Wading Through Not So Shallow Folk Music History

Did you know that the banjo has its origins in Africa and the Caribbean? For the longest time I had attributed the instrument to the folk music era of American history, which our modern concept of the banjo does have its place in. However, the first version of the banjo played in the Americas was influenced by African banjos and was first performed with by African-American performers. The instrument was initially lampooned by minstrel shows, but became a very popular instrument soon afterwards thanks to African-American influences. Many white performers picked it up from there.

For some of you reading this, I’m sure that the origins of the banjo are old news. For me, learning about it is surprising and yet not surprising at all. Originally, when I would think of banjos, the image I would conjure in my head would be of a white person playing the instrument. I think many others do this as well thanks to landmark movies like “Deliverance” that propagate the idea of the banjo being a white country instrument. The US has had a remarkable way, especially in the music industry, of appropriating African-American culture without giving any reference to the African-American traditions which propagate that culture. The banjo is one such example. There are many folk performances which Americans have lost track of the origins of because many of us are not aware that the origins lie further back than what popularized artists present in their recordings.

That’s where Stephan Wade comes in with his multimedia performance entitled The Beautiful Music All Around Us. Wade’s performance, which happened last Thursday in Decker, is a musical and multimedia presentation in which he plays the original folk songs that inspire some of the more famously known country tunes while sharing photos of the people and locations that gave birth to them.

In order to collect the origin stories of famous folk songs such as “Bonaparte’s Retreat,” “Another Man Done Gone,” and many others, Wade tracked down the original artists to do one on one interviews with them. In doing this he acquired photographs, stories, and personalities which spin together a never before heard journey of American history. In his travels, Wade also collected from a few of these musicians the original banjos, guitars, and many other stringed instruments I cannot even name that belonged to them during their days of writing music. To celebrate this fact, Wade performs some of the songs using those instruments on which they were first composed.

The presentation might sound like a lecture, and it is educational, but Wade presents his research with such vigor and happiness that it’s hard not to share his energy. Whenever a photo with a neat story attached to it came along in his slideshow, Wade would jump up and down, barely able to contain himself while simultaneously wishing he had more time. The experience is reminiscent of watching your parents get super excited over their yearbook photos. This, however, comes with the added flair of music as you hear William H. Stepp’s version of “Bonaparte’s Retreat” that would later inspire Aaron Copland’s more famously known “Hoedown in Rodeo”, a song so famous that most people have heard it even if they don’t realize it.

Wade’s decision to use the instruments on which some of these songs were first played is not only amazing, but fun to hear as well. He has respectable command over all the instruments he plays, which allows him to illustrate how subtle changes in the melody occur when the original song moves from one version to the next, up until the popular version we know today. At times Wade hesitates during his performance, which can be distracting, but his ability to carry on and remember small differences between note progressions is very impressive. The experience can be enjoyable for casual listeners and incredibly exciting for musicologists.