Graduate Student Mentoring
Lee with Kris Truelsen, one of the first graduates from the ETSU APST MA program - in his 2015 thesis (linked) Kris developed his idea of "non-secular song" by focusing on "The Great Speckled Bird."
Lee coordinates the graduate programs in Appalachian Studies at ETSU - contact him at bidgood@etsu.edu with questions!
Online Projects with content from ETSU students
https://appalachiansoundposts.wordpress.com/
Online exhibit providing documentation and interpretation of soundscapes in Appalachia, and those from elsewhere that refer to the region - founded by graduate students in Lee's APST 5670 "Ethnomusicology and Appalachia" course at ETSU.
We're eager to add more "soundposts" - /contact me if you are interested in being a part of this project!
(Image from mrgriffter, CC BY-SA 4.0)
Student exhibits from BLUE 3140 "Bluegrass History II":
https://bluegrasshistory.wordpress.com/
https://bluesgrassscenesandsounds.wordpress.com/
https://downhomememories.wordpress.com/
* BLUE 3140 student Jimmy Fitch published his essay on the Osborne Brothers on the No Depression site: http://nodepression.com/article/bluegrass-goes-electric-country-and-rock-roll-influence-genre
Joe Morrell, local music entrepreneur with his Grand Guitar museum visible from I-81 near Bristol, TN/VA. Click on the image to see a student's exhibit based on this landmark.
Students' reports on Bluegrass, Old Time, and Country music-making today, from BLUE 4130, "Survey of Contemporary BLUE":
https://surveycb.wordpress.com/
https://surveycbfall2014.wordpress.com/
https://surveycb2015.wordpress.com/
https://surveycb2016.wordpress.com/
https://surveycb2017.wordpress.com/
Click on this image to access student Jimmy Fitch's research on "Ameripolitan" innovator Dale Watson from BLUE 4130
Teaching in the Community
Lee teaching about work, music, and railroads at the 2014 Riddlefest event in Burnsville, NC.
Lee leading a play-party game at the Historic Orchard at Altapass, teaching kids (and parents) about how music and dance support and are supported by work.
Listening Together - Epiphany 2021
The season of Epiphany is a time of discovery, of gifts—and of listening. The lectionary readings during this season of the church year include calls from Jesus to the people who would become his disciples. He offers gifts of life, and these people drop everything and follow him. I invite us to use these five evening sessions to open our ears for a call, for a discovery, a gift: to listen together. For Epiphany 2021, the Conversations and Compline meetings will be led by Dr. Lee Bidgood (professor in Appalachian Studies at ETSU) in a series entitled “Listening Together.” Through introductions to the discipline of ethnomusicology and the field of sound studies, this series will provide participants with new ways to engage in spiritually-informed listening to the world. Sessions will focus on a range of topics, including race and country music, soundscapes and bells, and the ways that we interact with hymn texts. There is no single book that we will use to guide the series; individual texts and media will be available for each session here. Meetings will take place via Zoom on Wednesdays at 7pm, January 13 through February 10, 2021. Register in advance using this link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcldeiuqjouHt3aWLpsKCynfu4FjEjp4G9L After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Many of these topics will be covered in more depth in Lee’s Spring 2021 ETSU course “Ethnomusicology and Appalachia” (APST 5670). To learn more about this series or the course, use the "contact" form on this website.
Week 1 - Opening our ears
Developing a toolbox for listening together
This week we'll start with an overview of the series, with introductions to some ways we can expand our practices of listening and hearing, individually and as the body of Christ. Here are some things to read and ponder in connection with what we'll consider during the meeting on Wednesday:
- DARIAH Course on Sound Studies
- William Rath, 2003. "From the Sounds of Things" (Bells in colonial America) /files/1099054/rath-43-61-how-early-america-sounded.pdf
- Westerkamp, Hildegard. 2001. "Soundwalking."
...and here are some background sources if you want to dig deeper:
- Timothy Rice, Ethnomusicology: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford, 2013)
- ed. Jonathan Sterne, the Sound Studies Reader (Routledge, 2012) ... and here's an online version of the introduction to this volume.
Week 2 - Sound (& Spirit) Studies
Sacred spaces , secular studies
We will draw from the emerging academic field of sound studies to explore ways that we might enhance our understanding of the structure, activities, and responsibilities of people who are part of the body of Christ. Here are some sources that provide deeper context on how all this might connect with religious singing in Appalachian contexts:
- Patterson, Beverly Bush. 1995. The Sound of the Dove: Singing in Appalachian Primitive Baptist Churches. University of Illinois Press.
Sutton, Brett. 1982. Primitive Baptist Hymns of the Blue Ridge. Liner Notes.
"Powerhouse for God" film by Rankin, Dornfeld, and Titon (57 min, 1989). [Folkstreams is an amazing site - look around it if you haven't yet seen it!]
Week 3 - Rehearing Country Music
Listening for Diversity, creating Equity and Inclusion
Prepare for this week by listening to a country song (Note: my definition is pretty broad here - bluegrass, old time, blues, zydeco, or anything that seems "country" to you, really...) - and then think on a series of questions that I have borrowed from a colleague, Jordan Laney:
“What does this song DO and for whom? Who did the song pacify? Upset? Entertain? Who is being represented in the music and who is being ignored. What was happening in the US/world during the height of this song's popularity?"
Here are some sources we'll hear from this week:
- Jake Blount "Spider Tales", a 2020 album that explores African American string band-music - Example: "Move Daniel"
McIntosh County Shouters, 1984. "Move Daniel" (One of Blount's source recordings.)
- The band Ranky Tanky who celebrate Gullah culture of the southeastern Sea Islands. Example: "O Death" (here's an older recording by Bessie Jones)
"Free Show Tonite" - http://www.folkstreams.net/film-detail.php?id=68
Rhiannon Giddens. 2017. Keynote address to the International Bluegrass Music Association.
- "Hidden In The Mix," a volume edited by Diane Pecknold that highlights the African American presence in country music.
- Banjo Roots and Branches, (ed. Robert Winans, Univ of Illinois Press, 2018)
Week 4 - Re-Hearing Hymn Texts
We don't always think about the texts of the hymns that we sing on Sundays as a gathered body. Here are some things to ponder in conjunction with this week's discussion:
- Overall, Jason. 2018 "The Once and Future Hymnal: A Conference Report" - from conference at Virginia Theological Seminary
- Episcopal Church on music and liturgy: https://episcopalchurch.org/liturgy-music
- "Here I am, Lord / I the Lord" - Guilford Community Church
- "I heard the voice of Jesus say" - Grosse Pointe Memorial Church
Week 5 - How do we proceed?
Issues of environmental and social justice, of aesthetics, and of spiritual and ecclesiastical practice are a part of our discussions about listening together. what should we change about the ways that we receive and produce sound?