“I don’t know what I’m playing. People call it Piedmont Blues. All I just know is music.”
-Warner Williams

left to right: Michael Baytop, Jay Summerour, and Warner Williams (photo credit: Mark Puryear, folklorist at the Arts & Humanities Council of Montgomery County)

“The instrument doesn’t matter at all. You can get the same sound out of a harmonica, a piano, out of whatever.”
-Michael Baytop

Michael Baytop, holding The Bones (photo credit: Mark Puryear, folklorist at the Arts & Humanities Council of Montgomery County)

“Everything that you do with your face and your mouth and body to produce words or singing, it’s the same thing with the harmonica.”
-Phil Wiggins

left to right: Phil Wiggins, Rick Franklin, Eleanor Ellis, and Jay Summerour (photo credit: Mark Puryear, folklorist at the Arts & Humanities Council of Montgomery County)

***THE SIGNAL AIRS FRIDAYS AT NOON & 7 P.M. ON 88.1 WYPR***

(Click here for mp3’s of recent episodes of the show. And PODCASTERS, click here for a link to subscribe to The Signal’s weekly podcast.)

Your hosts for the hour: The Signal’s Aaron Henkin and Maryland Traditions folklorist Cliff Murphy (Photo credit: Shane Carpenter)

From Maryland to Georgia, nestled between the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Atlantic tidewater lowlands, you’ll find the sprawling foothills of a region known as The Piedmont. Its rich soil is perfect for farming, and its musical history is equally lush. Gospel, country, ragtime and jazz, musical traditions black and white, rural and urban – they’ve all swirled together to lay the foundation for a signature musical style: The Piedmont Blues. In this episode of The Signal, producer Aaron Henkin and Maryland Traditions folklorist Cliff Murphy hit the road together and head out to the unofficial headquarters of the Piedmont Blues – a storefront barbershop in Riverdale, Maryland. It’s the local hangout for Piedmont Blues legends Phil Wiggins, Warner Williams, Jay Summerour, Eleanor Ellis, Rick Franklin, and Michael Baytop. You’ll hear them share their stories, memories, and songs in this special edition of The Signal.

HELPFUL LINKS:

Archie Edwards Blues Heritage Foundation – Based across the street from the Riverdale MARC train stop (Camden Line) in Riverdale, Maryland (Prince George’s County), this is the home of the weekly barbershop jam. The Jam is every Saturday afternoon, and is open to the public. The Foundation also offers workshops and concerts, and maintains an archive.

Cephas & Wiggins – This is the official Cephas & Wiggins website. John Cephas passed away in 2009. Phil Wiggins continues to perform.

Eleanor Ellis – Eleanor has a brand new CD out!

Franklin & Baytop – Rick Franklin and Mike Baytop added some nice fingerstyle guitar and bones to this episode of “The Signal.”

Maryland Traditions – Statewide folklife program of the Maryland State Arts Council, whose mission is to discover, share, and sustain our living traditions.

Montgomery Traditions – A Maryland Traditions partner, and a program of the Arts & Humanities Council of Montgomery County. Montgomery Traditions’ folklorist and ethnomusicologist Mark Puryear has worked closely – as a scholar and musician – for several decades with Piedmont Blues musicians in greater D.C. He teaches a course on the Blues at UMD-College Park, and provided valuable guidance and expertise on this project, as well as introductions to the musicians involved.

Patuxent Records – Rockville-based record label, has released recordings by most musicians included in this broadcast of “The Signal.”

Warner Williams & Jay Summerour – Warner and Jay perform as the group Little Bit A Blues. They also have several albums out as “Warner Williams & Jay Summerour” on both Smithsonian Folkways and Patuxent Records.

Uncle Doran of the Parsons Family prepares a batch of biscuit dough while The Signal’s Aaron Henkin keeps a safe distance

***THE SIGNAL AIRS FRIDAYS AT NOON & 7 P.M. ON 88.1 WYPR***

(Click here for mp3’s of some recent stories from the show. And PODCASTERS, click here for a link to subscribe to The Signal’s weekly podcast.)

Three stories to help ring in the holiday season!

• A visit to the home of the Parsons family to witness an annual tradition that’s been passed down through the generations for more than a century – the making of Maryland Beaten Biscuits
• Writer Rafael Alvarez shares a holiday story about Aunt Lola’s kitchen, a place where the aroma of fresh-baked cookies evokes powerful memories of Christmas past
• And storyteller Therese Lynch recounts an ill-fated Christmas ten years ago when her boyfriend met her family for the first time… and everything went as wrong as it possibly could. Therese told her story in front of a live audience as part of the Baltimore storytelling series The Stoop.

Young Erin learns family secrets from veteran biscuit-rollers Christine and Theresa

After being beaten, the biscuit dough’s density approaches that of a neutron star

After 20 minutes in a hot oven, the biscuits come out golden brown

Have a glass of milk or water on hand when you try one of these!

Here’s the recipe for Rafael Alvarez’s Highlandtown Pizzelles:

In my story, Basilio figures out a way to work the pizzelle iron himself, but it can be pretty difficult. Two people are really needed when an old-fashioned iron is in play. As for finding such an iron, try eBay or antiques stores in neighborhoods that were once Italian strongholds. New-fangled electric pizzelle irons are easy to find at Bed, Bath & Beyond or any housewares store.

6 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 tablespoons oil of anise
1/2 tablespoon lemon extract
2 1/2 cups sugar
2 1/2 cups sifted flour

Mix eggs, vegetable oil, anise and lemon extract in a deep pot or bowl. Thoroughly mix in the sugar with an electric mixer, adding flour gradually for proper consistency, which should be thick like dough, not like batter.
Drop a dollop of dough molded into a sphere roughly the size of a golf ball into the center of the hot open iron. Close the handles of the iron and hold them tightly together for about the time it takes to say a quick “Hail Mary” perhaps 20 seconds, or so. Then turn the iron onto the other side and repeat the process. After 20 seconds, open the iron and pluck the cookie by the edges with the tines of a fork.

Hint: Dribble a little oil over the dough in the pot every now and then to keep it moist and to prevent it sticking to the iron, which will ruin the cookie. Makes approximately 7 dozen cookies.