'Tangled Roots' workshop traces history of regional folk, field recordings

Blues, ballads, work songs, fiddle tunes, spirituals, Cajun, zydeco, field hollers, cowboy songs, gospel and bluegrass. One needn't travel south to Texas or Louisiana to experience these styles of music. In fact, Princetonians who love American folk music need not venture further than Taplin Auditorium this weekend.

Sponsored by The Society of Fellows in the Liberal Arts and the American Studies Program, a workshop addressing the artistic and historical questions raised by the folk and field recordings of the 1920s and 1930s will be held this weekend.

The event, titled "Tangled Roots," was inspired by documentaries such as "American Roots Music," movies like "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" and musicians like Bob Dylan. The "Tangled Roots" workshop is intended to expose the Princeton campus to the voices and styles of the old 70s, music "captured before radio permeated every region of the country."

The coordinator of the event, Heather O'Donnell, graduated from Columbia University in 1993 and received her Ph.D. in English from Yale in 2000. She envisioned a series of analytical lectures accentuated by notable bands live in concert.

Two performances will highlight the workshop. Opening the event on Friday is a concert given by country-blues musicians Spider John Koerner, Dave Ray, and Tony Glover. The second performance, a concert by The Handsome Family, concludes the event on Saturday evening.

Koerner, Ray and Glover will be providing music from their CD titled "Blues, Rags, and Hollers. The rare blues styling of this band has gained them fame as performers. Even Bob Dylan has said, "Every time they play the lights shine."

One of the band members, "Spider" John Koerner, has written songs performed by music artists such as Bonnie Rait, and has produced a film about American sentiment of the 1960s called "The Secret of Sleep." Ray refers to his band, which was founded during the 60s, as "a fun-loving trio of misfits." Their performance is guaranteed to inspire audiences to foot-stomping madness.

Taking the stage on Saturday night, Brett and Rennie Sparks are an eccentric couple that make up the two-man band, The Handsome Family. They claim they moved from the city life of Chicago to Alburquerque, New Mexico in order to train rattlesnakes as "world class pick pockets." Their brand of music is considered "Countronica," or alternative country. Brett (a native Texan) and Rennie (a Long Islander) form a group contrary to normal country-band stereotypes.

Brett's lyrics present an atypical perspective on a rural upbringing and livelihood. If such a thing as "surreal country" exists, The Handsome Family successfully takes images from nature and transforms them into deep thoughts about the twists and peculiarities of rural living.

The pair records most of their CDs in their living room on their home computer, without the high-tech sound equipment used by many other artists. However, even with its down-home production process, The Handsome Family does not lack for critical acclaim. Their record "Twlight" was named "One of the Ten Best Records You Didn't Hear This Year" by Spin Magazine.

Although Brett and Rennie enjoy pushing country music to new limits, their use of images in their music like "fireflies in the summer night, rocks rolling uphill, clothes thrown in the snow, whispering waves, and milky moonlight all find[ing] themselves circling this night sky music" reveal their tie to tradition. The Handsome Family ground their lyrics with time-honored topics and references to folklore, myth, and legend associated with the sit-around-the-fire-and-sing quality of country music.

Both of these bands are quite unique in their performances and attitudes about music. Neither conforms to the stereotypes of country music, but instead, and thanks to the influence and outlet of folk music, evolved popular and innovative techniques, lyrics, and sounds to grace the music industry.

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In addition to the musical guests, there will be lectures and panel discussions on Saturday afternoon where professors will approach the phenomenon from an academic standpoint. Scholars will be examine the recent resurgence of folk music, asking just who are 'the folks' and trying to figure out just why this music is so appealing.

The upcoming "Tangle Roots" workshop is for those who love music and appreciate it in all its many forms. It promises to be an investigation into the power of country, blues and gospel as the melody of a universal story. A complete workshop schedule can be found at the Program in American Studies web page.