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Terreno Tejido de Piel

L to R: Cecilia Borasino, Alejandra Ortiz de Zevallos, Holland Hopson, Soledad Sanchez

I’m thrilled to have been invited to work on the Terreno Tejido de Piel project that culminates tomorrow with an installation and performance at Maxwell Hall on the campus of the University of Alabama. The project is led by UA Assistant Professor of Scenic Design Soledad Sanchez Valdez with Peruvian guest artists Cecilia Borasino (choreography/dance) and Alejandra Ortiz de Zevallos (sculpture/fiber arts). I’m providing sound for the installation and performance.

Thursday November 14 2024 5-7pm
Terreno Tejido de Piel
Maxwell Hall
420 Stadium Drive
University of Alabama
Tuscaloosa AL

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Iron Giant at AEIVA

Iron Giant Percussion is now Iron Giant Free Association, and they’re performing Thursday, October24, at the Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts (AEIVA). Iron Giant will perform a set of modular pieces for which they’ve developed their own, unique arrangements. My work (((as reflected in the glimmer of the black pond))) will be one of the pieces to get their treatment. Come early for the reception before the concert!

Thursday, October 24, 2024 6pm
Chamber Music at AEIVA presents Iron Giant Free Association
Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts
1221 10th Avenue South
Birmingham AL 35205
5:30pm reception

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Dance, Verse, Music

The University of Alabama Department of Theatre and Dance presents Alabama Repertory Dance Theatre: Verse this week. Three of my musical compositions are included in the show which also features poetry and choreography by guest artists. Percussionist Jennifer Caputo will also perform.

Tuesday, October 22 – Friday, October 25, 2024
Alabama Repertory Dance – Verse
University of Alabama
Dance Theatre
428 Colonial Drive
Tuscaloosa, AL 35401

Poets

  • Kwoya Fagin Maples
  • Earnest Ohia
  • Halak Pandya
  • Madeline Simms

Choregraphers

  • Sarah Barry
  • Kirven Douthit-Boyd
  • Daphne Marcelle Lee
  • Jamorris Rivers
  • Marcus Williams
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Smoot’s Good Foot

Here’s a funky tune from my recent collaboration with fiddler, Esther Morgan-Ellis. We’ve been working for the last year on a group of new old-time tunes. We’ve performed them in a series of concerts beginning in Spring 2024, and we plan to release a recording of them soon. Here’s a performance of my tune “Smoot’s Good Foot” from our concert at the University of North Georgia, Dahlonega.

YouTube player
Smoot’s Good Foot; Esther Morgan-Ellis, fiddle; Holland Hopson, banjo

Here’s the tablature for the banjo part and a representative melody line.

Download Tablature for Smoot’s Good FootDownload

Notes About This Tune

  • “Smoot’s Good Foot” is in D, played in Double D tuning (aDADE) using the clawhammer style.
  • This is a deeply crooked tune that nonetheless has a great groove.
  • I usually play the quieter, groovier, unpredictable A part as many times as I like, before signaling to move to the louder, straighter B part.
  • Esther and I have been playing “Smoot’s Good Foot” as the closing tune for a set.
  • The tune gets its name from MIT student Oliver R. Smoot, for whom the smoot unit of measure was named. See Robert Tavernor’s Smoot’s Ear: The Measure of Humanity for more.

Give the tune a try, and add a comment to let me know what you think!

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Taking Wilbur Home

I’m headed to Florence, Alabama, today for a performance with poet Hank Lazer. We’ll perform sections from his newest book, As We Vanish from Public View and a variety of other material with banjo and electronics.

I’ll also play a few tunes on acoustic banjo using Wilbur, my Dobson-style banjo. Wilbur was my very first banjo–it was a gift from Margaret Darby. She had kept it for many years in the attic or garage of her beautiful Victorian home in Florence. I named the banjo after her late husband, Wilbur, who she claimed was a friendly ghost in the house.

Friday, October 4, 2024 6-8pm
As We Vanish from Public View
Abraham Rowe Photography
204 Cypress Mill Road
Florence, Alabama 35630