UWG
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Contact: University Communications & Marketing
Phone (678) 839-6464, FAX (678) 839-6645
ucm@westga.edu
Center for Public History to release third CD
October 22, 2004
CARROLLTON, GA - With the release of the successful Everybody’s Tuned To The Radio and Alton Stitcher CD, the Center for Public History is planning a third in its series and is soliciting local talent that has a history of performing in the west Georgia area.
“Set
Your Fields on Fire: Sacred and Gospel Music Traditions in West Georgia,”
is in the planning stages and was made possible by a grant from the Georgia
Council for the Arts’ Total Folk Life Project. The new CD will include
both new and historic recordings by 15 to 20 different artists and groups.
The center also received a $1,000 grant from the Community Foundation
of West Georgia.
Trevor Lanier, a UWG graduate assistant from Carrollton and point man on the project said the CD will provide an overview of sacred and gospel music styles in the region, including black and white gospel, Sacred Harp singing, bluegrass gospel and country gospel.
“Right now we’re getting together interviews with local gospel musicians,” Lanier said. “We would love to hear from people who would like to be interviewed or have recordings. We’re hoping to get more African-American music because we want to get a broad range of musicians.”
A few of the groups that were heard on the Everybody’s Tuned To The Radio” CD will be included on this one, but with different songs, said Dr. Ann McCleary, associate professor and director for the Center for Public History. Plans include a 32-page booklet for the CD with the artists’ recollections reflecting the evolution of local gospel and scared music traditions.
“Most of the local musicians we’ve interviewed in the past and worked with have indicated the important role of conservative, protestant Christianity in shaping their performance style,” McCleary said. “Primarily, they learned their music from family members, friends and others in their own communities and churches.”
One gospel group that Lanier will be interviewing is The Willing Workers, one of Carroll County’s longest-lasting African-American gospel groups. Formed in the 1950s, the group has survived numerous personnel changes and has a strong following in the local African-American Community. Others interviewees include, The Veletones, The Allen Quartette, The Heavenly Gospels and the Sewell Quartet.
“The Willing Workers performed on stage at the Everybody’s Tuned To the Radio” concert and when several white country and bluegrass singers joined them to take turns singing ‘Will The Circle Be Unbroken,’ their indebtedness to a common heritage that transcended racial differences were revealed,” said McCleary.
The CD and booklet will serve as a multi-media document to the progression of local gospel Lanier and McCleary said, emphasizing of public input. “We really want people to contact us and tell their stories,” McCleary said.
For more information on this project contact the UWG Center for Public History at 678-839-6141.
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