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Renowned, Local Musicians To ‘Pitch’ In For Showcase

Oct. 8, 2014
SHSU Media Contact: Jennifer Gauntt

 

“Multi-talented” guest artists will collaborate with local musicians to showcase the interconnectedness of music, dance, poetry and song as part of the “Traditional Music and Dance Showcase” on Monday (Oct. 13).

The event will present the “Fiddling Alaskan Poet” Ken Waldman and renowned husband and wife duo Evie Ladin and Keith Terry beginning at 7 p.m. in the Evans Complex Auditorium, in Room 105. It is a collaboration between the Sam Houston State University English Department, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, College of Fine Arts and Mass Communication, Provost’s Office, and the Elliott T. Bowers Honors College.

Edie Ladin and Keith Terry

The showcase will introduce many in the Bearkat communities to the “traditional music” style, some of which will incorporate modern elements, according to event coordinator Gene Young, professor of English and dean of the Honors College.

“‘Traditional music’ is hard to define succinctly, but it is basically a larger classification than folk music, which is usually thought of as restricted to music that emerges from and is transmitted through what musicologists call the ‘oral tradition,’” Young said. “At its core, traditional music is played, sung, or performed communally, by families and in communities for dances and other such traditional gatherings, but there are many musicians who expand on the insular communal nature of the music and take it to a wider audience.”

Among these artists are Ladin, whose website describes her performance—which includes clawhammer banjo, a resonant voice, real stories and rhythmic dance—as exuding “polyrhythmic heat;” Terry, who is considered a pioneer in contemporary Body Music, which includes large-scale intercultural collaborations; and Waldman, whose style is described as old-time Appalachian-style string-band music.

Their performance at SHSU, Young said, is an attempt by the sponsoring departments to highlight the interrelatedness of both the media the artists work in, while also showcasing their multi-talents in these areas.

“This performance is all about connections, the interworking of music, singing, dance, composing, and the written word—all brought together in an amazing and satisfying blend,” Young said. “The pitch of the entertainment on Monday night will be high, but there is much to learn from and to think about regarding the connectedness that this showcase will make evident.”

Joining the three musicians will be multi-instrumentalist Jerry Hagins, from Austin, and Young and his wife Marynell will contribute on the guitar and fiddle. The group will also perform as part of a larger showcase in College Station.

Young said the showcase is designed as part of his larger work of incorporating traditional music into the academic atmosphere. For several years, he has taught a “Texas Crossroads” class in the English department and a “Culture of American Music” seminar in the honors college, which has brought various traditional musicians to campus throughout the years.

Ken Waldman

“Dr. Ron Shields, the dean of the College of Fine Arts and Mass Communication, has expressed strong interest in exposing students in his college, and all colleges, to traditional music and dance,” Young said. “Traditional music has always informed higher aesthetic music, and it is important to expose students of all majors to the connections between traditional arts and the fine arts.”

Ladin and Terry have been among those performers who have visited SHSU before, and as someone who has known them both musically and personally for years, Young said he works to bring them to campus as often as he can.

“They were, and will be, received very enthusiastically for their rich and entertaining performances,” Young said. “They are simply wonderful dancers, singers and musicians.

“I have known Ken Waldman through traditional, old-time fiddling festivals, but his professional career as a traveling musician and poet makes him particularly interesting to writing students, as well,” Young said. “The fact that he makes a living as a traveling musician and poet is compelling for students who might want to learn about his professional life.

“Finally, Jerry is just a terrific banjo player, very well known in traditional music circles in Austin and beyond. It will be a pleasure to have him in the mix.”

The Traditional Music and Dance Showcase is free and open to the public.

While on campus, Waldman also will visit creative writing classes, and Ladin and Terry will visit dance classes.

For more information on each artist and his or her body of work, visit their websites at evieladin.com, crosspulse.com/aboutkt.html, and kenwaldman.com.

 

 

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