Middle Atlantic Folklife Association

Water the Roots: A Proposal
By Bau Graves

Most people in the music industry can trace their passion back to a moment of youthful epiphany when they first heard Muddy Waters, or Hank Williams, or Charlie Parker or Woody Guthrie, or Public Enemy, or whoever – and the power and excitement of that instant changed their lives forever. That music emerged from the background noise of America, reached out, and just grabbed hold of us. But the music that we love today would simply never have been created if all those masters of innovation had not had a deep pool of tradition from which to draw.

Water the Roots: A Proposal
By Bau Graves

Most people in the music industry can trace their passion back to a moment of youthful epiphany when they first heard Muddy Waters, or Hank Williams, or Charlie Parker or Woody Guthrie, or Public Enemy, or whoever – and the power and excitement of that instant changed their lives forever. That music emerged from the background noise of America, reached out, and just grabbed hold of us. But the music that we love today would simply never have been created if all those masters of innovation had not had a deep pool of tradition from which to draw.

“Living Words: Folklorists and Creative Writers”

Long before I wrote stories, I listened for stories. Listening for them is something more acute than listening to them.

— Eudora Welty, One Writer’s Beginnings (14)

Spring semester’s end brings joy and sadness: joy because classes end and summer roads stretch before me, and sadness because classes end and many treasured students graduate. This semester, those good-byes have been especially hard because one of my best George Mason University classes has just ended—folklore and creative writing—with students like Mary: “Peggy, your class is the BEST class I’ve ever taken for generating new writing. I’ve written several stories, have sketched ideas for a dozen, more, & have solved a major problem in my novel – all directly influenced by the readings for your class. Mary Overton Beall”

“Living Words: Folklorists and Creative Writers”

Long before I wrote stories, I listened for stories. Listening for them is something more acute than listening to them.

— Eudora Welty, One Writer’s Beginnings (14)

Spring semester’s end brings joy and sadness: joy because classes end and summer roads stretch before me, and sadness because classes end and many treasured students graduate. This semester, those good-byes have been especially hard because one of my best George Mason University classes has just ended—folklore and creative writing—with students like Mary: “Peggy, your class is the BEST class I’ve ever taken for generating new writing. I’ve written several stories, have sketched ideas for a dozen, more, & have solved a major problem in my novel – all directly influenced by the readings for your class. Mary Overton Beall”

http://cas.gmu.edu/connection/current/shutika.html

Fishing for Connections: A Journey Through the Mid-Atlantic Maritime Region

About a week and a half after the close of the 2004 Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Arlene Reiniger and I confronted a "groaning board" of Down East, North Carolina food at the Core Sound Waterfowl Museum in Harkers Island. By way of thanks for including their story in the "Water Ways: Mid-Atlantic Maritime Communities" program of the 2004 Smithsonian Folklife Festival (and for bringing back a packed van-load of nets and other items that had been brought to Washington, D.C. for display) the incredible cooks in the community had organized a pot luck. Crab casseroles, baked fish, homemade rolls, cole slaw, tempting cakes and dozens of other mouth-watering dishes welcomed us.