Thursday, April 10, 2008

Thursday, March 13, 2008

22 on the list!

thus far...WHOO HOO!

Odetta

Thinking Blues

I am reading and rereading musicologist Susan McClary's "Thinking Blues" chapter from her book Conventional Wisdom: The Content of Musical Form...

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Sister Rosetta Tharpe - Up Above My Head



Researcher's Note: For real though, this might be the first time I have ever seen an "old black woman" playing guitar...certainly from such an earlier era. I love it. I just can't get past it. I had no idea she even existed until a little while ago!

Monday, March 10, 2008

Evergreen Questions

1. What are/were their eras?
2. How did they learn how to play guitar?
3. Which guitar(s) do/did they play?
4. Are/were they also songwriters?
5. Do they have any albums?
6. What kind of recognition have they received?
7. Any music videos or live recorded performances of them?
8. How do/did they understand themselves?
9. Who are/were their male and female influences?
10. Who were/are their peers?
11. Did/do they tour?
12. Were they married?
13. How did they get their "big break/s"?
14. Where do/did they live?
15. What style(s) of music do/did they play?
16. Who did they collaborate with?
17. What about issues of sexuality?
18. Do/did they make a living wage?


Any feminist/racial/political/intellectual sensibilities?

An Essay I just stumbled across!

I had to Google something like "black women" and "guitarists," lol

Just stumbled across a book called Black Women and Music: More Than the Blues by Eileen M. Hayes and Linda F. Williams.

In it is an essay I absolutely must read entitled, "Black Women Guitarists and the Authenticity of the Blues" by Maria V. Johnson

Yay for Dr. Johnson whoever she is!

Will hit up the library tomorrow to get this book!