Artist's Statement
Music as Memory
Artist’s Statement. For my capstone, I have written and recorded an EP-length album in order to demonstrate the stylistic versatility of the guitar and the potential for music, an inherently transient and intangible medium, as a form of documentation.
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Question/Issue. How can music be used to remember, memorialize, and/or document?
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History & Distinction. Since folk music is a genre infamous for storytelling, I will primarily look toward two folk and folk-influenced artists that I particularly enjoy, Big Thief and Townes Van Zandt. Townes Van Zandt (b.1944) is a folk artist known for his very melancholic, story-based songwriting. He primarily plays solo with just a guitar, combining both rhythm and lead guitar into his playing style. Big Thief is a folk rock band fronted by the prolific writer, guitarist, and singer Adrianne Lenker (b. 1991). Since 2016, they have released four albums of primarily lyric-based music, all of which embody drastically different sounds. Big Thief is an excellent example of how one writer’s work can be translated into a number of different sonic stylings, and also how solo music can be made into a group effort. In my capstone, I used both of these artists as examples for not only how to write a song, but also how I could translate solo writing into a band and vice-versa.
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Approach. I first began the writing process with an in-depth literature review of folk artists I enjoy, including Big Thief, Townes Van Zandt, Gillian Welch, Joni Mitchell, the Carter Family, and the Mountain Goats, in addition to a literature review of memory and nostalgia as literary elements. Kevin Lewis’ Lonesome: The Spiritual Meanings of American Solitude (2009) was especially helpful in giving me a thematic perception of folk music, especially within the context of the music of Townes Van Zandt, who is a notoriously melancholic musician. I also used Bruno Nettl and Helen Myers’ book Folk Music in the United States: An Introduction (1976) in order to better understand the history and function of folk music in American society, and where exactly my album would be fitting in. In addition to the literature review, I also experimented with different writing techniques, both musical and lyrical, and different genres of music. I looked not only toward folk, but also toward rock and punk, which are two genres that I have more of a familiarity with in playing. I found that the best way for me to write music was to start first with a riff, then add chords to match it, then come up with a fitting lyrical melody, and finally writing lyrics.
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Audience. Although this is a primarily personal project, my intended audience is anyone who enjoys guitar-based songwriting, the mixing of different music genres, and/or folk and folk-influenced music. It will also be directed toward people who have an interest in songwriting but are unsure where and how to start.
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Impact. Though music, especially folk music, is a medium that is easily replicated and meant to be shared, I intend for my capstone to have a primarily personal impact. As a person with a visual artistic background and someone who is finding themself with less and less time and space to create visual artwork, I wanted to explore music as an alternative creative outlet. Not only is music more portable than, say, a painting, it is also more flexible, impermanent, and transient, which allows the artist to alter their artistic body of work over time. I intend for this album to serve as a basis for a future musical repertoire that I can add to, alter, and use to play in front of an audience. Aside from the personal impacts of this project, I also hope that my audience will find some enjoyment or meaning in my work, and be encouraged to start writing music.
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Works Cited Nettl, Bruno, and Helen Myers. Folk Music in the United States : An Introduction. Wayne State University Press, 1976.
Lewis, Kevin. Lonesome : The Spiritual Meanings of American Solitude. I.B. Tauris, 2009.