“Different Rivers. Sardinian Hill Country and the DIY Ethos of River of Gennargentu”

Talk Description:
In the summer of 2014, the Bluesman “River of Gennargentu” released, on his SoundCloud page, three songs of hill country blues, sung in English and played with a technique like those of historical Delta blues artists, recorded in low-quality sound. Within a few months, the web page collected dozens of comments from users who were amazed by this new “discovery” and demanded the real artist’s origin, as-yet-not-specified. For many listeners, these songs seemed played by an American bluesman: the Gennargentu, however, is not in the United States, but is in fact a mountain range in central Sardinia (Italy). “River of Gennargentu” is from a little Sardinian village named Gavoi, and produces his music drawing inspiration from the US blues musicians of the early 1900s, declaring his love for the DIY philosophy, building his own instruments and using low-fi home-recording techniques. This talk shows how rural blues is redefined by musicians in relation to Sardinian territory, thanks to a complex alternation of retro-mania (the idealized American past) and the idealistic claim which sees in the DIY a way to revive the “raw” spirit of the origins of the blues, adapting this one to the cultural space of Sardinia.

Bio:
Diego Pani is the manager of the musical patrimony of the Istituto Superiore Regionale Etnografico (ISRE) and a Ph.D. Student in Ethnomusicology at Memorial University of Newfoundland. His research focuses on the dynamics of music performance of young generations of musicians in reference to the use of media as a learning device, as well as the construction of social meaning via audio and video materials in the vernacular traditions of Sardinia. Additionally, he is engaged in the production of documentary films, web documentaries, and photo reportages. Besides his academic work, he sings in the rock’n’roll band King Howl and manages Talk About Records; a DIY record specialized in blues, rock ‘n’ roll and punk music.

Final Performance of the semester by the UNM Honky Tonk Ensemble, featuring the debut song of the UNM Honky Tonk Ensemble Songwriting Competition and other classic country songs performed by students in this one-credit performance class. Bring yer boots! Event takes place in conjunction with the national Society for Ethnomusicology Meeting.

Course Description:
This course focuses on learning to perform country music from the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s, also known as “honky tonk” music. Artists and material covered include songs by Kitty Wells, Loretta Lynn, Patsy Cline, Tammy Wynette, George Jones, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Hank Williams,, Buck Owens, Johnny Rodriguez and Charley Pride. Guest artists will be brought in to run clinics on singing and how to communicate with the sound engineer and also give general input on the dynamics of playing in a band.
Taught by performing country artists, the class focuses on country singing style, harmony, rhythm and lead instrumentation, song arrangement, and performance techniques for successful performance. The class is designed to be taught as a group, with students learning to perform as a band in the process.

Sas Bator Colonnas is a multipart singing group from the Scano di Montiferro, a mountainous region in central Sardinia, Italy who started singing together in 2002. They carry on the vernacular multipart singing practice— one of the most representative cultural forms of their village Scano di Montiferro— which is performed by four male singers and is called ‘cuncordu.’ Singing on multiple occasions for social gatherings and religious rituals of the village, they have also performed outside Scano di Montiferro and all over Sardinia, both performing and teaching. They have conducted televised broadcasts, workshops and seminars related to multipart singing. Beyond southern Europe, Sas Bator Colonnas have performed in Belgium, Spain, and Germany, all the while maintaining strong ties and performance commitments in their native village. In October 2012, they released their first album, Antigos Trazos, the result of years of careful study and performance of the local form of multipart singing. Their love for this music, and the strength of the ties that bind them to it, are apparent in the new album, and they continue their tireless practice and expressive research with the confidence that keeping this music alive can be useful for future generations of singers and music lovers in Sardinia and around the world. The event tonight, which is the U.S. debut for this cuncordu, will be a unique lecture-performance, which will be mediated and translated by multipart singing specialist Diego Pani. It coincides with the annual meeting of the Society of Ethnomusicology (SEM) which is convening in Albuquerque this year.