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Sacred Harp Singing For Beginners Workshop An introduction to participatory “shape note” singing No prior musical experience required Free Three Thursdays, April 3, 10, & 17, 2025 7:00 to 9:00 pm, doors open at 6:30 Singing Workshop This three-night participatory workshop is for all those interested in learning to sing in a friendly, non-performance environment.…
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Performing at Aviva Studios Manchester, UK on 15,16 and 20-24 November, 2024. After posting about an impressive installation work in London, and a new play in Australia, I was fascinated to learn about Laurie Anderson’s newest work, ARK: United States Part 5, which includes a collaboration with shape-note singers. Premiering in Manchester last week, and…
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Whenever I mention Sacred Harp singing, almost everyone I talk to says they’ve “never heard of it.” Yet now that I’m paying closer attention, I seem to see it everywhere. Maybe it’s just the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon—a kind of observational bias where something you’ve just learned about suddenly appears in your surroundings—but I can’t help but…
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In Hole in the Stone (Summer 1995, Vol. 6, Iss. 4), singer Alix Baillie shared her unique perspective on Sacred Harp singing in an article titled Down-Home Singing Frenzies: Sacred Harp for Pagans. Though Baillie comes from a Pagan background, she found herself captivated by the raw, communal power of Sacred Harp. Her story serves…
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As a shape note singer interested in its history, I’ve always found beauty and power in this unique American tradition. To see this 19th-century, Southern form of spiritual folk music continually finding new life in the 21st century, especially outside the US, is deeply moving. Holly Herndon and Mat Dryhurst’s new exhibit “The Call” at…
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The following article, published in Musical Magazine Vol. 1 No. 3 for July 1835, was part of a journal edited by Thomas Hastings, a prominent American composer and music educator who played a central role in advocating for the reform of sacred music in the United States. This article provides a critical overview of American…
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There have been a few times I’ve seen someone on Facebook ask for a recipe, and in response someone said “It might be in The Sacred Harp Cookbook”. This information is almost always met with exuberant confusion that such a thing exists and THEY DON’T HAVE IT! But there’s not just ONE, I know of…
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I have “ripped” DVDs of singings filmed by Nate Green and uploaded some of them to YouTube (with is permission). I used the publicly posted “Minutes,” published by Sacred Harp Musical Heritage Association, to give a track listing for the videos. These videos are from the personal collection of Mary Wright, passed on to me…
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We have taken the text from “Chapter 7: Older Recordings (Pre-1977) of Traditional Singers Reissued on CDs and Internet” found on Steven L. Sabol’s terrific internet resource, and I have inserted the appropriate YouTube videos of the albums he describes. We have appended the track listing provided by Jeramiah Ledbetter, who uploaded the videos into…
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Over the weekend, the James River All Day Singing took place. A local singer, Mary P. Wright, had recently passed on and it was announced she wanted singers to have some of her books and recordings. There were only a few books, and many CDs and cassette tapes. I picked up two thin books, and…