JOHNSON CITY – To help commemorate Black History Month, two albums produced and curated by East Tennessee State University’s Dr. Ted Olson will be released later this month.
“Birthright: A Black Roots Music Compendium” and “Satan Is Busy in Knoxville: Revisiting the Knoxville Sessions, 1929-1930” will also be the subject of a listening session on Feb. 17 at noon at The Reece Museum on ETSU’s main campus.
“These two albums are primarily intended to introduce significant recordings of Black roots music to new listeners, but even those familiar with the musicians on the albums will marvel at the state-of-the-art sound on both albums and will appreciate the albums’ newly researched liner notes, which present the historical contexts for all of the recordings,” said Olson, a professor of Appalachian Studies and Bluegrass, Old-Time and Roots Music Studies at ETSU.
Taken together, these albums aim to increase the public’s awareness of the lasting influence of Black roots music throughout Appalachia.
“The Knoxville sessions album, featuring revelatory essays by Knoxville historians Jack Neely and Sparky Rucker alongside my track-by-track notes, explores the major role of such Black musicians as Howard Armstrong, Carl Martin and Leola Manning in influencing the evolution of Appalachian music,” Olson said. “‘Birthright’ is a two-CD set offering 40 key recordings of Black music by well-known as well as overlooked Black musicians from across the U.S. That album, which I co-produced and co-curated with Grammy Award-winning producer Scott Billington and which includes powerful and moving essays by Corey Harris and Dom Flemons, is being released in conjunction with Black History Month in order to celebrate the essential role of Black roots music in the creation of American music.”
During the Feb. 17 listening session, Olson will share and interpret key recordings from both albums. Audience members will also be able to ask questions. The event is free and open to the public.
For disability accommodations, call the ETSU Office of Disability Services at (423) 439-8346.