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We’ve placed this post in the theme of “preserving the cover”, really it is about how people are marking books to show they are loaners used at their regular singings. This design will not protect the most outer edges of the left and right side of the front cover design, but it does add very…
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During the very first introductory singing with the new Sacred Harp: 2025 Edition, many singers noticed that the gilt lettering and decorative elements on the front cover began wearing off—my own copy included. For a book that will see years of heavy use, this was surprising and disappointing. The cloth material chosen for the cover,…
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Ireland’s Fire Draw Near podcast’s latest episode, Episode LXIII: Shape Note Singing in the United States, offers a richly textured exploration of Sacred Harp and related traditions, grounded in two recent interviews with practitioners Howe Pearson and Sasha Hsuczyk. It traces the evolution of shape-note singing—its roots in 18th- and 19th-century America, its migration from…
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Below are YouTube streams for forthcoming United Sacred Harp events. As I will be at the events, if these links change, I may not be able to make adjustments. You can find current live stream links here: https://www.youtube.com/@sacredharpmuseum8890/streams Symposiums Friday 12th All-day symposium featuring presentations about the making of The Sacred Harp, 2025 Edition Singing…
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COMING SOON! “Awake, My Soul: The Story of the Sacred Harp,” directed by Matt & Erica Hinton, originally aired on PBS in 2008. Using the latest technology, the makers have remastered the film for a new release, featuring the following improvements: Completely remastered, Upconverted from SD to HD, Deinterlaced, Partially re-edited, New archival materials, Never…
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“On the eve of the 150th anniversary of his death, we’ll take a look at one of Spartanburg’s famous 19th century musicians and discuss how his work as a tune book compiler and singing school teacher continues to influence community singing across the American South.” Spartanburg County Public Libraries presented a lecture on William ‘Singing…
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The following excerpt is drawn from Utile Dulci. Or, A Joco-serious Dialogue, Concerning Regular Singing (1723), a pamphlet by New England minister and music advocate Thomas Symmes. Symmes (1678–1725), a Congregationalist minister in Bradford, Massachusetts, was one of the earliest and strongest proponents of “Regular Singing”—a reform movement in colonial church music that promoted musical…
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We’re pleased to share a recent blog post from the Manchester Sacred Harp group, written by regular singer Harriet Monkhouse. The Manchester group has been active in projects such as Laurie Anderson’s ARK, which we’ve written about here on SingLoud.org, and their new blog is already highlighting the deep history of the tradition. While SingLoud.org…
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In December 1990, a group of Sacred Harp stalwarts gathered at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, to test‑sing a packet of new compositions destined for inclusion in what would become The Sacred Harp: 1991 Edition. Chaired by Hugh McGraw and joined by respected composers such as Neely Bruce, Terry Wootten, and David Ivey, the revision committee…
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Pilgrim Productions’ Voices Across America, originally curated by June Lydic, is being restored by Kyle Johnston on Bandcamp. It offers free access to unique shape-note recordings and preserves their documentary value.