that is framed on the club wall

an Avid Fan . . . 

Grooving at the Fold

I have some amazing videos that I want to post but I need some superior internet to pull that off!!!

We heard some fantastic music and met a lot of great folks. It was such an amazing rural roots music scene and I would have too say that it was one of the high points of our trip. The fact that the band was all community college students was the icing on the cake. . . . 

these guys sounded really great!! and they were from all over the country and Japan

Peggy Hensley

 Peggy Hensley is a lifelong friend of the Carter family and has worked the door at the Fold for 15 years. Her family has lived here for 7 generations and her dad help build the display cases in the museum. She told us that before they passed away, Johnny Cash and June Carter used to just show up and play unannounced. Other legends of country who have appeared at the Fold include country outlaw Waylon Jennings and current Nashville star Marty Stuart. The crowd was local and friendly and the vibes were great. This place was just too cool!

****** News flash-- I just got the following email from Peggy and found it the perfect addition to this wonderful story. . . . not to mention the correction, whoops. ********

" That is actually Rita sitting onstage, not Janette.  Janette is Rita's mother and passed away a few years ago.  I wish you could have met her.  She was one of the most genuine, down-to-earth people in the world.  She really was quite surprised when the Fold started to be such a success.  Her main object in starting the Fold was to honor a promise to her father to see that his music was carried on.  The Fold and Janette (and her brother, Joe, an awesome musician and songwriter also) are probably responsible for a lot of the music being preserved and passed on to enthusiastic young people who are playing it.  Janette's success with the Fold inspired a lot of other people to start music venues in the area.  The Fold also helped us in another way -- it made us proud of our mountain heritage.  This music would probably have become extinct in another generation or so, given the outside influences of MTV, etc..  Young people have discovered that it's not only fun to play, but that you meet a lot of great people in this music." 

Peggy Hensley 4/20/12

Oh I almost forgot, we also went up to Clintwood to the Stanley museum which was quite good as well with lots of listening stations are memorobilia. It was a treat to see the area where the Stanley brothers grew up ( a few miles from the museum in the town of McClure. If you don't know much about country music, Ralph Stanley sang "Oh Death" on the soundtrack for the film "Oh Brother Where Art Thou," a must see as Kate and I like to say.

The museum is a bit more upscale than the Stanley's original home. . . .

and just so you remember that it ain't all a pretty picture . . . .

Its a different world here. . . .a few shots from the the road not far from Clintwood

This is the real deal. . . .an old cabin with a "modern addition" on the back and a TV on the porch. . . I'm not sure what it all means . . . . 

New Orleans Wrap up (Updated 4/14) and on to Cajun Country

The Tulane Campus was very pretty and full of amazing trees

Our last few days in New Orleans included a trip to the Voodoo Museum and a visit to the Jazz Archives at Tulane including a lengthy discussion with Bruce Raeburn, the director of the Archives.

The day after Mardi Gras we collected our wits, ran a few errands and in the evening we met with Skip Henderson. Skip is very involved in trying to save the cemetaries that are connected to Black churches throughout Mississippi. In some instances these churches are no longer there having been burned down or abandoned. Skip has also been very involved with the installation of headstones for some of the legendary blues men buried in these cemetaries Unfortunately he also had a bad experience trying to turn the Clarksdale train station into a blues cultural center 10 or 15 years ago and has a very hostile attitude toward the current Clarksdale scene which we soon learned is indeed a mixed bag. Skip was so hostile about Clarksdale that he told us not to even go there, even after I explained that I was interested in the commodification of the blues as much as the real thing. It was a kick to chat with him none the less

On Thursday we played around and went to the Voodoo museum which was quite a trip. In the evening we went to a great French Quarter restaurant and finished up with yet another set of jazz at our new favorite hang the Palm Court where I had the pleasure of chatting with Herman LeBeaux, Alan Tousaint’s drummer.

I have been quizzing all of the musicians I met at the Palm Court about the preservation of New Orleans traditional jazz and whether the younger players were learning the idiom. Herman was convinced that very little was really being past on . He found it ironic that everyone comes to New Orleans for the rich jazz and music culture and history and yet the powers that be don’t seem to get the importance of maintaining and perpetuating the culture. Herman said “ I travel the world and everyone wants to come here and knows about the music and yet the education system could care less about the music or teaching it!!” Traditional jazz is not being transmitted to the next generation. There is a more contemporary scene going on at New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts where the Marsalis family is in major leadership positions, but by and large the traditions are ignored and only those who are super passionate about the scene and committed to their music are really working to maintain it.

On Friday, I got a call from Ray saying that he had hooked me up to meet with Bruce Rayburn director of the Tulane Jazz Archives. Bruce proved to be very accessible and we sat down and chatted about the roots of New Orleans Jazz for an hour. I have studied quite a bit about the roots of New Orleans jazz and wondered if he agreed with my interpretation of the story and indeed he did was some subtlties that I had not considered. The classic story that Creoles of color taught darker skinned blacks how to read music and that the ear players taught the creoles how to play hot is way oversimplified although there is some truth to the story as well. The archives is in the process of digitizing all of their information which includes hundreds of hours of interviews from the early 20th century that soon will be available by topic. This will make it possible to research virtually any subject covered in these invaluable first person interviews.

Friday night had another great night at the Palm Court listening to one of New Orleans finest trumpeters Wendell Brunius

On Saturday we finally headed out and backtracked to Cajun Country. We headed to Lake Fosse Pt State Park for a real Louisiana Bayou/ Swamp experience. Ray got a few recommendations of clubs for us to attend and we were off. Our good fortune continued on this new leg of our journey. The park was fantastic and proved to be an excellent base camp.

The "bead tree" in the middle of campus

The Grand Zombie 

and now you know the rest of the story . . . .

Close up of the Grand Zombie 

The Voodoo Museum was a bit chaotic but actually chock full of very serious information about the African cultural roots of voodoo and was definitely worth the visit. New Orleans is such a rich cultural environment that we were only able to scratch the surface but that is what travelers do. Now on to our next adventure. . . . 

Well maybe its more like 8 weeks . . . .

Here is the short summary of where we have been since leaving New Orleans
Cajun Country in South Western LA
Natchez, the Natchez trace, and The Mississippi Delta
Memphis
Nashville
Rural TN including Bristol
The Blue Ridge Mountains and the Carter Family Fold in South Western Virginia
Asheville NC: the Berkeley of the south
We have some amazing stories and cool pics from everywhere we have been. I'm having a ball today throwing a few things together at a great internet cafe here in Asheville but this has been rare. Thanks for hanging in there blog fans. There is more to come. . . .

More craziness from Fat Tuesday

After the Zulu parade we stopped by to check out "Yellow Pocahontas" http://www.louisianafolklife.org/lt/virtual_books/hes_prettiest/hes_the_prettiest_tootie_montana.html
This link will help you to understand the history of Mardi Gras Indians.

Yellow Pocahontas was the first Mardi Gras Indian to use a 3 dimensional style of regalia

Check out this young protege !!

We next headed back to the French Quarter to Ray's friend Moe's apartment, thats Moe on the right. We had a blast hanging out on his balcony checking out the crowd.

There were tons of carzy folks on the streets all day in outrageous costumes. It seemed to us that the dress up tradition was a white thing as there were very few people of color in costumes. Hey white people have culture too. LOL. Heres a few of my favorite shots. 

Peace Brother!!

OK . . . . .Kate and Ray are unfazed. . . . 

Don't wanna drop that beer!

Hari anonymous?

Grrrrr!

I thought that Dr. Evil and Austin never actually appeared together . . . .oh behave!!!

Well that finally wraps it up for Fat Tuesday. Hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. 

Fat Tuesday and the Zulu Parade (part 1)

We awoke for Fat Tuesday very early, the Zulu parade starts at 8AM and Ray wanted to watch from Central City, the African American neighborhood where the parade begins. Kate was feeling a bit under the weather and wasn’t sure if she was gonna make it but she was a real trouper and we had an amazing time.

 Elroy James Zulu King 2012 (day job: attorney)

Kate and the King the day before!

Ray's close friend Alice marching in her first Zulu parade

Ray and Alice

The Zulu Queen (day job: oncologist)

Cool Mask

Another cool mask: this girl was having too much fun watching the festivities

After the king and queen we saw float after float with crazy stuff like this and folks throwing beads and other stuff off the back. Painted Coconuts are a coveted Zulu "throw"

Zulu Club Floats 

Legendary early jazz player Kid Ory had lived right across the street from where we were hanging out!

I love this typical New Orleans house right across the street from where we watched the parade.

Miss Watson and Ray 

After an hour or so we jumped in the car and drove to the Zulu club where the parade winds down but on the way to the car we passed our first round of Mardi Gras Indians in their amazing costumes.

Their costumes are totally made by hand 

Ray and his very close friend Bill a few blocks from the Zulu Club

Alice Chillin' after her 6 + mile trek 

To be continued!!