Children of the Heav'nly King: Religious Expression in the Central Blue Ridge (review)

Children of the Heav'nly King: Religious Expression in the Central Blue Ridge Rounder, 1998 CD I506 & I 507, $25.00 Between 1978 and 1979 die Blue Ridge Parkway Folklife Project systematically documented die expressive culture ofan eight-county area straddling die VirginiaNorth Carolina border. From this study comes die material for two cds containing visions, singing, prophesies, prayers, and sermons. Sampling both white and black congregations, and roaming from churches to the baptismal river, the material is broad and deeply personal. Leonard Bryan describes his conversion, Edgar Cassel recounts his struggles with God after being called to be "a fisher of men," and Reverend Robert Akers, despite being exhausted, sings "What a Time We're Living In" because "people could request it tonight and be gone tomorrow and dien I'd always regret that I didn't sing it." A ninety-six-page booklet provides context as well as a comparative discography for the musical selections, which range from lined-out hymns to gospel favorites. Taken together, the material paints a full, coherent, and moving portrait ofreligious expression in the central Blue Ridge. The North Carolina Banjo Collection Rounder, 1998 cd 1439 & I44°> $25.00 From 1787, when a traveler visiting North Carolina made the first known reference to a banjo in the Tar Heel state, to the present day, the banjo has been a persistent part ofthat state's musical history. The North Carolina Banjo Collection, a twoCD set with an accompanying booklet, seeks to provide an overview of banjo Reviews 117 ...