The recently-published fourth issue of The Sacred Harp Publishing Company Newsletter leads off with Sacred Harp Publishing Company President Mike Hinton’s story about the items tucked into the Bible of his aunt, beloved Sacred Harp singer Ruth Denson Edwards (1893–1978). Buell Cobb shares memories of singings at the Cullman County Courthouse, and an article reprinted from the January 1986 issue of the National Sacred Harp Newsletter features Lonnie Rogers’s and Joyce Walton’s account of a bus trip to the 1985 New England Convention. Another article reprinted from the same issue of the National Newsletter shares Raymond Hamrick’s findings on how singers pitch Sacred Harp music. We have paired it with a new introduction by Ian Quinn, who has recently conducted an extensive study on the same subject. Reports on Sacred Harp singing today in this issue of the Newsletter include Justyna Orlikowska’s account of a month-long trip that took her to the Ireland, Western Massachusetts, and Georgia State Conventions; an essay by Rachel Hall on the making of The Shenandoah Harmony; and an account of the informative and death-defying trip Jason Stanford took to a singing school in South Georgia with Hugh McGraw and Charlene Wallace.
Vol. 2, No. 2 Contents:
- “Aunt Ruth’s Bible,” by Michael Hinton (San Antonio, Texas)
- “The Cullman Courthouse Singings,” by Buell Cobb (Birmingham, Alabama)
- “The Pitcher’s Role in Sacred Harp Music,” by Raymond C. Hamrick (Macon, Georgia), with an introduction by Ian Quinn (Guilford, Connecticut)
- “To Connecticut and Back: Notes from a Bus Trip to the 1985 New England Convention,” by Lonnie Rogers (Ephesus, Georgia) and Joyce Walton (Pisgah, Alabama)
- “The Making of The Shenandoah Harmony,” by Rachel Wells Hall (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
- “‘Take My Staff and Travel On’: A Sacred Harp Journey,” by Justyna Orlikowska (Warsaw, Poland)
- “Road Trip to Roberta,” by Jason Stanford (Bremen, Georgia)
- “Congratulations to David Ivey, 2013 National Heritage Fellow,” by Jesse P. Karlsberg (Atlanta, Georgia), and Nathan Rees (Knoxville, Tennessee)