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History told through folk song

Down a hallway dotted with recording devices and into a room flowing with rhythm sits a makeshift porch and glass cases full of sheet music and instruments from another time. The historical room in the South Two Gallery of the University Museum holds the "Words, Wood & Wire: The History of Southern Illinois as Told Through Folk Songs and Musical Instruments" exhibit. In an attempt to bring area musicians together, an acoustic jam session has been scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday on the exhibit's "front porch."

The jam is open to the public, both for participation and enjoyment. Linda Smith, the Anthropology PhD student who put together research for the exhibit, said her purpose is to show the many uses music has served throughout history.

"People have been playing music for different reasons, whether it was historical - to tell a story or record events - or just for fun," she said.

Although the practice is not widespread, Smith said she has found pockets of people who gather just to play. She hopes the session will allow those musicians to network and discover how many others share their passions.

The exhibit, open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday through Monday, samples and expands upon recordings made by former School of Music professor David McIntosh.

McIntosh visited small Southern Illinoisan towns in the 1940s and 1950s to record songs, poems and games passed down through generations. Many of the elderly interviewees learned songs from their grandparents, dating some of the music pre-Civil War era, Smith said.

William Snyder, the museum's exhibit designer, said reaction to the display has been favorable. Snyder said he was able to make the exhibit more thorough than the museum's budget normally allows because of Smith's grant money and the exhibit's historical and cultural make-up.

"What I was trying to do was provide a very dynamic sort of space - a musical sort of space almost - that has a sense of rhythm to it as visitors walk around the gallery," he said.

The hallway serves as an introduction and historical guide, Snyder said, with Smith's biographical information and depictions of the evolution of recording devices. The display begins with paper and pencil and ends with computer-generated wave imagery of some of McIntosh's recordings.

Snyder said he designed the gallery to have a rustic atmosphere. Images of the towns McIntosh visited hang above the glass cases, creating a large, country porch feeling Snyder said the idea of a porch came to him while on a research trip with Smith in Nashville, Tenn. Smith's friend had recently finished a country house, complete with a porch for musical gatherings.

"They had signs that said, 'Welcome to the pickin' porch,'" he said. "Most of these instruments you pick, like a banjo or guitar, so I thought, 'This is perfect!'"

Visitors can watch the computer imaging, listen to the displayed music or sit on the porch and watch documentaries about River Region folk music.

The jam session has not been the only porch performance. Smith said she has scheduled a number of supplemental shows for the four-month display. Since the exhibit opened, Dennis Stroughmatt, a member of Creole Stomp, and his wife have given a presentation peppered with music, songwriter Candy Davis has shared her songs and Jo Burgess and Garry Harrison, folk music researchers from Indiana University, have presented their findings.

Before the exhibit ends, Mark Dvorak, a member of the Illinois Humanities Council, will present research on American Folk Music on Nov. 2 from noon to 1 p.m. and the Prairie Moon Consort will perform a mix of American Folk music on Dec. 3 from 4p.m. to 7p.m on the porch.

Smith said she chose this project for her dissertation because she wanted to uncover her native area's musical past and compare it to present-day practices that do not get much attention.

"It's stuff you don't really hear about much," she said. "People think it's all in the past, and it really isn't."

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