Journal issue: Vol. 2, No. 1
Introducing Vol. 2, No. 1 of the Sacred Harp Publishing Company Newsletter
I am pleased to announce the publication of the third issue of the Sacred Harp Publishing Company Newsletter. This issue documents an important chapter in the continuing spread of Sacred Harp singing beyond North America, with singing reports by Gosia Perycz and Fynn Titford-Mock on three Sacred Harp singing events held in Europe last September…
A Hollow Square in My Homeland: Bringing Camp Fasola to Poland
The United Kingdom Sacred Harp Convention Friday, September 14. I made it to England! London Luton Airport. Wizz Air, a cheap carrier, of course. I learned a new American slang word when a friend from the United States laughed at the airline’s name when he first heard it. While I land alone I am met…
Celebrating Sacred Harp in Europe, September, 2012
Four of us squeeze into a tiny car and set off from Norwich, cradling our precious food dishes in our laps. Stuck in traffic, the windows are wound down and we fill the September air with our croaky voices; no one in the queuing cars around us is left in any doubt that we’re “Bound…
Sacred Harp Down-Under: The First Australian All-Day Singing
The question is: How did Sacred Harp singing find its way to Australia? Did Australians visiting the United States come across Sacred Harp singing and start a group on their return home? Did an Australian musician come across a recording, feel the power therein, and gather his friends together to sing this music themselves? Did…
My Soul Awoke: The Rocky Mountain Convention
On the fourth Sunday and the Saturday before in September of 2012 I was able to be part of my first Sacred Harp convention—the Rocky Mountain Convention. How do you compress two days of volume, of the high fierce notes that for me are so characteristic of this music, into a few paragraphs? Sacred Harp singing,…
Harmonious Union: How Sacred Harp Brings People Together
I recently gave a talk at Camp Fasola about the community-building aspects of the Sacred Harp tradition, and I would like to share my ideas again here. Shape-note singers, of course, already know very well the fellowship and bonding that comes from singing together, so I know that I am “preaching to the choir” so…
In Search of Silas Mercer Brown
As some will know I was fortunate enough to retire from work in July 2011, escaping in the nick of time before my employer revised the retirement age upwards by a number of years. What better way to celebrate than with a “big trip” to sing in Alabama and Georgia during the summer of 2012.…
Picturing Song Leaders in Nineteenth-Century America
One of the things that seems to intrigue new singers is the role of the leader, standing in the center of the hollow square beating time. Many assume that this practice is unique to Sacred Harp singing, but evidence from early sources suggests that our current leading style has origins in pre-revolutionary days. For example,…
Behind A Beginner’s Guide to Shape-Note Singing
A note from the editor: Lisa Grayson’s popular A Beginner’s Guide to Shape-Note Singing has been a fixture for years at our singings across the country and beyond, welcoming newcomers to large annual singing conventions and local regular singings alike. You can access the new Fifth Edition of A Beginner’s Guide on fasola.org, and read about the guide’s creation…
Information on the Lottery for Shares in the Sacred Harp Publishing Company
A note from the editor: The lottery for shares in the Sacred Harp Publishing Company was conducted on March 23, 2013. Read a list of the names drawn in the lottery. Thanks to all those who expressed interest in participating in the lottery for a chance to purchase stock shares in the Sacred Harp Publishing…