美國(guó)國(guó)家民間藝術(shù)節(jié)75周年回顧

On Its 75th Birthday， a Look Back at National Folk Festival’s Changes

Arun Rath （Host）： The National Folk Festival is celebrating its 75th anniversary. And for the first time， it’s being held in North Carolina. It’s a good fit when you consider that state has produced greats like Doc Watson， Earl Scruggs and Elizabeth Cotten. But North Carolina is also a place with a very particular idea of what folk music means. As Bethany Chafin of member station WFDD reports， that idea is changing.

（Soundbite of Song， Drowsy Sleeper）

Bethany Chafin （Byline）： That’s the sound of folk music， right？ In North Carolina especially， you think of the western part of the state—the mountains and sounds of the Appalachian region. The music of people like Sheila Kay Adams， a 1）ballad singer and storyteller from Madison County.

（Soundbite of Song， Drowsy Sleeper）

Sheila Kay Adams： For me， folk music meant the traditional ballads that were preserved within my family and passed down from generation to generation. My family was mostly Scotch-Irish， and they didn’t have much in the way of material good， but， boy， they sure had a lot in their hearts and in their heart’s ear that they brought with them. And they shared that down through the generations.

Chafin： The definition of North American folk music in the early 20th century was music made by whites of European ancestry， and it’s the definition Bascom Lamar Lunsford used when he started the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival in Ashville in 1928. Kentucky 2）folklorist Sarah Gertrude Knott attending one of Lunsford’s festivals and six years later started the National Folk Festival. Julia Olin is executive director of the National Council for the Traditional Arts.

Julia Olin： There was a folk festival movement in the ’20s and ’30s， but it was the National Folk Festival that first put the arts of many nations， races and languages onto the same stage.

Chafin： In determining what was traditional and not traditional， the National often broke barriers. W.C. Handy， known as the father of the blues， played the festival in 1938， his first performance on a 3）desegregated stage. Audiences were exposed to Cajun， polka and the music of Chinese immigrants. Over the decades， the festival moved around the country. As it traveled， Olin says， the festival also moved with the times. Still...

Olin： Living culture is tricky business.

Chafin： Meaning it’s always changing. The Carolina Chocolate Drops have 4）navigated that change pretty successfully. Their music is drawing in a new， younger audience with its update on the sounds of the African-American string band.

（Soundbite of Song， Ruby）

Chafin： Musician and Greensboro-native Rhiannon Giddens， along with her original bandmates， sought out African-American 5）fiddler and 6）songster Joe Thompson to learn the music and share its history with others.

Rhiannon Giddens： You know， we’re sort of taught this very thin kind of wrong idea of where American music comes from. It’s a real narrow view， and it’s not always right. And to expand that and to deepen it， it’s actually way more interesting than what we’re kind of taught.

Chafin： Giddens and former bandmate Justin Robinson will perform at this year’s festival in Greensboro. Also on the 7）lineup is Bill Myers.

Bill Myers： You see？ Right here. There’s the graphanola right there with a ’78 record right there. But you got to wind this up.

（Soundbite of Music）

Chafin： Myers chuckles as he listens to the Roberta Martin Singers of Chicago on the same graphanola that played in his childhood home. Behind him， posters 8）span decades of performances with his Eastern North Carolina band the Monitors.

（Soundbite of the Monitors Song）

Chafin： Myers cofounded the group in 1957 with one goal—if someone said...

Myers： I’m Pennsylvania， play me a Pennsylvania polka， say， I got it. If someone comes up and says， listen， I’m from the Caribbean， and I want to hear a bossa nova， hey， we get it.

Chafin： So he was a little hesitant when he was asked to play at this year’s National Folk Festival.

Myers： I said， well， I didn’t want to come up there and do something that you guys weren’t calling folk， you know， ’cause people have an idea what they think folk is， you know. It’s dulcimers and all those kinds of little things that they do like that.

Chafin： But festival organizer Sally Peterson reassured him.

Myers： She says no， I want you to play what you play because this is your Eastern North Carolina， quote， “folk music”.

Chafin： And that’s fine with Myers.

Myers： Folk I think refers to folks， you know， and what do folks do. And we have to broaden our thinking to include all kinds of things.

Chafin： And， he says， the music should speak for itself regardless of definition.

阿倫·拉思（主持人）：美國(guó)國(guó)家民間藝術(shù)節(jié)正在慶祝75周年紀(jì)念日。這是它首次在北卡羅來納州舉行。當(dāng)你想到多克·沃森、厄爾·斯克拉格斯、伊麗莎白·科頓這些民間音樂大師都是來自這個(gè)地方時(shí)，你會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)這非常合適。但在北卡羅來納州，（人們）對(duì)民間音樂有一種非常特別的看法。成員臺(tái)WFDD記者貝薩尼·查芬報(bào)道稱，現(xiàn)在這種看法正在改變。

（歌曲《昏昏欲睡的人》片段）

貝薩尼·查芬（撰稿人）：那是民間音樂的風(fēng)格，對(duì)吧？特別是在北卡羅來納州，你會(huì)想起這個(gè)州的西部——阿巴拉契亞地區(qū)的山脈和音樂風(fēng)格，像來自麥迪遜縣的民謠歌手兼說書人希拉·凱·亞當(dāng)斯這些人的音樂風(fēng)格。

（歌曲《昏昏欲睡的人》片段）

希拉·凱·亞當(dāng)斯：對(duì)于我來說，民間音樂指的是那些在我的家族里保存下來，代代相傳的傳統(tǒng)民歌。我的家人大多是有蘇格蘭和愛爾蘭血統(tǒng)的。他們?cè)谖镔|(zhì)財(cái)富方面擁有的不多，但是，好家伙，他們肯定是內(nèi)心豐富的，他們把家鄉(xiāng)的很多曲調(diào)記在心里，帶到這里，并把這些曲調(diào)傳給了后代。

查芬：在20世紀(jì)初，北美民間音樂的定義是擁有歐洲血統(tǒng)的白種人所創(chuàng)作的音樂。1928年，巴斯科姆·拉馬爾·倫斯福德也在創(chuàng)辦阿什維爾山村舞蹈和民俗節(jié)時(shí)用到這個(gè)定義。來自肯塔基州的民俗學(xué)家薩拉·格特魯?shù)隆ぶZ特參加過倫斯福德開辦的其中一屆阿什維爾山村舞蹈和民俗節(jié)，六年之后，她創(chuàng)辦了美國(guó)國(guó)家民間藝術(shù)節(jié)。茱莉亞·奧林是美國(guó)國(guó)家傳統(tǒng)藝術(shù)委員會(huì)的執(zhí)行理事。

茱莉亞·奧林：在上世紀(jì)二三十年代有一場(chǎng)民間節(jié)日運(yùn)動(dòng)，但第一個(gè)把很多不同民族、不同種族、不同語言的藝術(shù)匯聚到同一個(gè)舞臺(tái)上的是美國(guó)國(guó)家民間藝術(shù)節(jié)。

查芬：在決定傳統(tǒng)的和非傳統(tǒng)的這件事上，美國(guó)國(guó)家民間藝術(shù)節(jié)經(jīng)常能沖破障礙。威廉·克里斯托夫·漢迪被認(rèn)為是藍(lán)調(diào)之父。他在1938年的美國(guó)國(guó)家民間藝術(shù)節(jié)上表演過，這也是他第一次在沒有種族隔離的舞臺(tái)上表演。觀眾們領(lǐng)略了凱金音樂、波爾卡舞曲還有中國(guó)移民的音樂。幾十年來，全國(guó)各地都舉辦過美國(guó)國(guó)家民間藝術(shù)節(jié)。奧林說，在這一過程中，美國(guó)國(guó)家民間藝術(shù)節(jié)也與時(shí)俱進(jìn)。然而……

奧林：現(xiàn)存的文化是很棘手的事務(wù)。

查芬：它的含義一直在不斷地變化。卡羅萊納巧克力豆樂隊(duì)就相當(dāng)成功地應(yīng)對(duì)了這些改變。他們對(duì)非裔美國(guó)弦樂隊(duì)的音樂風(fēng)格進(jìn)行更新，吸引了一批新的年輕觀眾。（歌曲《魯比》片段）

查芬：里安農(nóng)·吉登斯是格林斯博羅本地的一名音樂家。她和她最初的樂隊(duì)成員們找到非裔美國(guó)的小提琴手兼歌手喬·湯普森，向他學(xué)習(xí)民間音樂并和其他人分享它的歷史。

里安農(nóng)·吉登斯：你知道，我們?cè)谀撤N程度上被灌輸了這樣一種令人難以信服的錯(cuò)誤觀念，那就是美國(guó)音樂來源于哪里。這真的是一種很狹隘的看法，并不總是對(duì)的。（當(dāng)我們）去拓展或深化這個(gè)概念，我們會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)它實(shí)際上比我們所灌輸?shù)挠腥ざ嗔恕?/p>

查芬：今年，吉登斯和她的前隊(duì)友賈斯汀·羅賓遜將會(huì)在格林斯博羅舉辦的美國(guó)國(guó)家民間藝術(shù)節(jié)上表演。比爾·邁爾斯也在這個(gè)陣容中。

比爾·邁爾斯：看到了嗎？在這里。這里有一臺(tái)留聲機(jī)，上面有一個(gè)‘’78’的記號(hào)。但你必須要把這個(gè)搖上去。

（音樂片段）

查芬：當(dāng)聽到他童年故居的那臺(tái)留聲機(jī)播放著芝加哥的羅伯塔·馬丁歌手樂隊(duì)的曲子時(shí)，邁爾斯咯咯地笑了。在他身后是他在北卡羅來納州東部（創(chuàng)立的）名叫監(jiān)視器樂隊(duì)幾十年演藝生涯的海報(bào)。

（監(jiān)視器樂隊(duì)的音樂片段）

查芬：邁爾斯在1957年（與別人）共同創(chuàng)辦了這個(gè)樂隊(duì)，他有著這樣一個(gè)目的——如果有人說……

邁爾斯：我是賓夕法尼亞人，給我演奏一首賓夕法尼亞波爾卡曲子。我會(huì)說我明白了。如果有人向我走過來說：“我是加勒比海人，我想要聽一首巴薩諾瓦舞曲。”我會(huì)說：“嘿，我們明白了?！?/p>

查芬：所以當(dāng)他被邀請(qǐng)到今年的美國(guó)國(guó)家民間藝術(shù)節(jié)上演出時(shí)，他有點(diǎn)猶豫。

邁爾斯：我說，嗯，我不想去那里演奏一些你們不認(rèn)為是民間音樂的歌曲，你知道的，因?yàn)槿藗儗?duì)民間音樂有一種想法：民間音樂是用杜西莫琴和像杜西莫琴之類的那些小東西演奏的。

查芬：但美國(guó)國(guó)家民間藝術(shù)節(jié)的組織者薩莉·彼得森使他放心了。

邁爾斯：她說，“不，我要你演奏你本來的曲子，因?yàn)?，引用你的話來說，這就是你北卡羅來納州東部地區(qū)的‘民間音樂’”。

查芬：邁爾斯同意了。

邁爾斯：我認(rèn)為民間音樂是和人們有關(guān)的，你知道的，還有人們所做的那些事。我們必須要拓寬我們的思維，把各種各樣的元素包括進(jìn)來。

查芬：他還說，我們不應(yīng)局限在民間音樂的定義上，民間音樂本身就足以說明一切。