Last night I went to the Woodfin Community Center for "Live Bluegrass and Country Music." This event occurs every 2nd and 4th Saturday evening of the month. There is an old hand made stencilled faded falling over sign at the turn that reads: Let's Pick! Live Bluegrass and Country Music. Every 2nd and 4th Saturday at Woodfin CommCen. The music didn't get started until about 7:30, but people were gathering by 6:00. A group of men casually picked old country and bluegrass songs together outside while some women got the serving table together for a cover dish supper. They don't do the cover dish every time- just sometimes. People trickled in for an hour and a half, a lot of them bringing containers from KFC or Bojangles for the cover dish. Some people made homemade food such as deviled eggs; there was also a lot of pork and bean dishes. Anyways, at 7:30 the music started on the stage. Old Hank Williams style country music, country gospel, and bluegrass music. About 90% of the people there were old. People sang along and danced, and the ambience under the floursescent lights was casual. Most of the people seemed to know each other. A group called Alvin Wilson and the Happy Valley Boys picked some awesome bluegrass- they were 4 old men and one young man. God bless the young buck who picks banjo with those old boys. Their high voices were incredible harmonizing with each other. MMC5th and I marvelled at how high they sing, like women...
Anyways, my thought is, when I am old, will the people of my generation gather together on a regular basis to visit and share food, memories and music? What will be the nostalgic sound for people of my generation when we are hobbling around with walkers? Will we take the time to go to KFC and pick up a bucket of fried chicken? Will we have any traditions to preserve? Will we take the time to talk to youngsters and offer to teach them everything we know, as one man last night offered to MMC5th? I guess my best projection is that we will pine for dance music of the 80's- and that we will not look half as graceful as those old hillbillies waltzing to "In the Pines" as we will trying to rock out to "Karma Chameleon."
2 comments:
I am sitting here trying to think of how I will celebrate when I am old. Being outside the US so much has shown me that our culture (the culture of our friends) is a "culture" with common values and practices.
I can think of many activities we can do together in our old age, but singing and dancing is a stumper. I can see myself dancing to jazz, but that's more of an individual interest than a cultural practice.
The other problem is that we move around so much, there is less of a chance we will live with the people we have known throughout our lives.
I have experienced the problem you bring up since Jr. High. How do we celebrate celebrate in a meaningful way? Intoxication and lasciviousness isn't wholly fulfilling. Clubing isn't my thing either. Like shindigs, traditional celebrations in Guinea blend the essential elements of life: community, physical activity, spirituality, history, and fun.
Healthy, intergenerational celebrations play a key role in a culture, and the lack of such an outlet fuels many problems in our nation.
well dd, i'm glad bt has twisted my arm to find your site. i wanna go sing at the wcc. i have no idea what the l.a.n.g. c. is about and am very curious. it was a delightful surprise to run into u n mf at the amazing you know what. blessings of the waxing love moon. miz rivercane r. roundbelli
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