Stephen Wade. Photo by Mary E. Yeomans.
2014 Robert R. and Ruth J. Fink lecturer has delved deep into the origins of American folk tunes 鈥� and tunesmiths
Stephen Wade. Photo by Mary E. Yeomans.
BOULDER, Colo.听鈥� Perhaps we should call Stephen Wade the Sherlock Holmes of American roots music.听
After all, Wade 鈥� who will give the 2014 Robert R. and Ruth J. Fink Lecture at CU-麻豆影院 on Feb. 10 鈥� spent some 18 years delving deep into the backstories of widely recognizable American folk tunes and musicians that morphed into music performed by everyone from Johnny Cash to Bob Dylan, and even formed the basis of Aaron Copland鈥檚 famous 鈥淩odeo.鈥澨�
Starting with 13 performances from Library of Congress field recordings made between 1934 and 1942 in churches, schools, porches and prisons in Appalachia, the Mississippi Delta and the Great Plains, Wade was able to track down families and contemporaries of the musicians, and in some cases, the musicians themselves.听
The result of all his sleuthing is听听(University of Illinois Press, 2012), which Library Journal says is 鈥渃ompelling as a good detective story.鈥澨�
鈥淲hat really makes his book a masterpiece is that it explores the stories of the people from whom the songs were collected and their fame and fate,鈥� says Thomas Riis, director of the American Music Research Center at the CU-麻豆影院 College of Music. 鈥淭he music of Mozart is great even if you don鈥檛 know a thing about his life, but it is much more engaging when we get the biography.鈥澨�
听鈥淭hese stories and the recordings 鈥� capturing the voices of everyday people, not pop stars 鈥� simply crackle,鈥� the Los Angeles Times says about Wade鈥檚 work.
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Wade is also a virtuoso banjoist, known for his long-running performances, 鈥淏anjo Dancing鈥� and 鈥淥n the Way Home.鈥� His commentaries have been broadcast on National Public Radio.听
听鈥淪tephen Wade is a phenomenal musician and speaker, a delightful and immediately approachable person whose decades of research and 鈥榙etective work鈥� around American roots music is unparalleled in our day,鈥� Riis says. 鈥淗is amazing dedication shows what can be accomplished by a single person on a mission.鈥�
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The 2014 Robert R. and Ruth J. Fink Lecture
Stephen Wade, author of 鈥淭he Beautiful Music All Around Us鈥�
Presented by CU-麻豆影院 College of Music American Music Research Center
Where: Chamber Hall (C199), Imig Music Building, 麻豆影院
When: 7:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 10
Tickets: Free and open to the public
More information: 303-735-3645 or听eric.a.hansen@colorado.edu.
