In Adam Hurt’s interview (last January in Banjo Newsletter) about “Earth Tones,” his solo gourd banjo CD, Adam explains his philosophy of balancing respect for tradition with the art of individualizing one’s playing.
BNL: “About Stillhouse, one of my favorite tunes on the CD: it is unmistakably the traditional tune, but you have put your own stamp on it. Can you say more about how you approached this great Round Peak standby and made it not only authentic, but also your own?”
Adam Hurt: “In arranging Round Peak tunes, of which Stillhouse is a fine example, I always make a conscious effort to honor the styles of the source musicians from that community whose versions of these tunes set a real standard, as well as the general musical aesthetic of the region distinct from any one player's individual style. However, I also avoid sheer reproduction of the source versions, as viable and challenging a manner of playing old-time music as this may be. Those venerated musicians played in ways that were certainly inspired by their mentors - forebears as well as their contemporaries - yet their music is largely special to us because it was and is so highly individual and personal: not a direct copy of the music of anyone else.”
“Music, in my estimation, cannot help but be a reflection of the personalities of those playing it, so to engage only in the strictest reproduction of the source musician’s versions seems to me rather inauthentic and untrue to oneself. On the other hand, an arrangement of old-time music that strays far from the source material and sounds completely new and different may be a stronger personal expression of the arranger, but the tradition then feels to me so left behind or ignored that the result can seem disconcertedly uprooted. My approach to arranging Round Peak music seeks to split the difference between these two extremes, braving new ground as it seems appropriate to do so, while respecting my influences through ‘quoting’ musical turns of phrase from particular source versions – which I did at times in Stillhouse by including bits of Kyle Creed’s distinctive take on the melody – or stylistic treatments associated with a given player or the regional aesthetic.”
The BNL interview and the review of “Earth Tones,” in the same issue, are chock-full of valuable insights about old-time music and Adam’s signature clawhammer style.