nothin The Vinyl Platter That Changed His Life | New Haven Independent

The Vinyl Platter That Changed His Life

The Connecticut Children’s Museum on Wall Street held a fundraiser concert Saturday night featuring the folk stylings of singer-songwriter John McCutcheon, who performed stories and songs of ordinary people doing extraordinary things.

McCutcheon is a veteran instrumentalist and animated performer, with 34 albums under his belt since he launched his career in the 1970s. His prolific work is made possible by his mastery in a sweeping variety of instruments including the banjo, guitar, autoharp, and several types of dulcimers.

The concert took place at the Center Church Parish House on Temple Street. Families and other patrons laughed along with McCutcheon as he narrated stories from his youth while plucking an open chord on his banjo.

McCutcheon’s opening set told the story of his origins and recounted the first forced encounter with folk music that changed his life forever. (Click on the above video to watch/listen).

He recalled having to stay back after class every day in fourth grade. When asked to write a report on his choice of a music record during one of his after-school sessions. My school had four records,” he recalled, each of which I had already written half a dozen reports on.” But when he visited the library this time, he spotted a brand new virgin vinyl” shining on the record shelves unopened. The album was American Industrial Ballads,” a collection of folk songs of struggle that had emerged out of the coal mines, textile mills, and farms.

With trembling hands, I took this thing back to the fourth grade classroom fired up the old Fisher Price, and for the first time in my life I heard a song and a story,” he said before bursting into a solo on his banjo. Detention was never going to be the same. There were banjos, there was singing, there was victory at the end.”

Jake Dressler Photo

But by the last song I knew something was off …” The song he was referring to was the ballad of John Henry, a black railroad worker who in the 1870s challenged the steam drill to an unofficial competition, and claimed that he could work harder and faster than any modern innovation of his time. Wielding two ten-pound hammers, one in each hand, Henry blasted away at the ground like a superhuman jackhammer and drilled a 14-foot hole while the steam drill only produced a nine-foot hole in the same time frame. He later died of exhaustion. A statue was erected at the Great Bend Tunnel in West Virginia to honor his legend.

The story of John Henry was just one song in a concert that focused on ordinary people doing extraordinary things,” with a special recognition of Sandy Malmquist, the director of the Childrens Museum, who has served children and families for over 20 years.

Paul Wessel, the curator of the event, said he was attracted to McCutcheon for his ability to capture and invigorate audiences. There are musicians who capture people’s stories and create events where you feel affirmed and invigorated,” he said.

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