This post is not a promotion of any religion. I am simply sharing my earliest music memories as a child growing up in southern Appalachia.
This is my first attempt at songwriting and singing(sort of).
This is my earliest memory of hearing blues music. Some may say it's not. I disagree. I can't find much recorded around here. Look up a flick called Songcatcher.
My grandfather, or PAP-PAW as we called him was a preacher in a small mountain church here in northeast Tennessee. I can remember the old men singing when I was a child in the 1960s. I'm sure some of them were born pre 1900. I remember a tall, slender man in overalls. He was a human sub-woofer..lol I'm talking about white mountain folks. Don't ever remember seeing any blacks there.
They didn't really sing as we know it. They did very haunting chants with solo moaning or choir moaning (humming) in between the lyrics. NEVER used vibrato. I replaced the moans with harmonica.
I wrote a song in this style to honor my grandfather.
It may not be very good or something you enjoy, but it IS a part of my blues heritage. I am proud I got to hear these old timers from the mountains perform. They could put chill bumps on you. Wish I could do them justice.
As a fan of folk musics, let me be the first to congratulate you, harpdude61. I really enjoyed that. Nothing to be ashamed of regarding your singing. And of course, excellent playing there too. There's nothing like conviction to create a fine song and performance. More, please. ----------
Last Edited by mr_so&so on Mar 16, 2015 9:31 AM
Great playing and singing there.I really felt it and thats the blues there.Yeah,there was a lot of blues in Roscoes playing.He said his favorite kind of music was played on the mouth harp.He was a fine player himself but didnt do it much due to lung problems.
I thought you did a fine job of it. It's a good example of a basic call and resp once. Raw and heartfelt. Bobby Rush and Charlie Sayles do this kind of thing and I love it. I wouldn't fret about your vocals. Fit the music well and was on key. What more could you ask for. Good one bro. ----------
Excellent singing and playing harpdude. I like the hand gestures too, reminiscent of a preacher. Please tell us you'll perform this on stage! BronzeWailer's YouTube
I can only echo what's already been said, but it warrants saying again. Your tribute is authentic, moving and real. Perhaps it's my Ozark blood, but this really speaks to me.
Dude- I am from far away from there and my music roots are very different. BUT you have broke the ice now. I very much dug that. You played and sang from your own experience and from your heart. No reason to be nervous about that at all. You know your next step too. Get with a guitarist and do some basic elemental roots material. Write some like this or cover someone who has informed your feeling for the music. Or carry on as a solo and do more like this. You need not take away from your band effort, this can be a sort of addition to what you already do. It can enrich and deepen the body of work you do.
Your voice and mine are similar. I really relate to your depth. Carry on Sir! ---------- http://www.reverbnation.com/jawboneandjolene
Thank all of you so much and it delights me that you enjoyed.
I learned a good lesson from writing the song, playing it, and your responses. Simple, relaxed, and plenty of emotion is what my playing needed a shot of. Sure, I love the world of overblows, high energy tunes, and bringing the hammer down, but this tune taught me as much about blues as anything I have played. thank yall so much!
I like the solo unaccompanied work. Simple and emotional and in this case, deeply personal. Thanks for sharing that.
I understand why you opened the post with a caveat, so your purpose in presenting this is not misunderstood. In spite of what the lyrics my say, much religious music is about deep emotion, not the dogmas we may argue about.
My wife has worked as a hospice chaplain. In some cases, when she had a patient that had been deemed non-responsive, she would find out the religion of their childhood and sing or play recordings of songs they likely heard in church. This would frequently get a response, a tear, a smile, just some indication she had reached them.
