Episode 5

This episode continued talking about Harry Smith and the Anthology of American Folk Music. In 1952, Harry Smith approached Mo Asch because he was in need of money. He had a large collection of folk music records that he wanted to sell. At that time folk music was referred to by some as hillbilly music or race records.

Mo Asch suggested putting his old records together in a new way. Harry Smith had a little over 80 recordings and he put them together in an organized fashion.

Harry and Mo had a strong relationship. They each had a lot of respect for each other even though Harry was asking Mo for money quite often.

The director of the Harry Smith archives said,

"Harry did not select the songs based on which were his favorites."

Harry Smith said,

"I was looking for exotic records."

I believe that both of these quotes are important because it explains why the Anthology of American Folk Music was such a big deal. The variety and culture present was appealing to people because everyone could find something they liked. Good music reflects the culture and the time period as stated on an earlier episode. Harry Smith understood that and applied it to his work.

yay i'm done

Well I did my performance today. I think it went well. I said everything that I was planning on saying. I really hope I didn't bore all of you too bad. I tried to keep it interesting because I know that nobody likes to listen to something if it puts them to sleep. So sorry to anyone who was dozing off, I tried. I was interested in the topic but I know that doesn't mean that everyone else will be. Thanks for listening. :)

Episode 4 - The anthology of american folk music part 1

In this episode, Harry Smith, born in 1923, was mentioned a bit. He won the major achievement award for anthology of american folk music. It's been 40 years since his films came out. He said,

"My dreams came true. I saw America change through music."

I think that this quote is important because it is really true. Just look around you and its clear that music is a huge part of our society today and in the past. This quote is also important to our class because that is what it is based on. Music. Without it, we wouldn't have a class at all.

Something else that was also mentioned was another type of music; straight forward music but obscure lyrics. The song that was played was "I wish I were a mole in the ground." I thought that this was pretty comical. It was ridiculous and made me and laura laugh.

So once again I lost interest pretty quickly with this episode.

Episode 3 - Folkways: An American Canon

In this episode, Moses Asch was mentioned quite a bit at the beginning. One of his quotes that I found to be meaningful was one that was said while he was talking about true music.

He said, "If it's true of the time, people will need this as a reference book."

I think this is a very important quote. It tells us that if a song is truly good that means that it will directly reflect the time period. It has to be meaningful to last through the times. That also relates directly to our class. We wouldn't have a roots music class if it wasn't for this exact type of music; meaningful and reflective of the times.

This episode mentioned the fact that you should be open to music but at the same time know what you want. Moses Asch would play music and if it was "unworthy" would turn it off within 30 seconds.

In this episode, there was a poem that was read that was written by Moses Asch's favorite poet. The poem was called "The Women Gather." One of the lines in this poem read,

"Most of us love because we have a need to love not because we find someone deserving."

I thought this was ridiculous and I don't think I need to explain myself. I think that everyone can figure out why.

Well overall I was pretty bored with this episode. Sorry

Discussion Summary

Recently in class there hasn't been too much time for discussion because of all the presentations that have been going on. So I will talk about those a bit.

So far I have been extremely impressed with the presentations. Ashley, Jesh, and Kelsey all cooked for the class and it was all amazing. I am a fairly picky eater but everything that they cooked was absolutely delicious. Not only did they all cook for us, but they also had powerpoint presentations to go along with it. They explained what they cooked and its significance to roots music. It was clear that they put a lot of time into their presentations.

Another presentation was based on the hard lives of hobos. Machelle sang a very creative song to go along with her fascinating presentation. Her presentation was incredibly interesting. I didn't know a lot of the information that was presented. It was also really cool how she read from her grandpa's memoirs.

The other presentation was by Cassandra. She performed sign language to go along with a song associated with roots music. That was amazing to watch. She definately kept my attention throughout her whole presentation. After the song she discussed different deaf musicians that are performing around the world today. It was really interesting and a very creative choice.

So far each performance choice has been very unique and well thought out. I have been so impressed with each performance. Everyone who has gone has definately raised the bar for the rest of us. Great job!