Hi folks!
Okay this is going to be a crazy show on Thursday - I will be doing a special solo show of folksongs-comics-videos-stories-dancing-interviews at the Museum of Art and Design. I will be joined by my heroes Bruce Greene & Loy McWhirter from North Carolina; Bruce is an old-time fiddle player who learned his tunes in the 1970s in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky from super old dudes who had learned their tunes when they were kids from ex-slaves & confederate veterans. He's an amazing person & musician, and Loy is too, she is a printmaker and singer. They will play some tunes and songs as an opening set and then at some point in the midst of my stuff I'll sit down & interview Bruce about his travels. Come join us! Details below.
cheers,
sam
Info about the show is at the museum's website,
here.
more on bruce greene
here. I've included a snippet of an interview i conducted with bruce awhile back at the bottom of this message.
Here is what the museum says:
Home Alone Inside My Head by Sam Amidon - With Special Guests Bruce Greene and Loy McWhirter
Thursday, November 20, 2008
at MAD - Museum of Art and Design
2 Columbus Circle at 59th St. (A, B, C, D, 1 train to 59th St Columbus Circle)
7:30 – 9:00 PM
$15 ($12 members)
Advanced tickets on sale September 24, 2008. Please call 212. 299. 7790 for reservations.
Fiddler, feature film actor, rock star. Also: troubadour, philosopher, romantic. Sam Amidon's diverse creative output defies conventional categorization, and indicates his commitment to exploring the complicated relationship between the concept and values associated with "folk" and its enchantments in the face of alienation. In the first New York City presentation that combines music from his critically-acclaimed 2008 album, "All Is Well" and his visual practice, Sam will present "songs & tunes, videos & comics, self-inflicted field recordings & interviews with other people, real folk music & pretend liturgical dance." He will be joined by special guest old-time fiddle player Bruce Greene and his partner, singer Loy McWhirter. You can check out Bruce's website at http://brucegreene.net.
This performance is a part of MIX: New Performance at MAD, curated by Steffani Jemison.
here is a comic:
from an interview with Bruce Greene that i conducted awhile back for Topic Magazine:
TOPIC: Playing this kind of old obscure fiddle music, were the players generally cut off from society? Or were they basically the same as anybody else, apart from the fiddling?
Bruce: I don't remember very many who purposefully, consciously chose to live the old ways. A lot of them though, that's all they knew. When I first met Hiram Stamper, the only way to get to his place was to drive across a creek, and then another sort of smaller creek up about a mile through the woods. I'd usually end up walking because my car wouldn't get through the first creek. It was just like walking through this time machine or something. You'd go through the woods, and through more woods, and come out this little clearing, this little cove, with an old fashioned pole barn and chickens all around. It was incredible.
Hiram, in his mind, lived in the past a whole lot as well. When he was growing up he knew Luther Strong well,he used to play against him in contests and stuff. So I asked Hiram if he could play this tune, "The Hog Eyed Man," that Luther Strong played so well. And he said, "Yeah I can play it, but you really ought to go hear Luther Strong play it." I said I thought he was dead, and he said, "No no, he lives right down there in Hazard, right on the river." And I thought about that for a minute, you know I knew he was dead. So I said, "How long has it been since you seen Luther Strong?" And he said, "Oh, well, it's been about 20 years."