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Date: 6/8/2018
CHICOPEE – For Chicopee resident, musician, author and historian Craig Harris his latest book was a project of self-discovery.
His new book, “Bluegrass, Newgrass, Old-time, and Americana Music” is the product of 126 interviews with musicians who detailed the history of the development of these musical genres.
The result of that work, Harris told Reminder Publications, was that “I never felt so aligned with the music than any other project I’ve done.”
Harris will be presenting an interactive multi-media program called “Unraveling America’s Music Roots” at the Chicopee Public Library on June 14 at 7 p.m. The program will include a performance by Harris, who is a percussionist.
“It sets the mood,” he explained.
Harris explained, “I’ve always loved all kinds of music, but always loved the roots.”
Harris has written “The New Folk Music,” “The Band: Pioneers of Americana Music” and “Heartbeat, Warble, and the Electric Powwow: American Indian Music.”
He wrote about the newest book, “I went into a record store in 1968, looking for a record I heard on the radio. I didn’t know the artist (who turned out to be Georgie Fame) or the name of the song. All I knew was that it was about Bonnie & Clyde. When I told that to the clerk, he handed me a 45-RPM single. Rushing home, I put it on the turntable, placed the needle, and turned it on. What I heard blew me away. Instead of a British pop tune, a cavalcade of fiddles, guitars, Dobro, and, most of all, banjo emanated from the speakers. The clerk had inadvertently given me Flatt & Scruggs’ ‘Foggy Mountain Breakdown,’ the theme song of the Warren Beatty/Faye Dunaway film about the legendary gangsters. The music resonated with me immediately. I was a fan of the ‘Beverly Hillbillies’ TV show, especially the episodes on which Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs guested.
“Driving several times from New York, where I grew up, to Florida, with my parents, sister, and brother, I looked forward to the stretch below the Mason Dixon line my dad called ‘Tobacco Road.’ We could tune the radio to ‘hillbilly music.’ I loved the music’s drive, its harmonies, and its infectious rhythms. It was a beautiful hue in the global spectrum of sound. I found my voice on percussion but found a way to play with musicians from every tradition including bluegrass instrumentalists and singers. Some traditionalists recoil when they see drums but frowns turn into smiles when I play. There’s a respect and reverence in what I do.”
Harris took 130 hours of interview tapes and wrote a 400-page book. He noted he could have produced a 3,000-page volume from the material he gathered.
The book details how bluegrass music came about, drawing from a number of root music sources, and developed by musician Bill Monroe. Harris said he explored how the genre changed with musical innovation by Earl Scruggs and questioned the nature of this musical revolution.
“I went right to the source on everything” he said, noting he interview the sons of both Monroe and Scruggs about their fathers’ contributions.
He wrote, “Bill Monroe, Earl Scruggs, Don Reno, and Ralph Stanley’s sons recall their fathers while a who’s who roster of pace-setting artists including Mac Wiseman, Jesse McReynolds, Bobby Osborne, Del McCoury, Doyle Lawson, Byron Berline, J.D. Crow, Tony Trischka, Peter Rowan, and Jerry Douglas share memories. Bela Fleck, Sam Bush, and John Cowan speak about the New Grass Revival and their individual growth since disbanding. Pete Wernick and Tim O’Brien talk about Hot Rize and its offshoot, Red Knuckles & the Trailblazers. Jody Stecher, Richard Green, and Chris Hillman (New Riders of the Purple Sage) discuss the West Coast scene. Rodney Dillard (the Dillards), and John McEuen (Nitty Gritty Dirt Band) look back. Roland White (Kentucky Colonels, Nashville Bluegrass Band), Gene Parsons, Chris Hillman, and Roger McGuinn retrace the tragic journey of White’s brother, Clarence, from flatpicking wunderkind to electric folk-rocker with the Byrds. T. Michael Coleman, Jack Lawrence, and David Holt remember Doc Watson. Bob Carlin recalls John Hartford. Ben Eldridge, Phil Rosenthal, Dudley Connell, and Coleman trace a near half-century of the Seldom Scene. Tim Stafford (Blue Highway), Dan Tyminski, Jerry Douglas, and Alison Brown recount Alison Krauss’ phenomenal rise.”
The book also features photographs he has taken of bluegrass and roots music performers over the past nearly 40 years.
An active music teacher with programs booked throughout the state, Harris is also performing music regularly. “I currently play with an acoustic Americana trio – Goldilocks & the Bears – and a world groove group – the Gaea Star Band – with whom I host a weekly syndicated radio/internet show on the Dream Vision 7 Network,” he said.
For more information about his new book, go to: www.bluegrassnewgrass.com.