PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

Project Roots Pairs Folk Masters with Incarcerated Youth

Project Roots pairs Michigan Arts & Humanities Touring Program musicians with incarcerated youth for an eight-week workshop and concert series where students learn to create their own roots music.

(Link here to the lyrics and audio of "Eddie's Choice".)

Artists perform an introductory concert for the entire facility to energize the students and heighten their awareness of roots music, tracing the genre from its West African beginnings to its current influence in hip-hop and rock and roll.

Then, staff recruit approximately a dozen students for a series of six weekly workshops. The students work with the artists and program coordinator to create roots music of their own, writing original lyrics and adapting their poetry to fit the roots genre.

The songs reflect the students’ struggles and triumphs, their hopes and fears. As students turn their stories and feelings into roots music, they learn that they are the latest torchbearers in a musical tradition that – for centuries – has given a voice to the voiceless.

The workshop’s focus is a group exercise where students work together to write a collective song. They brainstorm pertinent themes and ideas and then concentrate on lyrics.

As the students share their contributions, they build respect for their peers and increase their team skills.
The students and artists then take to the stage to perform the group-written and individual pieces at a final performance before the entire facility.

As one Project Roots student said, it was “an unforgettable and life-altering experience.” The program received national attention coverage through an Associated Press story and a Michigan Media radio feature.

MHC has implemented Project Roots at the W.J. Maxey Boys Training School in Whitmore Lake and the Adrian Training School in Adrian. The Council is working to expand the program and pair additional Michigan Arts & Humanities Touring Program performers with other Michigan juvenile incarceration facilities.

Project Roots is a partnership of the MHC and the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs (MCACA). It was designed in collaboration with Michael Ball of the Northfield Area Township Library.

Project Roots was inspired by the Northfield Library’s production of Young Poet Incarcerated, a documentary featuring the poetry of a youth in the Maxey school. Project director Michael Ball chose the student from his on-site creative writing workshop, a library initiative. The student – anonymous, due to state confidentiality policies regarding juvenile offenders – was chosen based on his literary talent and compelling story.

Young Poet Incarcerated was funded by an Arts & Libraries Community Literary Partnership Program grant (an MHC and MCACA program).

WHAT IS ROOTS MUSIC?

The term “American roots music” may not be a familiar one, and requires some explanation. At the beginning of the 20th Century, the term “folk music” was used by scholars to describe music made by whites of European ancestry, often in the relatively isolated rural South. As the century progressed, the definition of folk music expanded to include the song styles - particularly the blues - of Southern blacks as well. In general, folk music was viewed as a window into the cultural life of these groups. Folk songs communicated the hopes, sorrows and convictions of ordinary people’s everyday lives.

Link here to learn more...

ARTISTS

Kitty Donohoe is a “songwriter, storyteller and musician of rare skill” (Champlain Festival News). A performer for over 30 years in the folk genre, Kitty is comfortable with audiences of all ages. Her original Michigan songs, both informative and fun, have become a staple in countless classrooms around the state.

Robert Jones is a performer and teacher of blues, spiritual, and folk music. He hosts Deep River on Detroit’s WDET 101.9 FM, and has taught roots music at the university level.

Josh White, Jr. is a veteran roots music artist who began performing with his father, pioneering blues singer Josh White, when he was four. He tours and conducts storytelling workshops, and has performed at the Kennedy Center, on Broadway and on the National Mall in Washington, DC.

For more information on these artists, link to Michigan's Arts & Humanities Touring Program.

WORKSHOPS

W.J. Maxey Boys Training School
Whitmore Lake, MI
Iteration #1
Artists: Josh White, Jr. and Robert Jones
Project Coordinator: Michael Ball, Northfield Township Area Library
May 1, 2006: Opening Concert
May 8, 2006: Workshop #1
May 15, 2006: Workshop #2
May 22, 2006: Workshop #3
June 5, 2006: Workshop #4
June 12, 2006: Workshop #5
June 19, 2006: Workshop #6
June 26, 2006: Final Performance

W.J. Maxey Boys Training School
Whitmore Lake, MI
Iteration #2
Artists: Josh White, Jr. and Robert Jones
Project Coordinator: Michael Ball, Northfield Township Area Library
September 18, 2006: Workshop #1
September 25, 2006: Workshop #2
October 2, 2006: Workshop #3
October 9, 2006: Workshop #4
October 16, 2006: Workshop #5
October 23, 2006: Workshop #6
October 30, 2006: Final Performance

Adrian Training School
Adrian, MI
Artist: Kitty Donohoe
Project Coordinator: Michael Ball, Michigan Humanities Council
October 5: Opening Concert
October 12: Workshop #1
October 19: Workshop #2
October 26: Workshop #3
November 2: Workshop #4
November 9: Workshop #5
November 16: Workshop #6
November 30: Final Performance