Ballad SwapsMy apprenticeship with Bobby McMillon blessed me in many different ways. After he passed on, I was invited into a small community of traditional singers dedicated to singing centuries old, hand-me-down, mostly "a Cappella" songs of these mountains. These sometimes very long ballads offer a counterpoint in a hurried world, but tell timeless stories of romance, heartache, betrayal, justice, and disappointment. They are often violent, but don't make the mistake of assuming these songs condone terrible deeds. In a time before film when literacy was rare, these story-songs were the "movies" of their day. While stringing beans, shucking corn, or other menial tasks, ballads let our ancestors minds and emotions escape to well worn paths filled with villains and heroes. They also provided the opportunity to ruminate on terrible truths or haunting events in ways that only songs can offer. Generally ballad follows a narrative track, and the verses can't easily be interchanged. Unlike a general folksong like "Cindy" in which a chorus comes and goes, and verses have a general theme in which may suggest a "story," ballads literally narrate the tale in poetry set to music.
Our ballad swaps are done in the "round robin" style, and generally follow the local tradition of eldest singers going first. This challenges younger singers to have deeper repertoires, which can be somewhat intimidating, but also encourages singers to find their own niche songs--and there are many, many songs. In the nineteen-teens ethnomusicologist Cecil Sharpe came to Southern Appalachia and documented two large volumes of songs that were, for the most part, already old at that time. His work is an important part of the story of these songs being preserved. Sheila Kay Adams and her cousin Donna Ray Norton, are direct descendants of singers and musicians Sharpe met on his journey through these mountains over a hundred years ago. It is very, very rare to find singers still sharing the ballads of their family learned "knee-to-knee." On occasion they have me along to do programs with them, like our Official Showcase in Montreal in February at Folk Alliance International. Our ballad swaps feature a revolving cast of other great traditional singers and musicians like Analoe Phillips, Susan Pepper, Leila Weinstein, Sarah "Songbird" Burkey, Judy Rhodes, Hilary Rose, and musical prodigy Branson Raines. |
Ballad Swap at the Old Marshall Jail October 2024 (post Helene) to celebrate the incredible efforts of volunteers and residents to clean up devastated Marshall.
Booking a SwapBallad Swaps can take a number of different forms, from a curated performance with a handful of singers, to a kind of open-mic featuring established singers with opportunities for guests to share their own ballads. At it's best, ballad swaps are participatory, encouraging, and inclusive. The goal is, as Bobby McMillon would say, "To Keep it a-goin."
Feel free to reach out to me via the contact form on my home page so way may discuss how a ballad swap or a program like the "Bean-String Ballad-Sing" (below) can be incorporated into your event or festival. Bean-String Ballad-SingIn 2020 I received a grant from the Library of Congress' Henry Reed Fund to put on a program called the Bean-String Ballad-Sing. In it, participants spend time in community snapping heirloom beans while listening to celebrated ballad singers and storytellers. We then cook up the beans, bake some traditional cornbread (GF), and have a meal together!
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