Publisher's Synopsis
Neither polished nor perfect, Old Harp singing is a collective act of worship as singers sing for one another and for God. It is an authentic expression of the faith and community found in rural East Tennessee communities prior to the modern era. Since the mid-nineteenth century, simple chapels in East Tennessee and western North Carolina have resonated to the swirling syllables and pulsating rhythms of Old Harp singing, one of a handful of active American a capella shape-note singing traditions. It descends from a movement started in New England in the mid-1700s. Just after 1800, several tunebook compilers took an old European idea of using syllable as as an aid to teaching music and combined it with musical notes with distinctive shapes representing each syllable. These shapenotes made sight reading easier, and even complicated pieces could be grasped more easily. Hundreds of these shapenote books were published during the Great Awakening of the early nineteenth century. The thirty-one songs on this CD were recorded at the annual Headrick’s Chapel Singing in Wear’sValley, Tennessee, on September 23, 2001. The tunes are from one of the most venerable Old Harp books,The New Harp of Columbia. This delightful recording provides the perfect introduction to this often overlooked Tennessee folk tradition. This recording gives ample proof that the Old Harp tradition is alive and well as newcomers join with traditional singers to sing the old songs in the old way.Shapenote recording enthusiast (and occasional singer) John W. Lamb of Harrison,TN produced this recording with the assistance of the late Larry Olszewski, noted Old Harp singer from East Tennessee.
