Wrappin' it up

1. Tell me about something you learned about another culture this term that really surprised or intrigued you.

One thing that really surprised me throughout the course was how much influence Africa had on the all of the other cultures. No matter where on the globe we traveled there was always a connection back to Africa, primarily with the instruments. To me, this was really intriguing as it really shows how we all really did come from the same place and that Africa was the starting point for all the diversity we have in the world today. 

2. Tell me about something that you realized about your own culture through our discussions.

As I have stated in a previous blog, I am part Native American so I was deeply interested in learning about other tribes cultures. I also am from Scottish decent, so I really enjoyed watching Kendyl's presentation. I loved learning about how the traditional instruments are used and played. Now I am so excited to attend the highland festival with my new knowledge. 

3. Tell me about couple of things you really liked about this class, and a couple of things you wish could have been different.

I really liked the visits from Dr. Weeks and Mr. Dr. Vaneman, I really enjoyed both of their presentations. I also really liked the group project, I thought it was nice to interact with the other students. Something different that I thought would be fun would be to have more group work. Maybe have some in-class assignments and workshops where there is more interaction. 

4. Tell me about something that this course has inspired you to learn more about.

This course has inspired me to learn more about my heritage and my families musical background. I really enjoyed the music and family project, and plan on asking some more of my family members those questions just for my own personal knowledge. 

COOL STUFF 4

I personally do not have much experience with Southeast Asia and instantly referred back to my childhood connections to the Chinese culture, Mulan. Now I know that Mulan was not the most historically accurate, but I was so enthralled with learning about the Chinese culture after watching Mulan. I remember thinking she was the coolest and most empowering princess. I recently read an article about the new 2020 version of Mulan, and saw that they decided to change some aspects in the movie to make it more historically accurate and politically correct, one being the music.

*** Mulan 2020 Article ***

Next, I was interested in looking into the popular music of Japan. I looked up popular songs of Japan that were produced in the last year and searched through some of the songs and found this one that I really liked and thought had a catchy tune!

Finally, I decided to look into something a little more calming and relaxing. I looked into some music that is used for meditation. I actually decided to attempt to mediate to the music, and found it to be really refreshing and relaxing.

Music and Family

For this blog I chose to interview my mom, Cherissa Wilkins, she is 56 and is a kindergarten teacher in Hendersonville NC. 

What sort of music-culture did you grow up in?

I grew up in whatever was popular on the radio, a lot Herb Albert and the Tiawana Brass as I got older I listened to a lot of different music, Motown, beach music, reggae  

Where did you grow up?

Hendersonville, NC 

What kind of music did you grow up with? What did it mean to you and the people around you? Did music have any particular function? When and where did you listen to it?

We listened a lot in the house and in the car. We had a stereo in the house. 

Was the kind of music you listened to growing up popular at the time, either in general or within your friend group?

Yes, both. As a teen I listened to the B-52’s, disco, beach music, Motown, R&B and some rock but that was not my favorite. 

Were you involved in any music groups at school or church or anywhere else? Your garage?

Yes, I was. I was in the chorus in high school and in college I was in choral ( the traveling chorus). 

How did you listen to music? What kind of technology did you have? 

I had cassette players until CD’s came out, and I had 45’s and albums when I was a kid. 

Did you go to concerts? What were they like? What was the first concert you went to?

Yes I did, they were usually big arena concerts. The first concert I ever went to was Elvis, I was 9 years old. The best concert I ever went to was Pink Floyd, that was in the late 90’s. Harry Conic Junior was also good, he played every instrument in the band, that was a much smaller arena. 

Have you ever met any famous-y musicians? 

Yes I have! I met Sting from the Police, I met Kevin Russel from the Gourds. 

Has any musician inspired you?

Frank Sinatra, because he was the epitome of cool. He was just right on, he knew when the lady was a tramp and that was okay. He knew how to pull chicks.  

Did you play any instruments or sing growing up? How did you feel about that? Do you still play/sing? Do you regret anything?

I sing loudly in the car alone, I sing with my class everyday. I played the piano for 8 years, and can still play the drums, I play the radio now. 

How did your parents influence what you listened to? 

I started listening to what they listened to, I like a lot of live instruments from my dad and love some soul music from my mom and her love of Berry White. I also have a huge knowledge of hymns from growing up and going to church fundraisers.

Was music a priority in your family? How so?

I don’t think it was a priority, but it was there a lot. Not nearly the priority that it is in our home now 

What is your first memory of music?

Sitting in front of the stereo and watching my parents load albums into the record player. As a child I loved watching the albums drop. Also there were mini jukeboxes at the booths at restaurants, and as a child I loved playing music at dinner. 

What do you think of popular music today? Do you like my music?

I like some of your music, there is a lot of profanity and too much sexual explicitly. It is not something that all ages can enjoy together. 

Are there any special pieces of music in your life? What’s your favorite piece of music or artist?

You are my sunshine, because I sang that to you when you were little. That’s how I used to wake you and your brother up. Also, Burning Down the House by the Talking Heads, I spent forever teaching that song hoping to give him some rhythm. 

If you had to describe your life in one song, what would you choose?

I would say September by Earth Wind and Fire, it is such a happy song that always puts me in such a good mood and makes me wanna dance. 

COOL STUFF 3

Unlike the other blogs I have written, I have no personal connection with Arabic or Indian culture. This left me a little perplexed on where to begin, as I was also home sick today with the stomach bug I also missed the beginning of India. When reading the instructions on the blog Dr. Vaneman mentioned we can also include Nepal, which DING (lit up the lightbulb in my head). Whose from Nepal? Tibetan Monks. One of the things about the Tibetan culture that I always found intriguing was throat singing... 

Another thing I found cool and that the monks are known for are the "singing bowls".  It is a beautiful art form that I found quite relaxing and is definitely something I can see myself unwinding or meditating to. 

Finally I wanted to look into more Arabic pop, after watching Mona Haydar. I found this article online of Arabic-English mashup songs that I found really cool! The videos are liked in the article and are definitely something I will be listening to again! CLICK HERE!!!!

COOL STUFF 2

I have been fortunate enough to have connections to the past two "cool stuff" blog topics, which is something I really enjoy. Growing up in Hendersonville North Carolina, you would be shocked at the amount of diversity the little town holds. In kindergarten, my best friend and her family were from Ecuador. As a 5 year old, I had never heard of this place and thought of it as some mystic land far far away, and honestly I still do. I was so amazed by cultural differences, and was determined at age 5 that I wanted to move to this beautiful paradise and hang out with the turtles in the Galapagos. I had never really looked into the music of Ecuador, but can definitely see a lot of Spanish influence and a lot of commonality through the themes we looked at in class. This video I chose is a traditional dance, and the women are dressed in similar garb to what I remember my friend Cami showing me.

Switching gears a bit and making even more connections, you won't be surprised if you have read any of my other blogs but I am going to talk about my Dad. David Wilkins is an interesting man, and his taste in music reflects that greatly, but one of his favorite genres of music is the blues. I actually called him before to ask what some of his favorite blues songs were and he did not disappoint. This is one song I remember playing through the speakers in my home as my mom and I cooked dinner and danced in the kitchen.

My dad grew up in Memphis and as we grew up made sure we knew that the Delta Blues were the superior blues, as it was a melting pot of so many styles. He emphasized that all these "cats" needed was an old string, a raspy voice and some deep soul. I have always admired the blues because in my opinion you can make so so much out of nothing, and that is exactly what these artists chose to do. One of my favorite blues artists were Howlin' Wolf and BB King, as it was something I could shake a tail feather to.

Music and Gender

To be completely honest, I have never given the idea of gender effecting the world of music so this blog topic was a little difficult for me. As I have spoken about before, I grew up in a home where a verity music was always being played. That being said, I feel like due to that I am consistently listening to a wide array of music all the time (and by all the time I mean to the point where my roommates wanna plug their ears). I have always listened to music by males and females in every genre, and really have no preference or thought when considering gender in music.

Beginning in middle school I started singing in the school choir. To be completely honest, I began singing as a way to get out of PE class but quickly grew to love it. At the time there were not many boys in the choir, as they wanted to participate in PE and they saw it primarily as a "girls thing". I continued seeing throughout high school and ended up participating in chorale and competing against other schools. I really enjoyed this and enjoyed singing with people who were serious about the music and enjoyed it as much as I did. That being said there was still a majority of females in the group, but a few more males had joined. I believe there were 4 Bass and 5 Tenor.

While in choral I sang as a soprano which was all ladies. I have never given much thought but we were a lot more collected than the Tenor and Bass groups, aka nine 16 year old boys.

Im sure there are people who are very aware of the gender roles in music and see the possibly problematic side to music having imposed gender roles. After giving it some thought while writing this blog post it will definitely be something that I consider more when observing musical groups or performances.

COOL STUFF!

I am going to begin my first COOL STUFF blog post with the first diverse group we studied, the Native Americans. I found this subject very interesting as I have some personal ties with the Native American Culture. You wouldn't guess by looking at me but I am 1/32 Native American, more specifically Tuscarora Indian. I know this may not be much at all, but is something I have always found interesting. This led me to do a little research after class one day, which is how I found this video.

This is a traditional dance, a smoke dance, that is being preformed at an annual games in New York. In the video you can hear a lot of similarities to the music we heard in class. I really enjoyed watching the performance and being able to compare this to what we learned this week.

Another personal connection I made with one of the lessons relates back to an encounter when I was a young child. One of my fathers friends was a local art enthusiast/ collector and sponsored a group of men from Sudan to come to the US. This was such an eye opening experience, as they made such beautiful music and art out of things we would see as trash. My dads friends, Trish, provided the men with a place to preform and stay while they spent time in town. We still have some hand crafted clay animals that the men made for my mother and I in the window boxes outside our home. I cannot find a video of the performance, but there are many "Lost Boys" and this is one I was able to find.

My last COOL thing I found today, is the Saweto Gospel Choir. With it being Sunday as I am writing this post, I found it fitting to include some gospel music. I found this group very cool as it is a more modern style gospel, but includes some of the traditional Sub-Saharan elements.

Music and Religion

My music and religious background began at a very early age. For as long as I can remember I have been attending Sunday church service, vacation bible school, or youth group. I was raised in a Christian household, specifically through an Episcopal Church. Many people are unfamiliar with the Episcopal religion and it is something I have spent a long time trying to explain to my friends. In Hendersonville, where I am from, the majority of people attend a traditional southern baptist church. So many of my experiences going to church with my friends was spent in baptist services. 

Although I identify as an episcopalian, I attended East Flat Rock First Baptist Wednesday night youth group throughout high school. I did this primarily to spend time with my friends but also enjoyed going to a less formal service throughout the week. One of the major differences between St. James Episcopal and East Flat Rock was the music. East Flat Rock primarily played modern, contemporary Christian music. The youth service, in particular, played a lot of Christian rock, as well as some more modern hip-hop like music.  This was an adjustment for me as I was used to church music being very traditional. 

As I stated before, St. James is a very traditional Episcopal church. The population of the church though fairly diverse contains primarily an older crowd. On Sundays, there are two larger services, one at 9:15 and one at 11:15. My family tends to attend the 11 o’clock service, which happens to be the “high” service or the more formal service. During the service, there is no way you could ever fall asleep, as you are up and down all service singing and listening. We have three different books of songs or hymns that we use throughout the service. There is a red hymnal, a blue hymnal, and a more modern book that also contains... you guessed it, hymnals. 

My church uses music throughout the service from beginning to end. When we sing, everyone sings. There are a few times where just the choir sings, but it is usually followed with the congregation joining in. We sing primarily for praise or celebration and are often accompanied by an organ. St. James is home to a beautiful pipe organ that we use in every service. Occasionally a guitar, piano, or percussion instrument will be used. 

Global Music Autobiography

Music has been a large part of my life for as long as I can remember. My father has a very diverse taste in music and has played a wide verity of genres through the speakers of our home throughout my childhood. His taste in music has had a strong effect on the music that I listen to on a daily basis. My father grew up in Memphis, Tennessee… a place that is home to many talented musicians. Music was played ranging from street music, early hip-hop, country, and even traditional Celtic music (which is part of our lineage). My friends have always joked that my playlist can switch up from classic rock to country, and finish out with some 90’s rap in under 10 minutes. My global music taste is centered strongly in the United States and has been influenced by my family, but has also been affected by other countries. During my senior year of high school, my childhood best friend decided to attend college in Scotland. She and I have always bonded over having similar music tastes, and continually are sharing links to new songs we have found that we think each other would enjoy. When Nicole moved to Scotland this continued, however, the style of music was not what I was used to receiving. I was introduced to the European top hits (which included A LOT of club music). I really enjoyed expanding my playlist to include songs from other parts of the world, even if it wasn’t a traditional song. A more recent experience that has affected my global music perspective was my recent trip to Germany. As many of you know, I was not able to attend class Monday as I was flying home from a New Years’ trip across the pond. Throughout the trip, we spent a lot of time in larger cities such as Munich and Frankfurt meaning we were consistently around music. Whether this be walking down the street and hearing performers, in the taxis, or listening live music at bars and events. The best experience I had involving music on the trip was on New Year’s Eve. I spent the evening dancing away to music I had no idea what was being said but enjoyed every minute of it. The event we attended was massive and encompassed six large event tents in a large field in downtown Munich. Each tent had a different style of music and a very different vibe. We went to all of the tents and spent time drinking and dancing in each, really focusing on the music and having fun. That was one of the best musical experiences I have had, and only made me want to travel and create more fun experiences.