05/08/2024
Hello!
We’re excited to welcome Tim Eriksen to Godfrey Daniels’ stage on Saturday, May 18, for an afternoon Early American Shape Note Singing Workshop and an evening solo concert, with our opening guest Pete Gustavson! If you can attend, we'd love to see you, and please share with everyone and anyone that you think would be interested - please share especially if you can't make it :)
This workshop would be interesting for anyone practicing or studying Old-Time Music, Traditional Early American Music, Traditional Music, Voice, Conducting, Choral Music, Folk Music, Folk Tradition, Music in Film, Arranging, Early American/African American Music History, Voice Techniques, and Ethnomusicology.
The Early American Shape Note Singing Workshop with visiting artist Dr. Tim Eriksen will be based on The Sacred Harp tunebook, first published in 1844 in Georgia, is at the heart of one of America’s most vital homegrown musical practices. Within its pages, “Amazing Grace” meets the toe-tapping “fuging tunes” of early New England, all harmonized for four-part social singing and written in a unique and practical notation system. Dr. Tim Eriksen has been teaching this music around the world for over thirty years, his students ranging from inner-city kindergarteners to the cast of the film "Cold Mountain." This workshop, designed for absolute beginners and more experienced singers alike, begins with the basics of the human voice and group singing and includes an introduction to reading shape-note music, notes on important aspects of history, traditional practice, and lots of full-on singing. No prior experience is required! Facebook Event Links for sharing: Workshop: https://www.facebook.com/events/1299036428149556/ Evening Concert: https://www.facebook.com/events/444252988273581/
For a quick overview of what Shape Note/Sacred Harp Singing is, please enjoy these videos:
• Echoes of the Past: Singing the Sacred Harp https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s52JDzvIEBg
• Tim Eriksen leading a Shape Note Choir during the The Great High Mountain Tour, which celebrated the traditional music of Cold Mountain and O Brother, Where Art Thou? https://youtu.be/UWQDl6cyj2Y?si=sGyXuJFAMg5Ms63P
• Tim Eriksen performing with the Irish band, Newfoundland https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7zEttZP7h4
• Tim Eriksen performing in Switzerland https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_u9F0eLA9xM
Date: Saturday, May 18
Afternoon Workshop Time: 4:00 PM Doors | 4:30PM Workshop
Evening Concert Time: 7:30 PM Doors | 8PM Show
Ticket Pricing:
• Shape Note Workshop $25.00 Advance | $30.00 Day Of Workshop
• Both Workshop And Concert (Discount) $42.50 Advance | $47.50 Day Of Show
• Concert Ticket Only $25.50 ADVANCE | $30.50 DAY OF SHOW
Location: Godfrey Daniels 7 E. Fourth Street, Bethlehem, PA 18015
BYOB: We are a BYOB (Beer or Wine) venue.
Ticket Link for All: https://godfreydaniels.org/event/tim-eriksen-may-18-2024/
Dr. Tim Eriksen – Acclaimed Performer, Ethnomusicologist, Sacred Harp Singing, Multi-Instrumentalist Music Adventurer, and Punk-Folk Pioneer
Apart from being the coolest-looking man in folk song, Eriksen is an uncompromising performer, ethnomusicologist, Sacred Harp singing master, musical adventurer and punk-folk pioneer, who seems to play every instrument under the sun and has shared a stage with both Kurt Cobain and Doc Watson. – The Guardian, UK
Dr. Tim Eriksen is acclaimed for transforming American tradition with his startling interpretations of old ballads, love songs, shape-note gospel, and dance tunes from New England and Southern Appalachia. He combines hair-raising vocals with inventive accompaniment on banjo, fiddle, guitar, and bajo sexto – a twelve-string Mexican acoustic bass – creating a distinctive hardcore Americana sound.
There are very few artists in the same league as Eriksen and fewer who possess the credentials and praise. Known for his interpretations of American traditional music from New England to Southern Appalachia, Eriksen embodies the music he studies. An ethnomusicologist and teacher, he has researched music in New England, and the Sacred Harp tradition. He has also taught courses ranging from American Balladry to Bollywood at prestigious institutions like Dartmouth College, Amherst College, and Smith College just to name a few; however, Eriksen is better known for his work in films like Billy Bob Thornton’s Chrystal and his contributions to the 2004’s Cold Mountain. As a consultant and performer for the soundtrack of the award-winning soundtrack of film Cold Mountain Eriksen was enlisted to teach Sacred Harp singing to the cast by T-Bone Burnett, the producer of the Cold Mountain Soundtrack. Eriksen performed on the soundtrack, singing with Riley Baugus on traditional songs such as “I Wish My Baby Was Born” and “The Cuckoo”, and his solo track of “Am I Born to Die?”. He was then part of The Great High Mountain Tour, which celebrated the traditional music of Cold Mountain and O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Eriksen successfully defended his PhD in ethnomusicology at Wesleyan University in May 2015, having received an M.A. in the same discipline from Wesleyan in 1993, and has served as a visiting music professor at Dartmouth College, Amherst College, Hampshire College, and the University of Minnesota.
His PhD dissertation “Old Folks’ Concerts: The Meaning and Mushrooming of an Antiquarian Music Craze, 1853-1856”, was inspired by the annotated music book of Northampton resident Amelia Clark (1850-1944). His essay, “Old Folk’s Singing and Utopia: How Abolitionist Musical Antiquarianism and Calvinist Eschatology Gave Birth to Science Fiction on the Banks of the Connecticut River” was published in the Massachusetts Review in 2016.
Eriksen has taught college courses including American Balladry, Global Sounds, Film Music from Hollywood to Bollywood, American Music, and Songwriting at Smith College, Amherst College, Hampshire College, Dartmouth College, The University of Minnesota and Wesleyan University. He has also taught in Poland and The Czech Republic and has conducted extensive research on traditional Yugoslavian music. Eriksen also taught a history of shape-note singing “Topics in Popular Music: The Sacred Harp: A 19th Century American “Shapenote” Tunebook” at Smith College.
About Godfrey Daniels:
Since 1976, Godfrey Daniels has been at the heart of Bethlehem, PA’s vibrant live music scene. Godfrey Daniels is considered one of the best listening rooms in the country, where people come to appreciate live, diverse music, and celebrate a rare place where both the artist and the audience rise to the occasion in an intimate atmosphere devoid of distractions.
Thank you!
Kat Moyer
Communications Manager, Godfrey Daniels
Ph: 484.547.3568
Resources: High-resolution images and detailed artist biographies are at your disposal on GodfreyDaniels.org, also linked here in a Google Drive Folder are high-resolution images of the artist: GD_PRESS RELEASE PHOTO_TIM ERIKSEN
Kat Moyer
Communications Manager, Godfrey Daniels
Answer Machine: 610.867.2390 | 484.547.3568
godfreydaniels.org
[email protected]
7 E. Fourth Street, Bethlehem, PA 18036
Immerse yourself in the captivating sounds of Tim Eriksen at Godfrey Daniels, Bethlehem's renowned live music venue. Join us for an unforgettable evening with this acclaimed performer, ethnomusicologist, and punk-folk pioneer. Experience Eriksen's transformative interpretations of American tradition...
