Kristina Gaddy: "Go Back and Fetch It"

For the first time, this groundbreaking songbook collaboration by music writer Kristina R. Gaddy and Grammy Award winner Rhiannon Giddens makes nineteen examples of early Black Atlantic music accessible and playable for today's musicians, music enthusiasts, and historians. Presenting music from 1687 through the 1860s in modern treble clef and banjo tablature, along with the rich stories behind each song, Gaddy and Giddens take readers on a journey from the Caribbean across the Americas.

Immensely readable for amateurs and professionals alike, Go Back and Fetch It explains the significance of early Black Atlantic music and how the patterns of tunings, melodic lines, and lyrics shed light on the impact that Black American music has had on nineteenth-century popular music, early country, old time, and bluegrass. Each tune pairs with an engaging essay on its historical background and how the tune transformed over time, as well as information about the collector. Deeply researched and carefully approached, this essential source restores the roots of Black music to the musical canon.

Kristina Gaddy will be joined in conversatiion by banjo maker, researcher, and musician Pete Ross.

About the Author:

Kristina R. Gaddy is a Swedish-American writer and author of three books of nonfiction: A Most Perilous World: The True Story of the Young Abolitionists and Their Crusade Against Slavery; Flowers in the Gutter: The True Story of the Edelweiss Pirates, Teenagers Who Resisted the Nazis​ and Well of Souls: Uncovering the Banjo's Hidden History.

About the Moderator:

Pete Ross is a banjo maker, researcher, and musician who lives in Baltimore. Pete is one of the earliest contemporary makers of gourd banjos, ranging from those of his own design to exact replicas of historic instruments. His reconstructions of eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century banjos have been featured internationally in art galleries, movies, documentaries, live performances, and museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Musical Instruments in Brussels.

About the Program:

• Doors will open to registered attendees at 6 pm.
• A local bookseller will be on-site and have books available for purchase.
• Free parking vouchers are available to program attendees who park at the Franklin Street Garage (15 W. Franklin Street) after 4pm. Ask Pratt event staff for your parking voucher prior to or after the program.
• There is no registration required for virtual attendance, simply visit the Enoch Pratt Free Library's Facebook or Youtube page.

Host or Publisher Enoch Pratt Free Library