For this post, I am passing the torch to Dirk Powell,, musician and curator of songs for Behold the Earth. Dirk is introducing me to all sorts of musician friends who feel, like he and Tim Eriksen, that a powerful musical space exists in the mix of nature, scientific knowledge, faith, and American heritage.

DIRK POWELL “When I was about 12 years old, my pappaw played a very simple tune for me on his banjo and, unknowingly, changed my life. The music was sincere and egoless in a way that resonated deeply with me; but it was his comment afterwards that brought the moment to a point and tears to my eyes. As the last notes faded away on that warm Kentucky afternoon, he turned to me and said, “You know, people used to think that was just beautiful.”

“I experienced one of those instant question-and-answers that form the seeds of epiphany. What had changed? Beauty? No, beauty is unchangeable. So it must be that people had changed – and any change that leads people to judge and then reject beauty should not be accepted without serious questioning. It is that decision to walk away, not the artistic fruit of a culture that evolved in unbroken tradition for generations, that should be closely examined and weighed for its worth.

That moment with my grandfather, James Clarence Hay, made me determined to learn the music of those hills, not to preserve something from the past but to share timeless beauty in the present and, ideally, to pass on to others a medium through which to express their own feelings and thoughts. Tradition is a sustainable resource; you can’t take from it without giving more back. It’s a spring that never runs dry. Unfortunately, the more we’ve lost ties to nature, spirit, culture, family – the pathways of tradition – the more we’ve lost ourselves. But picking up a banjo and playing it puts you instantly back into the flow of the tradition. It evolved for that purpose and that alone.”

Not all nature is beautiful and without struggle. More of that in a future post from Dirk, reflecting on music and some of the life experiences of his great uncle and grandmother.

Posted on June 5th, 2009 in Neo-Traditional Music, Parents