I have to admit that as I have grown older, the wave of enthusiasm that I enjoy has become more rare. This wave is the force that carries me through paintings, or to write a book, or a poem, a short story, or sparks an adventure of research.
In the past, a visit to a place happened upon while randomly driving the back roads, has inspired me to a few years of volunteer work, as in Bayshore Discovery Project on the Maurice River in Port Norris, Nj.
A visit to a re-enactment battle event has also inspired several years of volunteer work at Red Bank Battlefield (now sadly I am retired from all volunteer work due to back and knee issues).
One of the best sparks to light the fire of adventure, however has always been books. The wonderful books published at the Camden County Historical Society have taken me on countless journeys of exploration as has their web site. In particular, the series including Old Mills and Old Taverns, have taken me many places, and the wonderful piece on old cemeteries published many years back took me all over the place.
All that is to say that the book NEW JERSEY FOLK REVIVAL MUSIC, History and Tradition, by Michael Gabriele has been that kind of book. I felt the excitement in the first chapters as he talked about places I have worked and researched but brought information I had never before run across.
Admittedly, this is my "Year of Music" as I am taking ukulele lessons at Collingswood Music with teacher, Scott Churchman, and have done a series of paintings inspired by documentaries or songs such as a portrait from the late years of Jerry Garcia, and a portrait from a photo I have loved of Billy Holiday to go with a book I just finished reading about her.
Two of the items in Gabriele's book that were surprising to me were 1. the existence of Jenny Devlin, folk song master, who lived in Gloucester City and who was recorded by Alan Lomax in 1938 during his folk music collecting period for the Library of Congress. He recorded 38 songs and poems by Ms. Devlin. I had worked in Gloucester City for over 35 years and had studied the colorful and rich history of this riverfront City for years, but I had never heard of Jenny Devlin before.
2. His chapters on the Martin guitar and the Victor Talking Machine and RCA in Camden were also of great interest to me. I bought my first guitar at a family instrument making shop in the early 1960's in Philadelphia. It was too difficult for me to play with the steel strings which hurt my fingers.
For several years during the decade after my retirement when I worked as a volunteer and as a school visiting history presenter, I worked for Camden Camden County Historical Society and enjoyed their museum countless times. The information on the development and growth of RCA enhanced the superficial grasp I had gained over the years by visiting the museum.
This book is utterly fascinating and fortunately, unlike many works of history, lively and entertaining. I applaud Mr. Gabriele on a book that is not only immensely interesting, but useful as a resource, and has the magical quality of being inspiring! I am all ready to hop in the car and track down Jenny Devlin's homes in Gloucester and to schedule in another visit to the CCHS Museum!
You can get this book from amazon.com, although I bought it at PPA at the Bishop Farmstead on my recent visit there for the Dulcimer concert and books signing.
Happy Trails!
Jo Ann
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