Performance Reviews

   Brian Peters and Jeff Davis’s presentation on Sharp’s Appalachian Harvest was a highlight of our concert season. Both Davis and Peters combine true mastery of the material with a rare degree of curiosity and erudition concerning the folksong tradition. Together they took our audience along for the ride as Cecil Sharp and his assistant Maud Karpeles collected some of our best-loved folksongs in the southern Appalachian Mountains during the years of World War I. The duo’s ability to play a wide range of instruments, sing in both British and American styles, and breathe life into the witty words of Sharp and Karpeles added up to a delightfully varied performance, as entertaining as any concert and as fascinating as any history book. The photos of the collectors and singers added visual appeal and extra insight into the lives of the extraordinarily talented yet largely unknown people from whom we got this treasure-chest of song.   

Library of Congress, Sharp's Appalachian Harvest, review by Steve Winick

Tonight Jeff Davis and Brian Peters presented their program of songs and tunes collected by Cecil Sharp from the Southern Appalachians. What made it unique was their focus on the human interactions behind the songs-- photos of the musicians and singers, excerpts from Sharp's diaries, landscape shots-- all intertwined with the songs themselves. What made it wonderful was the unaffected but subtle musicianship-- some evoking Appalachian styles and some riffing on the material in novel ways. The program, at the Library of Congress, was sponsored by the Folklore Society of Greater Washington and it was a smash hit-- if standing ovations and a packed hall was any indication. We were all smiling! ---Lisa Null 

Library of Congress, Sharp's Appalachian Harvest, review by Lisa Null