September 26-28, 2003
It's not often that you get to hear the sounds of the sea and the songs of sailors in the mountains of western Massachusetts. Blend those sounds with the themes of Maine loggers and Vermont family farmers and you have some idea of what it's like to spend a weekend with these two gifted musicians and storytellers. Their masterful musical accompaniment ranges from Gordon's six and twelve string guitars and his well known trademark the cellamba, a cross between the cello and the viola de gamba, to Margaret's mountain dulcimer and harp zither.
Gordon and Margaret have dedicated their lives to traditional music and the stories of everyday people. They believe each of us has within our lives, our experiences and our communities the seeds of workaday wisdom that can be meaningful and beneficial to others. This weekend is a place for you to tell your story and have it honored by others. Margaret and Gordon will use examples and guidance from their strong oral traditions to help you shape your own contributions. In Gordon's words, "You use what you got. You're influenced by who you grew up with, where you live, your own vocabulary." Come with a piece of your home, or some other favorite place, to share in the form of a story, song, or just a paragraph. You can work on your piece individually or with the group. We might even write a song together.
On Saturday evening, Margaret and Gordon will present a concert together, a rare treat that promises to draw us deeply into the magic of a rich musical tradition that reflects the experiences of a wide variety of ordinary lives with extraordinary stories to tell. Be prepared to be enchanted.
Gordon Bok has been called the "poet laureate" of seafarers by Time magazine and the "heir apparent to Pete Seeger" by Canadian folksinger Bill Gallaher. He grew up in a musical home in Camden, Maine, where he started playing guitar when he was nine. Gordon began collecting sea songs after high school when he worked in the Camden boatyards. During the folk revival of the 1960s, he was a leader in collecting, creating and sharing a wide variety of intensely beautiful songs of the land and sea. Gordon has performed in concert halls, coffeehouses and festivals throughout the world, appearing with the Paul Winter Consort and the Indianapolis Symphony, and has been heard on NPR's A Prairie Home Companion. He has made more than a score of albums, and many other musicians, including Archie Fisher, Liam Clancy and Tommy Makem, have recorded his songs. It's been more than 15 years since Gordon appeared at Rowe and we are thrilled to welcome him back for his first weekend long program.
Margaret MacArthur grew up in the 1930s and 40s hearing traditional music from the mountains of northern Arizona to the Mark Twain National Forest of southern Missouri. Since her marriage and move to Vermont in 1948, she has been collecting songs there and in western Kentucky where her parents settled. Margaret has recorded 10 albums of folk songs over more than four decades, toured nationally and internationally and been featured at many festivals. In 1985 the University of Massachusetts named her a "New England Living Art Treasure" and in 2001, Yankee magazine selected her CD Vermont Ballads and Broadsides as one of their Top 40 of all time. In 2002, she received a lifetime achievement award from the Vermont Arts Council and was featured in two national magazine articles, "Harp Hero" in Smithsonian (February) and "Margaret MacArthur" in Sing Out (fall). We are delighted to welcome Margaret on her first visit to Rowe.
"Gordon Bok and Margaret MacArthur are New England folk institutions and internationally recognized icons at festivals and concert halls. They both focus on songs that tell stories, have a unique gift for pulling jewels from the well of traditional music and contemporary songwriters, and possess a solid repertoire of original compositions." The St. Albans Messenger