Time travel is one of the more well worn science fiction tropes and it is one that remains immensely popular today. It is not hard to see why. We are a species whose curiosity about the past and speculation about the future drives much of what we do in our work and leisure time. While the technology may not exist to physically transport us backwards or forwards in time, the Arts have long been our personal WABAC (Wayback) machine, able to deliver us imaginatively, emotionally, to the time of our choosing.
Music is one such art that can lift us from the place we are at and deposit us in another time. Alex Steyermark and Lavina Jones Wright are showcasing their own version of time travel with The 78 Project. The project is inspired by the work of Alan Lomax, who traveled throughout America in the early twentieth century, capturing folk music in its raw form. The pair has been marrying the vocals of contemporary musicians with decades-old technology to create something special.
“With just one microphone, one authentic 1930′s Presto direct-to-acetate disk recorder, and one blank lacquer disc, musicians are given one take to cut a record anywhere they choose. What we have found is that the film, music and feelings that result defy space and time, living music inspired by ghosts.”
I personally have a wide range of musical tastes, but it wasn’t until the year 2000 release of the Cohen Brothers’ film, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, that I developed a passion for 1930’s folk music. That soundtrack remains one of my favorites and my love of folk music in general has grown out of that exposure. I discovered The 78 Project through another old device–the radio–when they were featured on a local program on NPR today and I was instantly taken with the idea. That scratchy, tin-can quality (my own poor description) sound is a trigger for me, transporting me to a place long before my time while churning up feelings of nostalgia. It becomes a venue for time travel.
From August 2012 to September 2013, Steyermark and Wright traveled across America, providing musicians the opportunity to make one-take recordings the way it was done more than eighty years ago. The results are something special. They also captured this journey on film and the documentary of their experience, The 78 Project Movie, will premiere at SXSW this March. Although I won’t be at the festival, I am excited to know that the project may be available on bluray/streaming at some point in the future.
In the meantime, you can see video clips from the journey here and listen to audio tracks here. The 78 Project album was released digitally and in vinyl format earlier this month. I mentioned to my wife not long ago that I would really like to pick up a turntable again, perhaps it is my own version of a nostalgic mid-life crisis. I bought the vinyl, so now I have an excuse to acquire the technology necessary to enjoy it.
Music is one of many art-powered time machines. Set aside some time to let it take you away.
(All images copyright The 78 Project)
This sounds intriguing. I will check this out! Thanks for the heads-up!
I thought you would find it interesting, George.
I hadn’t thought of this: Music is one of many art-powered time machines. but it’s so true.
It certainly is for me. Songs from my own past will, of course, transport me right back there, but music that is from, or sounds like it is from, an earlier time will transport me back there to some degree as well.
When I was in the Navy and stationed overseas, on Sunday nights the Armed Forces Radio and Television Network station would play the old 1930’s serials and shows. It was oddly compelling to tune in and listen to the Green Hornet or when they played Orson Welles and the Mercury Theatre on the Air. The acting on those live on air shows was much better than you see today in most TV and films.