2-BSide
6B —Thursday, February 1, 2018
b-side
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
We live in an age where
it’s hard to find the soul of
America. Much of American
society is disheartened by the
current administration, and if
not that, the general state of
the world as it is. There seems
to be a new headline every day
that could easily make one lose
faith in his or her country —
but even with all this, its heart
is still there, hidden beneath
layers of history and tradition.
That deep American tradition
can be easily found where folk
music plays, these layers peel
back to show the core which
lies beneath.
On night two of the Ann
Arbor Folk Festival, hosted
by local folk venue The Ark
in Hill Auditorium, this core
was celebrated by a sold-out
crowd of folk lovers and music
aficionados
alike.
Saturday
night’s host of acts fused the
traditions of blues, country
and rock into one massive
celebration of music itself,
of community and the act
of singing with friends and
family late into the night.
Headlined by the legendary
folk songwriter John Prine,
the show was a masterful set
of acts that varied in influence
and genre, but all had one
thing in common — a whole
lotta soul.
The Festival’s emcee, Joe
Pug, brought it all together
seamlessly, playing his own
songs acoustically to string
one act to the next in a smooth
line of guitar and harmonica.
The first act, Michigan-based
blues duo The War and Treaty,
brought the house down with
songs including “Hi Ho” and
“Til
the
Morning,”
Tanya
Blount and Michael Trotter
Jr.’s voices blending into each
other as if they were always
meant to do so. The level of
vocal skill and soul in their
music is seemingly endless, as
each line of harmony ducks
into the other and back, a
woven textile of grit and beauty
that could make anyone feel
limitless. The War and Treaty
finished their set to a standing
ovation of whoops and hollers,
and for good reason.
Next to grace Hill’s stage
were brothers Page Burkum
and Jack Torrey of The Cactus
Blossoms
and
their
band.
Similar to The War and Treaty,
Burkum and Torrey’s voices
merged into one for their
set of traditional country-
inspired songs, one of which,
“Mississippi,”
was
featured
on last year’s reboot of David
Lynch’s “Twin Peaks.” The
group switched easily between
high-tempo and slow songs,
both brothers playing guitar to
create a big sound, in volume
and emotional effect.
After The Cactus Blossoms
was folk group Birds of Chicago,
based out of — you guessed it
— Chicago, fronted by couple
JT Nero and Allison Russell,
who travel the country playing
music with their daughter Ida
in tow. This familial spirit
made its mark on Hill, with the
first half of haunting ballad
“Barley” sung a cappella into
the auditorium by Russell,
making
the
musical
kick-
in even more powerful. The
combined efforts of Nero and
his wife spun a rich American
tradition
of
storytelling
together with modern themes,
bringing folk into the new age
with tunes like “American
Flowers,”
which
emphasize
classic song structure while
beautifully sending a message
of togetherness. In the words
of Nero, “I’ve found traveling
the country that most people
are good people; that common
decency should be a jumping
off point for arguing.”
Mountain Heart took the
stage after Birds of Chicago,
immediately
beginning
an
extensive instrumental intro
that showed off the crazy
technical skill of each member
of the folk group. With several
of Heart’s musicians playing
more than one instrument,
the electric energy of their
set was unmistakable, a truly
polished example of bluegrass
and folk music that brought
the audience to their feet.
The
sounds
of
mandolin,
double bass and the smooth
voice of singer Josh Shilling
echoed into Hill with joy and
harmony; their set was a huge
success, ending in a standing
ovation.
CLARA SCOTT
Daily Arts Writer
Folk Fest night two brings out Ann Arbor’s soul
When most people are asked
about their childhoods, they
envision good times filled
with family and friends, the
first time they rode their
bike or that important soccer
game that they won. Instead
of daydreaming of memories
when
asked
about
my
childhood, the sound of Latin
music fills my mind. Growing
up in a Dominican household,
every moment in our house
was filled with the sound of
Latin rhythms.
Latin music itself reflects
the history of the people that
it comes from. It is a mix
of smooth and syncopated
African rhythms, combined
with the sounds of the native
people
and
the
European
influences that invaded their
land. Our music has traveled
far and wide, immigrating
to find new inspiration from
different places around the
globe. We learned from these
places and cultures, and we
picked up new sounds along
the way, incorporating them
into our own.
It is complex, and it refuses
to be put into boxes of African
beats or Spanish melodies.
Instead, it combines these
elements and more to create
a sound that is unique and
distinct among other types of
music. Latin music, no matter
if it’s reggaeton or salsa, has
many different origins and
flavors that are united into
one beautiful soundscape that
has helped to shape the Latin
cultures that exist today.
Music is a way that we
stay in touch with our roots,
despite our tendencies to drift
away from our homelands.
Neighborhoods
filled
with
Latinx immigrants are marked
by radios blasting sounds of
distant lands. It unites us as
a community when we are far
away from our home countries.
I
remember
sleepovers
at
my
abuela’s
apartment
in
the
Washington
Heights
neighborhood in Manhattan,
falling asleep to the sound of
the deep Conga drums blasting
from a radio across the alley —
a lullaby gifted to me by my
African ancestors.
The music reminds us that
we are poetic and intelligent
people. Spanish sounds, the
purring of a rolled “r,” the
softness of the vowels — they
enhance the beauty of the
poetry behind the lyrics. I
remember my father gently
stroking his Spanish guitar in
our living room, while I stared
in awe at the romance that the
sound produced — riffs that
were brought to me by my
Spanish roots — his thick, dark
eyebrows gently narrowing
over his green eyes as he gently
improvised Spanish lyrics.
On the windowsill in our
living room sat a bumpy tin
column and next to it a tin
instrument
that
resembled
a hair pick with a wooden
handle.
This
instrument,
called a güiro, was my favorite
growing up. I would dance
around my apartment to the
rhythms I scraped on the güiro,
an instrument whose harsh
metallic sounds entertained
me
for
hours.
My
Taino
ancestors communicated their
lost culture with me through
the sounds of the güiro.
Nothing
will
amount
to those nights when my
family would reunite and the
celebratory sounds of bachata,
salsa and merengue inspired us
to let go of all our stresses and
enjoy each other’s company to
the rhythm of the clave. The
music controlled our bodies,
moving our hips and feet in
a way that Latinx are most
known for. It is our music
that reminded us that we are
family, whether we are related
by blood or not, and that
when our differences come
together, we form a sound that
is unmatched by any other in
history. A sound of family,
multiple origins, poetry and
unity. When I think of my
childhood, I think of not only
the sounds that surrounded
me everywhere I went, but the
lessons that these sounds have
taught me in creating their
own remarkable identity that
reflects the Latinx community
from which they come.
The sounds of my Latin
childhood are speaking
ISABELLE HASSLUND
Daily Arts Writer
COMMUNITY CULTURE
Alexis Rankin / Daily
The War and Treaty performs at the Ann Arbor Folk Festival.
Alexis Rankin / Daily
The Cactus Blossoms perform at the Ann Arbor Folk Festival.
Alexis Rankin / Daily
Birds of Chicago perform at the Ann Arbor Folk Festival.
Alexis Rankin / Daily
Aimee Mann performs at the Ann Arbor Folk Festival.
Succeeding Mountain Heart
was a secondary headliner
and
rock
mainstay
Aimee
Mann, who played songs off
her new record Mental Illness,
in addition to old favorites
“Save Me” and “Labrador.”
Though different than many of
the night’s acts, Mann’s stage
presence as a performer and
folk-inspired acoustic songs
made her an unignorable force.
The singer’s trademark voice
rang clear into the venue song
after song, creating a round,
warm sound with the help of
a skilled, small band. Mann
brought
collaborator
and
performer in his own right
Jonathan Coulton on for a few
songs off of Mental Illness,
of which he co-wrote several
songs with the performer, and
they brought the show back to
its roots, singing slow, acoustic
tunes inspired by classic folk.
To quote Mann, “I wanted it
to sound like John Denver,
but a little less edgy.” The
bellowing warmth of bass and
dreadnought guitar closed her
set with power, the audience
erupting into applause as she
jaunted off stage.
Though
the
talent
and
emotional poignancy of all
of the festival’s performers
made a strong mark on the
night, no one can do folk quite
like headliner and legendary
songwriter John Prine. At
the ripe age of 71, Prine still
performs like a young man,
cracking
jokes
in
between
lyrics woven into acoustic and
electric guitar. Accompanied
by a band of incredibly skilled
musicians, the sounds of the
lap steel and upright bass
supported Prine’s masterful
storytelling on classic songs
like “Sam Stone” and “Angel
From Montgomery.” As folk
reverberated
against
the
ornate
auditorium’s
walls,
the
songwriter
brought
thousands of people together
to celebrate the music that
raised, saved or even just found
them accidentally. In Prine’s
experience, he said, “Being
loved is much better than the
other thing — let’s do more of
that.” The songwriter closed
the festival on a note of hope
and unity with folk standard
“Paradise,” bringing all of the
show’s performers on stage
for a triumphant finish that
inspired a feeling of hope and
happiness in the audience. No
matter what your background
or musical taste, it was clear
what a community folk has
built in Ann Arbor — America’s
soul was in Hill Saturday night,
the sound of voices joined in
joyful noise.
America’s
soul was in Hill
Saturday night,
the sound of
voices joined in
joyful noise
When I
think of my
childhood, I
think of not
only the sounds
that surrounded
me everywhere
I went, but the
lessons that
these sounds
have taught
me