Sharp’s Appalachian Harvest
Jeff Davis and Brian Peters
Sharp’s Appalachian Harvest is a special multimedia folk music show researched and performed by England’s Brian Peters and Jeff Davis, of the USA.
Their presentation is devoted to the astounding collection of songs and music made by Cecil Sharp and Maud Karpeles in the Southern Appalachiansover three summers in 1916, 1917 and 1918. The English folklorists had ventured into the heart of the mountains to seek out old British ballads still being sung in remote mountain settlements, and their haul of over sixteen hundred pieces is one of the greatest folk song collections ever made.
In their presentation, Jeff and Brian, two respectedperformers and researchers of traditional song and music,sing and play some of themusical highlights of Sharp’s harvest, accompanied by readings from his diaries describing vividly the hardships and triumphs of song collecting, and a display of his terrific photographs of the singers and of mountain life. The music ranges from old ballads to American breakdowns, dance tunes, children’s songs and gospel, performed by Jeff and Brian on banjo, fiddle, guitar, and a variety of other instruments.
“The best presentation of this kind that I’ve heard in years”. Roy Palmer, folklorist.
Jeff Davis is a singer and musician from the USA with a towering reputation for performing traditional songs and music. A superb banjo and fiddle player, and a singer with a rare touch of authenticity, Jeff’s admirersrange fromThe Copper Family toTim O’Brien. He also has a following amongst the British old-time music community. Jeff has appeared at UK festivals including Whitby, Cheltenham, Bromyard, Fylde and Towersey, and has an equally high reputation amongst lovers of traditional music in the US, where he is an occasional member of Cordelia’s Dad. He was deeply involved with the ‘Songlinks’ project on Fellside Records, and was interviewed by Vic Smith for a feature in fROOTS’ July 2012 issue.
“A consummate singer and musician… a great banjo player and a superb fiddler.”
fRoots
Brian Peters is a leading solo performer of English songs and music, a powerful singer and an excellent player of anglo concertina and melodeon, as well as guitar and mandolin. He is well-known for seeking out unusual traditional repertoire. Brian has played most of the majorUK folk festivals, from Sidmouth to Celtic Connections, and his presentation on the Child Ballads, ‘Songs of Trial and Triumph’ has been highly successful. He also has a very strong reputation in North America, where he has tutored at Summer Schools including Swanannoa and Augusta in the Appalachian region (where he shared songs with descendents of Sharps’ informants such as Sheila Kay Adams), has played many US festivals and concerts, andwas the subject of a major article in the 2012 issue of ‘Sing Out!’ magazine.
“A singer with a compelling style, an accomplished guitarist, a concertina player of repute, and one of the country’s finest melodeon players… a man of considerable talent.”English Dance & Song