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Htma Coffeehouse Music

Series

Presents

Trillium Room

Volume 46, Issue 12 December 2012

http://www.bryanbowers.com/

Inside this Issue Page 1: President’s Notes

Page 2: December Area Events / Executive Board Page 3: The Berry Patch

Page 4: President’s Notes (cont.)

Page 5: Watch the Humidity/Temperature This Winter For Your Instrument’s Sake

www.huntsvillefolk.org

The Huntsville Traditional Music Association meets on the third Sunday of

each month Our next meeting is:

Sunday, February 21st 2:00 - 4:30 PM

Huntsville/Madison Public Library Auditorium

Next Meeting

December 16th 2:00 P.M.

Huntsville/Madison Public Library Auditorium

HTMA President’s Notes

I hope the every member of the HTMA extended family had a happy Thanksgiving and is looking forward to a terrific Christmas. We certainly are looking forward to Christmas at our house, both for the holiday and to enjoy a few days off from work at home. This newsletter column represents the end of an era. My present term is ending (after five years of recent service), and I will join the small club of past presidents who are still HTMA members with some relief. Who are the other members of that past-president’s club? They are Ken Hinkle, Joe Berry, and Jack Ellis. I remain dedicated to the association and folk music in general, but HTMA has been in need of more hands-on leadership than I have been able to provide for at least the past two years. I’m looking forward to seeing substantial progress for HTMA with Ellery Curtis as president. He is a terrific guy and a really nice musician, and I’m sure that he will help us get moving in the right direction. I am sure that Ellery will need some help to keep everything going, and I hope that every member he calls on will step up to give him a hand.

(continued on page 4)

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President

Jerry LeCroy 256.880.6234 jelecroy@knology.net

Vice President Jim England 256.852.5740 harpatune@yahoo.com

Sec/Treasurer Pat Long 256.539.7211 plong@hiwaay.net

Publicity Chair Bob Hicks 256.683.9807 hsvfolk@gmail.com

Performance Chair

Jerry McGough 256.883.1392 mltmgb@bellsouth.net

Public Service Chair Jim England 256.852.5740 harpatune@yahoo.com

Operations Co-Chair

George Williams george.p.williams@pobox.com

Webmaster Brian Curtis 256.975.8484 blcurtis@knology.net

Newsletter Editor Brian Curtis 256.975.8484 blcurtis@knology.net

Visit our website www.huntsvillefolk.org

!!!!! NOTICE !!!!!

Yearly HTMA Membership renewals are due January 1, 2013

Just go to www.huntsvillefolk.org and click

December Area Events

New Hope Saturday Night Jam Every Saturday night in December beginning at 6:00 PM

New Hope Senior Center, New Hope Alabama

Harbor Chase Retirement Home December 8th 10:30 AM 4801 Whitesport Cr.; Huntsville, Alabama

Second Saturday Old-Time Jam December 8th 1:00 - 4:00 PM

Alabama Constitution Village, Huntsville Alabama

http://www.earlyworks.com/the-museums/constitution-village

Elmcroft Retirement Home December 15th 3:00 PM 8020 Benaroya Ln. Huntsville, Alabama

HTMA Meeting December 16th 2:00 PM

Huntsville/Madison Public Library Auditorium, Huntsville AL

HTMA Coffeehouse December 20th 7:00 PM

Burritt on the Mountain Trillium Room, Huntsville, AL

Claire Lynch at Jim Parker’s Songwriter’s Showcase December 21st 6 PM

Von Braun Civic Center; Huntsville, Alabama http://www.clairelynch.com/

Regency Retirement Village Gig December 22nd 3:15 PM

204 Max Luther Drive; Huntsville, Alabama

Tangled Strings Band December 22nd 7:00PM

Lowe Mill (Flying Monkey); Huntsville, Alabama

The Folk Mission (Huntsville, AL) hosts intimate, monthly "listening room" concerts with world-class folk / blues / acoustic singer-songwriters. Join us at Straight to Ale brewery for earlier-evening, smoke-free shows with a great community of folks and beer.

Visit http://folkmission.org/

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The Berry Patch

W. C. HANDY

“MR. CRUMP WON’T ALLOW NO EASY-RIDERS HERE, MR. CRUMP WON’T ALLOW NO EASY-RIDERS HERE, I DON’T CARE WHAT MR. CRUMP WON’T ALLOW.

I’M GONNA BARRELHOUSE ANYHOW.”

These words, set to music, were heard on the streets of Memphis in 1909. Edward H. “Boss” Crump was seeking the office of mayor and his campaign hired William C. Handy to attract a crowd with music and then lead the crowd to the polling place to vote. At the polling place, the people who had followed the music were handed a receipt for payment of a poll tax and a five dollar bill for their trouble of voting for Mr. Crump. This scene sets the stage that propelled Boss Crump into a not-so-honorable position of political power that lasted for years and then faded from view. The same scene started a more honorable career for W. C. Handy whose influence continues to this day, and will continue for many years to come.

Handy, son and grandson of ministers, was born in Florence, Alabama. He attended Teacher’s Agricultural and Mechanical College (now A & M University) in Huntsville and, for a brief time was employed as a school teacher. At age twenty-three, he joined a minstrel show as its band leader; this led him to Memphis in the early 1900s.

Handy experienced that “misery of the spirit” that I have heard so many speak of and found release in musical expression. His “Mr. Crump” campaign song was modified and found expression as “Memphis Blues” in 1912. Regrettably, Handy had sold his rights to the song and received no financial benefit from Memphis Blues.

Learning from Handy’s mistake, his “St. Louis Blues” and “Yellow Dog Blues” of 1914, and “Beale Street Blues” of 1916 brought him well-earned financial reward. Handy left a permanent footprint on the road of music, a feat that few accomplish.

Joe

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(PRESIDENT’S NOTES continued from page 1)

There are several things you can do to help Ellery get started at the new job. The first, and perhaps most important step, is also the easiest: just show up. All we really need to do to make our meetings, coffeehouses, or other events successful is to have enough of our members attend that we can all have a good time. Next, let Ellery know what parts of the HTMA operation that are important to you, and what we may need to do to make those parts better. Every organization needs feedback from customers. In a retail business, it seems pretty easy to tell if your customers are happy. They keep coming back, and your sales are increasing. In a non-profit organization, it may be somewhat more difficult to keep score. Your feedback is a crucial part of keeping the organization on track. The most important thing you can do to help Ellery and HTMA continue to succeed is to step up and volunteer your time and energy to help make things happen. Never been a concert Mommy (Executive Producer)? The coming year is a great time to produce a concert with your favorite traditional music artist. Sponsoring concerts is an exciting way to have fun, meet really cool artists, and bring something special into our community. Concert Mommy is only the coolest volunteer job. There are plenty of others. Just ask. Oh – there is one other thing. Please don’t forget that nearly all HTMA memberships normally expire at the end of the calendar year. That would be now. If you haven’t renewed your membership in the past couple months, go ahead and send a membership renewal check to Pat Long right now while you are thinking about it. You might ask where all that money goes. First off, I have to say that not a dime goes to pay association officers or other volunteers. A portion of your membership fees are used to pay our internet service provider for web hosting, and the rest is used for HTMA programs. As much as I would like the coffeehouse series to be self-supporting, on an annual basis we usually run at least a small deficit on that project. The good news about that is that we have been able to pay our visiting artists if not an actual living wage, at least something more than gas money. I feel strongly that it is important that we support the mostly young musicians we bring in as well as we can, and I would not want HTMA to be an organization that will put anyone on stage, as long as they are willing to play for free. Principal goals for our coffeehouse series have been to program really outstanding talent, and present our artists in the best possible environment. I can’t count how many times a performer who is more used to playing in bars has told me how terrific it is to play one of our coffeehouse gigs, for an audience that is really listening. Part of the good performance environment that we strive for is making sure that the sound reinforcement is high quality, with good microphones and other sound equipment so the artists don’t need to struggle to be heard, and everyone in the audience gets to hear live acoustic music at its best. Upkeep on our PA system is the third major expense for us each year. You can make that better, too. We have been planning for a couple years now to upgrade our stage monitor system to provide better monitoring for our performers. If you’d like to help your association make that upgrade happen, please consider adding a little extra donation to the membership check when you send that in to Pat Long. I want to thank all the folks who have kept HTMA going the last five years, when I have spent so much time as president in absentia. Without folks like Lou Beasley, Jim Holland, and Jerry McGough booking the coffeehouse gigs, those simply would not get produced. George Williams and Steve McGehee have faithfully schlepped all the sound equipment back and forth for nearly every gig. Sylvia Williams and now Bob Hicks have kept the publicity wheel turning, along with our trusty webmaster and newsletter editor Brian Curtis. Jim England, even when laid up with a broken leg, has continued to schedule and support our retirement home gigs, usually several each month. And Pat Long has kept on making sure the bills get paid. Without the core team of volunteers taking care of all those chores, the Huntsville Traditional Music Association simply would not exist. With them, we are doing pretty well. Best wishes and Merry Christmas to all my HTMA friends.

Jerry LeCroy

HTMA President

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WATCH THE HUMIDITY/TEMPERATURE THIS WINTER FOR YOUR INSTRUMENT’S SAKE!

Here in the South we normally have more humidity than we need or often want, but in the winter months the humidity sometimes dips below what is safe for your acoustic instruments. Especially if you have a dry heat source, the relative humidity can drop to dangerous levels on those cold winter days! The results of too low humidity can result in wood cracks, weakened glue joints, loose braces, lifted bridges, collapsed backs or tops! One winter, I had a skin-head on a banjo pop when low humidity caused it to become too tight! Also, rapid temperature changes can damage your instruments.

Most acoustic instrument companies control the relative humidity in their factories to 45-55% RH. If the environment of your instrument differs significantly from these levels high or low, it causes stress on your instruments. High humidity causes swelling of the wood and low humidity causes shrinking. A quick change in humidity or temperature is worse than a gradual change. A quality case does a lot to moderate rapid changes in humidity and temperature.

At what levels should one be concerned and how do we protect our instruments? I start getting concerned when my hygrometer reads 30% RH or lower. Also, be careful not to take cold instruments out of their cases until they have had a chance to warm up slowly.

First, get yourself one or more of the compact digital hygrometers on the market. Thanks to the cigar aficionados, there are a number of accurate digital hygrometers in the $20 range. Almost all of them have a digital thermometer as well. You can find them in cigar stores, online and increasingly in music stores. The one I have is about 1” H, 3 1/2” W, ¼” D which fits in practically any case. I also have one on the wall of my music room so I will readily notice when the humidity dips to dangerous levels.

Second, keep your instruments in a quality case during the winter instead of setting them on stands or hanging them on the wall. It is easier to control the humidity in the small space of an instrument case. Again, be careful not to take a cold instrument out of the case too quickly in a warm room. The wood will expand faster than the finish and can cause cracks in the finish (checking).

Third, add humidifiers to your cases and rooms. There are many instrument humidifiers on the market or you can easily make your own from a dampened piece of sponge and a plastic box with holes. Just don’t put anything dripping wet in your case as that could cause other problems.

Following these tips will go a long way in protecting your fine acoustic instruments during the winter months! Also, check out Bob Taylor’s videos on guitars regarding humidity starting with: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GS6GqjP-zMY

Bob White