Bluegrass Ambassadors: The McLain Family Band in Appalachia and the World by Pau

Description: Bluegrass Ambassadors by Paul O. Jenkins Offers the first book-length study of the McLain Family Band, which has spread the gospel of bluegrass for more than fifty years. Interpreting the bands diverse repertoire as both a source of its popularity and a reason for its exclusion from the bluegrass pantheon, Paul Jenkins advances subtle arguments about genre, criticism, and audience. FORMAT Paperback LANGUAGE English CONDITION Brand New Publisher Description Bluegrass Ambassadors is the first book-length study of the McLain Family Band, which has spread the gospel of bluegrass for more than fifty years. Rooted in bluegrass but also collaborating with classical composers and performing folk, jazz, gospel, and even marches, the band traveled to sixty-two foreign countries in the 1970s under the auspices of the State Department. The bands verve and joyful approach to its art perfectly suited its ambassadorial role. After retiring as full-time performers, most members of the group became educators, with patriarch Raymond K. McLains work at Berea College playing a particularly important role in bringing bluegrass to the higher education curriculum.Interpreting the bands diverse repertoire as both a source of its popularity and a reason for its exclusion from the bluegrass pantheon, Paul Jenkins advances subtle arguments about genre, criticism, and audience. Bluegrass Ambassadors analyzes the McLains compositions, recordings, and performances, and features a complete discography. Back Cover Bluegrass Ambassadors is the first book-length study of the McLain Family Band, which has spread the gospel of bluegrass for more than fifty years. Rooted in bluegrass but also collaborating with classical composers and performing folk, jazz, gospel, and even marches, the band traveled to sixty-two foreign countries in the 1970s under the auspices of the State Department. The bands verve and joyful approach to its art perfectly suited its ambassadorial role. After retiring as full-time performers, most members of the group became educators, with patriarch Raymond K. McLains work at Berea College playing a particularly important role in bringing bluegrass to the higher education curriculum. Interpreting the bands diverse repertoire as both a source of its popularity and a reason for its exclusion from the bluegrass pantheon, Paul Jenkins advances subtle arguments about genre, criticism, and audience. Bluegrass Ambassadors analyzes the McLains compositions, recordings, and performances, and features a complete discography. Author Biography Paul O. Jenkins is the university librarian at Franklin Pierce University. He has written numerous articles on old-time and bluegrass music and is the author of Richard Dyer-Bennet: The Last Minstrel and Teaching the Beatles. Table of Contents Family TreeForewordPrefaceAcknowledgmentsIntroduction1. Beginnings2. Berea and Beyond3. All in the Family4. Going Classical5. In the Studio6. Rosemarys Songs7. On the Road8. ""My Names Music""9. In the Classroom: The McLains as Educators10. Celebrating Life and Fifty Years TogetherAppendix A: InterpretationsAppendix B: Solo RecordingsChronologyDiscographyNotesBibliography Review "From humble beginnings in a small Appalachian hamlet to symphony stages around the world, the McLain Family Band has been a torchbearer for the music of Americas front porch. This is a story of a musical legacy, of passion and talent, of kindness and art wrapped in the magic of a family bond." — Michael Johnathon, folk singer"An excellent effort brimming with infectious joy." —Library Journal Review Quote "From humble beginnings in a small Appalachian hamlet to symphony stages around the world, the McLain Family Band has been a torchbearer for the music of Americas front porch. This is a story of a musical legacy, of passion and talent, of kind- ness and art wrapped in the magic of a family bond." Michael Johnathon, folk singer Excerpt from Book Introduction [excerpted] You dont choose your family. They are Gods gift to you, as you are to them. --Desmond Tutu This is the story of a family whose talent, industry, and inventiveness combined to change bluegrass music. First as performers, then as bluegrass ambassadors, and finally as educators, the McLain Family Band has enriched this uniquely American genre and left an indelible mark on both audiences and fellow performers. From their formation in 1968 until their retirement as full-time performers in the late 1980s, the band performed in the United States and more than sixty foreign countries. Family patriarch Raymond K. McLain (1928-2003) arranged most of their songs and laid down a solid rhythm on his guitar. Raymond W. McLain (born 1953) was the bands virtuoso, dazzling audiences with his inventive banjo work and creative fiddling. Alice McLain (born 1956) played mandolin and bass and sang lead in a clear, high voice that recalled the mountains that surround the familys central Kentucky home. Ruth McLain (born 1958) sang and played mandolin but is best known for her innovative work on the bass. Later in the bands career, Nancy Ann McLain (born 1965) played bass, while Michael McLain (born 1967) contributed lead guitar and banjo. The group enjoyed considerable acclaim throughout their career, performing at venues such as the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Lincoln Center, the Grand Ole Opry, and Carnegie Hall. In 2013, the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) recognized the McLain Family Bands many achievements by bestowing on them a Distinguished Achievement Award. Three years later the group received a similar honor: the LEXI Lifetime Achievement Award. This recognition stems from a unique process where both music fans and industry professionals nominate artists who hail from the Lexington, Kentucky, area. Any honors the band received reflect their many contributions to bluegrass music and the innovative way with which they approached it. As I discuss below and throughout the entire book, the McLain Family Band respected the genres traditions, but they were not afraid to experiment and augment the music their predecessors created. The McLains collaborated with classical composers and performed with symphony orchestras. They established a festival designed to showcase the talents of family bands like themselves. The group introduced bluegrass music to thousands of international listeners during their numerous foreign tours. Compositions penned by members of the band display a distinct ingenuity, especially in their lyrical celebration of the powers of music. Their experiences both as classroom teachers and program directors have left a lasting mark on the field of bluegrass music education. And, finally, the groups joyous attitude has impressed critics, influenced fellow musicians, and inspired their listeners. I first heard the McLains in 1979 when my father, an English professor with a penchant for Mozart, came home one day with a handful of LPs. Eighteen at the time, Id grown up with the Beatles and Simon and Garfunkel, so I was familiar with pop harmonies. The McLains, however, combined their voices in a manner altogether new to me. After listening repeatedly to my fathers haul ( Country Life , Kentucky Wind , 7th Album , On the Road , and the Family Album ), I moved on to the giants of the genre--Bill Monroe, Flatt and Scruggs, the Stanley Brothers--but soon realized that the McLains remained my favorite bluegrass performers. I began to wonder what it was about their sound that so intrigued me and why they had not joined the pantheon of bluegrass greats. In 1988, I moved to Cincinnati to take my first professional position at the College of Mount St. Joseph. Now a mere one hundred miles from Berea, home of the McLains, I eventually decided to learn more about the band. After watching them perform at the Carter Fold in Hiltons, Virginia, I decided to introduce myself. When I told Ruth how much her interpretation of "Fair and Tender Ladies" (which they had not performed that night) moved me, she smiled and started singing it to me. As I listened, I noticed that members of the audience were engaging other members of the band in friendly conversation. In short, I learned that the family was just as engaging as Id imagined. After completing a number of other scholarly projects, I decided to more seriously pursue my research of the McLain Family Band by making two-hour drives down I-75 to Berea College. There I began to sift through the family bands remarkably complete archive. During my research I discovered that another scholar, Katie Hoffman, shared my interest, and together we began a series of interviews both with members of the McLain family and with musicians including Rhonda Vincent, Sonny Osborne, and Sharon and Cheryl White. Coupled with the visits to the Berea College archives, these conversations form the basis of the pages that follow. Overview In the ensuing chapters, I explore why the McLains left such an impression on thousands of music fans in the United States and around the world. I use the term "music fans" instead of "bluegrass fans" here because my experience mirrored that of so many others: the McLains served to introduce many of us to the genre. We came to the band enjoying many different kinds of music but left with a new appreciation of one with which we had not previously been familiar. It was the music that Raymond K. McLain described so vividly as containing "the sincerity of the Anglo-Saxon ballad, the hoopla of the minstrel show, the sociability of the singing game, the loneliness of cowboy life, the sass of ragtime, the fervor of the camp meeting, and the pathos of the blues." In order to understand the bands ethos of teamwork and their willingness to take on any challenge, in this work I first explore the familys cultural and spiritual DNA, tracking the educational career of Raymond F. McLain. In chapter 1, I describe his tenure as president of three universities. I then show how his son, Raymond K. McLain, inherited much of his fathers drive by describing his time as executive director of the Hindman Settlement School. It was there that McLain and his wife Betty began coaxing latent musical skills out of their five children. In chapter 2, I describe Raymond K.s move from Hindman to Berea College. After providing an overview of that institutions history and unique mission, I examine the formation of formal bluegrass music education. At Berea, McLain faced the daunting task of establishing the first courses in the genre ever taught at the college level. That he succeeded is testament to his character, determination, and belief that the music merited such attention. I then return to the bands formative years, including their "big break": their discovery in 1971 by Italian composer Gian Carlo Menotti and his subsequent invitation to them to perform at his annual music festival in Spoleto, Italy. A tight-knit group whose togetherness was apparent in more than just their close harmonies, the McLains were one of many family bands to grace bluegrass stages. Chapter 3 profiles the likes of the Stonemans, the Lewis Family, the Cox Family, the Whites, and more contemporary performers such as Cherryholmes and the Wells Family Band. This section of the book concludes with a brief history of the Family Band Festival, which the McLains hosted on their property from 1978 to 1988. Chapter 4 is dedicated to the McLain Family Bands forays into classical music. Composer Phillip Rhodes played an important role in introducing the group to this genre. Rhodes was immediately intrigued by the McLains charm and musicality and struck up a close relationship with Raymond K. As he came to know McLain better, Rhodes hit on the idea of writing a bluegrass concerto expressly for the family band to perform. Much of the chapter describes the composition of the piece, the recording made of it, and performances with symphony orchestras across the country. To conclude this section, I note the bands subsequent attempts to merge bluegrass and classical music and how these innovative projects influenced other bluegrass performers, most notably the Osborne Brothers. The books fifth chapter includes an overview of the bands recordings. I begin by recounting the formation of Country Life Records, the label that the group established in 1972, before examining their early, middle, and late albums in general. Many of the bands early recordings featured songs composed by Rosemary McLain, Raymond K.s sister. Chapter 6 is a detailed discussion and analysis of the nature of her songs and how well they suited the groups talents and outlook on life. One of the bands most important roles was that of bluegrass ambassadors. Chapter 7 details the groups experiences as they toured sixty-two foreign countries from 1972 to 1978, often under the auspices of the U.S. State Department. As early as 1975, Bluegrass Unlimited writer Walter Saunders hailed them as "Americas bluegrass ambassadors to the world." Rhonda Vincent, the current queen of bluegrass music, agrees with this assessment. "They were ambassadors, around the world, for bluegrass music. I dont think they set any limits for themselves. It was almost like their duty to introduce bluegrass, to say heres a music you will love." Many sources inform my account of these tours: letters sent home by family members, missives mailed to Kentucky from foreign audience members, and official reports from embassy staff noting their appreciation. The most important source I draw on, however, is the lengthy diary Alice kept during the bands 1975 tour of Alaska and t Details ISBN1949199681 Author Paul O. Jenkins Short Title Bluegrass Ambassadors Publisher West Virginia University Press Series Sounding Appalachia Language English Year 2020 ISBN-10 1949199681 ISBN-13 9781949199680 Format Paperback Pages 263 Imprint West Virginia University Press Place of Publication Morganstown Country of Publication United States Illustrations 21 black & white images AU Release Date 2020-11-01 NZ Release Date 2020-11-01 Publication Date 2020-11-30 UK Release Date 2020-11-30 Subtitle The McLain Family Band in Appalachia and the World DEWEY 782.4216420922 Audience Professional & Vocational US Release Date 2020-11-30 We've got this At The Nile, if you're looking for it, we've got it. With fast shipping, low prices, friendly service and well over a million items - you're bound to find what you want, at a price you'll love! TheNile_Item_ID:130175155;

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