On Feb. 11, the Bluegrass, Old-time, and Roots Music Studies and the Department of Appalachian Studies hosted a live dance and music event as part of the String Band Summit weekend, where they led participants in square dancing, Caribbean quadrilles and Hungarian dances.
Live music was played by ETSU students, faculty and guests from other colleges such as Berea College.
After enthusiastic feedback from students and professors, what began in 2017 as scholarly panels at the International Bluegrass Music Association located in Rowley, NC, resulted in a stand-alone event.
Lee Bidgood, instructor and coach of the bluegrass and old-time string bands, worked behind the scenes on this event. Also being a professor of study abroad courses, connection between groups of people through music is a crucial role of his teachings.
“I’m excited about ETSU’s role as a center of not just any performance but also for scholarship and for networks and communication that we build in through this music,” Bidgood expressed.
With a range of string-band instruments such as mandolins, fiddles and cello, as well as Hungarian instruments like a güiro and a cimbalom, the event was an exploration of not only Appalachian Bluegrass but also European Bluegrass.
“This is one of the questions that this event pushes on,” Bidgood said. “’What is a string band?’ and ‘is that a category that’s useful to talk about?’”
Declaring it an open question, Bidgood encouraged everyone to explore the depths of bluegrass and European Bluegrass through its instrumental values as string bands and ask what the differences are from wind bands or rock and roll bands.
He also encouraged the exploration of Bluegrass as seen through different cultures such as Hungarian folk, presenting his student Ádám Kōhalmy.
Kōhalmy is an international student from Hungary studying Appalachian Old-time Bluegrass Music at ETSU for two semesters. At the event, he performed Hungarian folk music along with Hungarian dances, playing his instrument, the güiro as part of his exhibition.
“It’s awesome, last night we played at the auditorium and Lee asked us what If we could teach some Hungarian dances too,” Kōhalmy said. “He asked me to play this güiro too because it’s fun, and I said yes it’s a dream come true.”
Excited to integrate different aspects of folk and Bluegrass, the event motivated the unification of what it means to be a string-band lover.
For more information on the program and registration, visit www.etsu.edu/cas/das/bluegrass/summit.php.
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