Consent_FieldLog

8/7/2019 Consent_FieldLog

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Folklore Fieldwork Data Sheet Date: ________________*Interviewee & transcription information

participant name

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participant contact information

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background

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interview setting

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topics explored

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1

February 27, 2010

100227

100227_HickmanBarr.WAV [at822 stereo microphone w/olympus ls/10]

Yes, not archived yet [mini dv w/stereo microphone]

(1) Linda Hickman (2) Douglas Barr

(1) 142 Neal Dow Avenue (2) 180 Livermore Ave (1) none (2) [email protected]

Staten Island, NY 10314 (1) 718.420.0822 (2) 718.273.0404

I met Linda Hickman, along with Anna Batcheller, at the Losar Celebration at the Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art on February 13, 2010.Linda, along with her boyfried, talked with me about her flute playing at Irish sessions throughout the Tri-State Area. She is a resident on StatenIsland and is interested in starting an Irish session here on Staten Island. She is well connected to many traditional artists througout New York.When we first met, she told me about her experience playing at Pearly River in the Hudson River Valley. Linda also talked about a session sheattended on Statn Island that she did not really enjoy because of lack of playability of the members of the group. I think they were all beginners.Linda told me about her friend Doug Barr who plays concertina here on Staten Island. After speaking on the phone and emailing, she invited me toher home to talk about possible collaborations with her and Doug. Linda is also a Music therapist

Linda lives in a small apartment overlooking Westerleigh Park on Staten Island. The day I arrived we had just had almost two feet of snowfall. As Iapproached her house I could hear her and Doug practicing. Unfortunately, I could get them to answer the door. I was knocking on the main

entrance of the house and should have been at the back door. After about 15 minutes, Linda finally came to the back door. The apartment was verysmall. The interview was carried out in her kitchen with a stereo microphone. I had trouble with my table stand so I held the microphone in myhand. The refrigerator was pretty noisy. After the interview was completed I video taped Doug and Linda playing a few "sets" of music. The entireafternoon took about 4.5 hours. It was delightful.

I am not sure if these two have any Irish blood in them. They were fantastic musicians and I felt like they were great people to work with. I wonderwhy there are no Irish traditional music activity here on Staten Island. The population of Irish on Staten Island is immense. It seems that there aresome parents that are interested in teaching dance, but not the instruments. However, Linda is really the tradition bearer in this situation. Doug is astudent in many respects. However, he is very interested and energetic about keeping the tradition going on Staten Island. It was interesting whenthey talked about the intricasies of starting a session. It needs to be a very organic situation. I think we are going to move in the direction ofintroducing an irish session to Staten Island audiences.

1. Sessions2. Tin whistle

3. Sets4. Performance vs. Jam vs. Session.5. E.Galway tradition6. Learning from Recordings7. Passing the tradition8. NY Sligo style9. Father Charlie Coen

10. Jack Coen

11. Tony Demarco


11/14

FIELDNOTES:

2

Stereo Microphone (AT822) [tons of refrigerator noise that I was sitting right next to...ouch!--tried to reduce 50 cycle hum].

1. Linda's Musical Background: 25 years on Staten Island. Playing Irish music in DC. Played the

stand up bass in an old time music. She is Swedish and Irish. John McCormick, that was the type

of Irish music. Played in a group and met Peggy O'Neal from Galway who taught dance in DC;

stepdancing and believed in Cali dancing. From a group Celtic thunder w/Steve Hickman. Started

playing at Lou Thompson from the Bronx. Brenda Mulvhill, brought down to Dubliner from New York.They changed the music in DC. They played their Tuesday through Saturday. They introduced to

Father Charlie Cohen and Jack Cohen from New York. The taught her. Jack was her teacher in New

York and Jack Rafferty. Jack was from the Bronx. They are all E.Galway style. The tunes she

plays a lot of are from Jack and E.Galway style. E. Galway vs. Northern style is described

through phoentics @ [00:07:30.585]. E.Galway is slinkier. They use a pickup but it doesn't

dominate. Doug has a hard time describing.

2. Doug Barr Musical background: Been on Staten Island his whole life. Self taught. Teaches high

school orchestral music for 32 years. 25 years he saw Father Charlie Coen got him turned on to

concertina when he was on Staten Island in grade school. Twenty years later, he saw a concertina

on ebay and started teaching him how to play. Father Charlie moved upstate, he taught kids

singing in Gaelic but he moved away. Doug is self taught but grabs workshops. Recordings have

been extremely influential and the people he meets with at sessions. Doesn't have a style,

founding his own voice at this point. Accumulating tunes. Father Charlie got him started. Taught

himself some tunes. Still working on learning and listening.

3. These two met at a session. They live five blocks from each other and go to sessions together.

There are no other music on Staten Island. They carpool together.

4. Sessions they attend. They go to Dempsey's session on Tuesday (intermediate); great for

sharing. It is huge, 30 people. From 8-10 the do round robin (twice). At 10pm all hell breaks

loose. Everybody plays at their own speed. Sunday at St.James Gate in Maplewood, NJ. The

Portherhouse Linda leads a session at Mont Vale New Jersey...very close to Pearl River. Linda and

Rose Flannigan play at Canon's Black thorne in Rockville Center. Not very far on the Southern

State. There is only about 6-8 people, all different ages. Sunday afternoon from 1:30 - 4:30.

She also goes to St. James with Tom Dunn.

5. Culture around sessions: yes, there is a Jersey session and they are a tight knit group. The

Cumhaltas has a big event in Parsippiany, NJ in April. Every night there is a Caili. There are

kids 8 and 9 years old playing all night long. Young kids brought up on the tradition, playing

hour after hour. Pearl River is an interesting place where young families and kids play. There

is a range from 8 years old to 85 years old. These traditions evolved from the communities. Homegrown. Accordians and fiddles. The kids will get together in groups so that they will be in a

group and sometimes go into competition. The bar will hire the kids in Yonkers. Most of the places

in New Jersey, even though it's a bar, it's family. Also, it's great because it keeps kids off the

streets. Learning the tradition in a way that they are proud of. The kids that she teaches are

learning dance, in Long Island or Donny Goldwyn's school in Brooklyn. Learning music would help

their sense of rhythm. To be able to come to a session and have pressure, a certain rigidity. Even

if they just come to listen. Eileen Ward wants to have music on Staten Island. Kids play the

whistles. Find a community where the parents are involved in the music, this is very important.

6. Sessions: Families, Sociality, & Sharing: Patricia has a great style of playing. I think she

has kids. Patricia plays the tin whilstle, and Linda teaches her. Patricia's daughter is Tara.

Patricia was a player and wouldn't teach her kids because it is really tricky. It could change if

she sees her kids play. There are so many opportunities to share the music on so many levels. A

session is a social gathering with music. There are a lot of other things going on at the same

time. Performing is different than a session, easygoing. You try new things. That is what keeps

the tradition continue...experimentation. You have to really listen and adjust your playing, youcan't open a book and play.

7. Settings: Where you got the tune from. Jack Cohen and Father Charlie's settings. Master

McDermott's and Mulvhill's. Her setting are Jack's. There are certain sets that she doesn't

alter. Sometimes Charlie will have different setting than Jack. Where you got the tune from, what

is the setting or version that someone gave to you. The history of the tune and how it evolves.

The settings between instruments are adjusted. I don't know what this means.


12/14

FIELDNOTES:

3

8. Learning from Someone: Music & Memory:

LINDA: [29:00]"The slight variations. Jack and Charlie would talk about where they got this tune.

It will bring back these memories, feelings will come back when you got that tune. If you learn

it from music. Years later people will go into that tune and it will bring back memories. It's

so much more sterile if you are just learning it from music. The interactive thing, it's theinteractive repertoire that we have musically that makes more of an impression on me. The

written music is really a sketch or an outline. but playing with different people you can make

the adjustments."

9. Regulars and Norms: we finished plowing the fields, so, let's sit down and play some music.

In between the tunes. It's a social gathering. If you are a newcomer it is a whole new idea.

People notice if a person walks in with an instrument case. They might say, why don't you sit

down. The idea is always be polite. If someone starts a tune, you usually respect the tempo or

the style they are playing. You always respect the person that started that tune. IT is kind of

a surprise.

10. New York Sligo Style: A northern fiddle style. It was taught by Paddy Reynolds (Staten

Island). There was a core of that style of fiddle playing that influenced Brian Conaway, Martin

Wynne, Rose Flannigan. If you were to go to a house party, and all those old guys, they would

play the same set the exact same way. If the old guys were sitting around, they would play it the

exact same way, the same three tunes, the same pickups. If you went to a party, anybody that knewthat they could jump in. There are famous sets that have been past down(Michael Coleman's set:

the tarbolten, longford collector, the sailor's bonnet). Rose's set, the fiddle plays know all

the changes. Those sets were taught in the Bronx, Westchester, Yonkers. The fiddle tradition is

strong. There isn't a lot. Most of it came in the 1920's, all immigrants, made their sets. Over

the last 50 or 70 years, that tradition has been handed down as far. Mike Rafferty is a big flute

teacher, he has a lot of CD's out. He is a real E.Galway teacher like Jack. She plays with Rose

who plays in the NY Sligo style. The old guys plays, he doesn't change his settings. Recorded

music changes our interaction, 70/80 years ago, you just heard what the neighbors are playing.

The settings don't change. It doesn't matter how others are playing it, it isn't subject to

debate. They are stuck in their ways. Their phrasing is always E.Galway Claire. They are proud of

their traditions.

11. House Parties: they would play the tune but it was different. It showed the different

versions. They play it like they play it from the "real world." You feel like you have to learn

it they way they play it. It's great to play it the way they play it.


13/14

*Transcription

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4

LINDA: [29:00]"The slight variations. Jack and Charlie would talk about where they got this tune.

It will bring back these memories, feelings will come back when you got that tune. If you learn it

from music. Years later people will go into that tune and it will bring back memories. It's so

much more sterile if you are just learning it from music. The interactive thing, it's the

interactive repertoire that we have musically that makes more of an impression on me. The written

music is really a sketch or an outline. but playing with different people you can make the

adjustments."


14/14

FURTHER QUESTIONS:

FURTHER CONTACTS:

5

1. Where will they play on Staten Island?

2. Would a session be successful on Staten Island?

3. Are their other musicians on Staten Island?

4. Where might they receive support?

5. What is Caili dancing?

6. Could we have Patricia Salmon do a talk on St. Patrick's Day?

7. Is there any association with the tune "Staten Island Hornpipe?"http://www.ibiblio.org/fiddlers/STA.htm

8. Paddy Reynolds? A memorial?https://listserv.heanet.ie/cgi-bin/wa?A3=ind0506&L=IRTRAD-L&E=quoted-printable&P=581485&B=--&T=text/plain;%20charset=WINDOWS-1252

1. Wild Goose Pub on Forest Avenue for Sessions?

2. Alba House

3. Hibernians

4. Father Charlie Coen:http://www.nyu.edu/public.affairs/releases/detail/2563http://www.rainbowpromotions.org/guides/stpatty.htmlhttp://www.dailyfreeman.com/articles/2009/10/18/life/doc4ad9f3167dae8729308589.txt

5. Comhaltashttp://midatlanticcce.wordpress.com/2010-convention/Comhaltas Ceoltir ireann (pronounced coal-tis kyol-tory air-in) is an international organization dedicated to the preservation and enjoyment of Irishmusic, dance, language, song and culture. Loosely translated, it means gathering of Irish musicians.

6. Paddy Reynoldshttp://www.johndalymusic.com/paddyreynolds/bio.html

7. Irish American Studies @ NYUhttp://www.nyu.edu/library/bobst/research/aia/collections/moloney/part2.php

8. Irish Arts Center in Manhattan

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