Portfolio > Oil Paintings/Charcoal Drawings_Old Time Songs & Stories

I must give credit where credit is due that Kristina Gaddy’s book “Well of Souls” was the inspiration for my painting “Intersections.” I cannot thank her enough for writing it!

Kristina’s ground-break research and book explores the idea that the banjo was a religious object among its inventors: 17th century enslaved African Caribbeans. She also posits that the banjo’s predecessors, West African Spiked and Semi-Spiked Lutes, were also spiritually significant. In these cultures, the banjo and its predecessors in Africa conjured and contained the souls and spirits of deceased family members and ancestors. Thus, I think--and I think "Well of Souls" says this, too--that the banjo might have been a conduit that conducts spirits (via the banjo neck) into a safe space and place while visiting this earthly plane (into the banjo head, which originally was not a hoop but a gourd and thus more container-like). According to "Well of Souls," containers, too, are spirit-holders.

My painting represents this intersection between heaven and earth. Secondarily, it also depicts my intersection with the tunes and songs of Joe and Odell Thompson, who are dead and who I never met. Joe and Odell hailed from just done the road in Mebane, North Carolina, about half an hour east of Greensboro. Joe and Odell are heroes of traditional black country and old-time music. They preserved and celebrated their ancestors contributions to this musical genre, which until recently had been overlooked and neglected.

I learned a bunch of their tunes from a great banjoist in Mebane, Alan Julich, who played a lot with Joe and was his road manager. I have met many other local bearers of traditional music who played with Joe and Odell. They have shared with me Joe and Odell’s playing style and their stories about Joe and Odell. In "Intersections" I am delighted--and awed--that Joe and Odell descend from heaven to encourage me in my efforts to play their tunes with their characteristic vigor and energy. Joe and Odell Thompson have had a huge impact on my music and my art.

Color plays a big role. The sky is iridescent, suggesting heaven and the domain of spirits, and the secular, earthly plane painted in a very different color harmony, suggests the red clay of the Piedmont of North Carolina. Odell's and my banjo heads are iridescent, which I hope suggests the power and spiritual nature of this marvelous instrument.

Color is symbolic, but also has a distinctive painterly function, that pairs two entirely different color harmonies whose clash I hope will resonate and vibrate like a struck or plucked banjo string followed by an energetic brush or pinch!