Bluegrass Jam Along artwork

Kristina R Gaddy - "Well of Souls: Uncovering the Banjo's Hidden History"

Bluegrass Jam Along

English - September 26, 2022 22:00 - 1 hour - 46.2 MB - ★★★★★ - 60 ratings
Music bluegrass flatpicking fiddle tune mandolin guitar backing track practice banjo dobro Homepage Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed


My guest this week is Kristina R. Gaddy, who joins us to discuss her fascinating new book “Well of Souls: Uncovering the Banjo's Hidden History”.

We chat about how she came to write the book and some of the key discoveries she made along the way, in particular the banjo’s unknown history as an instrument of ritual and rebellion.

Kristina’s research in diaries, letters, archives, and art, traces the banjo’s beginnings from the seventeenth century, when enslaved people of African descent created and carried this unique instrument as they were transported and sold by slaveowners throughout the Americas, to Suriname, the Caribbean, and the colonies that became U.S. states.

It’s a fascinating book and, I hope you’ll agree, makes for a fascinating conversation.


To buy the book, follow these links:

US:

https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393866803

UK/Europe:

https://wwnorton.co.uk/books/9780393866803-well-of-souls

To find our more, visit Kristina’s website and Instagram

The film mentioned at the end is The Librarian and the Banjo 

Happy picking!
Matt





Support the Show.

===

- Sign up to get updates on new episodes

- Free fiddle tune chord sheets

- Here's a list of all the Bluegrass Jam Along interviews

- Follow Bluegrass Jam Along for regular updates:

Instagram Facebook

- Review us on Apple Podcasts