Mac Arnold wins the
Jean Laney Harris Folk Heritage Award!

Press Release

March 16, 2006

2006 Jean Laney Harris Folk Heritage Awards

A ceremony honoring the 2006 recipients of the Jean Laney Harris Folk Heritage Award will be held at the State House at noon on Wednesday, May 3. A reception will follow at the University of South Carolina’s McKissick Museum. The Folk Heritage Award was created by the state legislature in 1987 to recognize lifetime achievement in the folk arts. These artistic traditions have endured for several generations, many to the very roots of community-based expressive art forms. Recipients are those who have demonstrated excellence in a particular folk art, maintained a high level of artistic commitment, and enriched the lives of people across the state through their unique talents and dedication.

McKissick Museum and the SC Arts Commission administer the awards process; an advisory panel appointed by the Lieutenant Governor and the Speaker of the House selects the winners. The recipients of the 2006 Jean Laney Harris Folk Heritage Award:

Mac Arnold, Blues Music, Pelzer
Lena Allen Davis, Shape Note Music, Anderson County
T.C. Foster, Old Time Fiddle, Laurens
Guy and Tina Faulk, Bluegrass Music Advocacy, Bethera

MAC ARNOLD, Pelzer
Blues Music

One of thirteen children born and raised on a sharecroppers’ farm in Pelzer, South Carolina, Mac Arnold grew up in a world where the Blues was not seen favorably, at least not by his devoutly religious parents. After sneaking to listen to the “wireless” radio of a childhood friend, Arnold fell in love with Blues music, especially the Blues being played in Chicago. In 1966, he joined the Muddy Waters band in Chicago, forging an electric blues style that influenced the growing popularity of Rock and Roll. Performing and recording with many of the greatest blues musicians of his time, Arnold was able to fully merge his Piedmont roots with the national Blues scene. Arnold soon landed a job as a member of the house band for the new television series Soul Train and then became an editor for NBC, traveling extensively to produce national programs.

Returning to his family farm in rural Greenville County in the late 1980s, Arnold did not give up his love for playing the Blues. After ten years and much encouragement by harmonica player and Blues enthusiast Max Hightower, Arnold began performing in earnest. Hightower assembled a dedicated group of musicians that complemented Arnold’s talent and knowledge to form Mac Arnold and A Plate Full O’ Blues. The band produced their first recording in January of 2005 and have since enjoyed a surge in popularity, topping charts at home and internationally. Arnold shares his love and passion for the Blues while providing one of the last links between South Carolina and the early Chicago blues scene. Arnold is able to combine his experiences in Chicago with his rural Piedmont roots to create a unique style in traditional Blues music.

LENA ALLEN DAVIS, Anderson County
Shape-Note Music
Lena Allen Davis, better known as Sister Lena to many, has put tireless effort into continuing her mission of maintaining the rich shape-note tradition in South Carolina. Since 1997 she has devoted herself to the tradition by organizing, teaching, managing, and promoting the Community Workshop Choir in Anderson County. The choir is made up of more than thirty members that come from nineteen African American churches in the county. Davis diligently promotes the shape-note tradition in the choir and arranges practices, concerts, and organized the production of a Workshop Choir CD, “I’ll Sing His Praise.” Sister Lena has expanded her influence of shape-note singing both to the local religious community and to the larger arts community in the state.

The invention of the “shape-note” method of reading music was an important thread in American musical history. Introduced in the late 1700s, shape-note hymn books printed notes with a different shape (i.e. square, triangle, diamond) for each degree of the scale. Associated with the revivals of the Second Great Awakening in the early 1800s, shape-note hymnals were printed throughout the eastern United States, and the method was taught by itinerant singing school masters. In the Southeast, shape-note singing was adopted by both European-American and African-American congregations.

Through numerous performances and concerts at various festivals, Davis is able to raise awareness and consciousness for this uncommon, yet exceptional, singing style. Not only does Sister Lena and her choir sing, they are able to explain the history and social significance of shape-note music. Davis proves she never tires in her pursuit to bring shape-note singing to both the religious and arts community in the state and she is always eager to teach anyone interested in her music, whether young or old.

T.C. FOSTER, Laurens
Old Time Fiddle
T.C. Foster learned the ways of the fiddle at a very young age, often listening to his father play on the front porch for hours at a time. At first Foster would sneak around with his father’s fiddle, but by the age of 17, Foster felt like a natural with the instrument and loved to perform “how Pa would play it.” In the 1930s, Foster found himself working in a cotton mill in Greenville with little time to play. Even worse, he ended up losing his only fiddle in an accident in the late 1930s. Over the ten years, Foster worked hard and was finally able to save up enough for another fiddle. His short bow style of playing mirrored the techniques of many other Piedmont and Appalachian fiddlers at the turn of the twentieth century.

Aside from the short bow style, Foster had a passion for performing a simple long bow on sacred music tunes. Though never having performed on the “professional” stage, Foster and his fiddle have performed with a number of well-known local musicians in the Piedmont. These musicians admire his desire to maintain the traditional styles of fiddling taught to him by his father. Even at his advanced age, Foster has always been willing to teach others the art of his music and has become a master fiddler to many who have been graced with his performances. Foster has long influenced the sounds of the fiddle music in South Carolina and remains today one of the last surviving “old time” fiddlers.

GUY AND TINA FAULK, Bethera
Bluegrass Music Advocacy
Guy and Tina Faulk are considered extended family for countless local musicians and bands that have enjoyed time in their Pickin’ Parlor. For more than twenty-five years, Guy and Tina’s Bluegrass Pickin’ Parlor in rural Berkeley County has offered a Saturday night venue for those who enjoy listening, learning, and performing bluegrass music with traditional instruments. Anyone who wants to sing or play music is welcome on the Faulk’s stage. The enclosed shed that is the Pickin’ Parlor, offers musicians at all skill levels an outlet to share, learn, and polish their skills. While not easy to find the first time, once there most visitors quickly become regulars on the Saturday night entertainment schedule. The Parlor is kept open year round only through personal dedication to the music community and contributions from visitors. Neither Guy nor Tina has tired of their duties to their fellow musicians and friends, and rarely does a Saturday night pass with the Parlor doors closed.

Folks look forward to the musical performances and rituals of the old place on Pickin’ Parlor Lane, and the Faulks never fail to put together a meaningful show. Whether the outdoor jam sessions that precede the bluegrass performances or the music played long into the night, the community relationships built there are as important as the music coming from the singers and instruments. The Faulk’s passion has allowed their Pickin’ Parlor to strengthen the spirit of bluegrass music in Berkeley County, and has welcomed visitors from all over the region to experience the distinctive talents of countless musicians.

The late Jean Laney Harris, a member of the House of Representatives, chaired the Joint Legislative Committee on Cultural Affairs. She was a long-time supporter of the preservation of South Carolina’s cultural heritage. For additional information, contact Saddler Taylor at 803-777-7251 or taylors7@gwm.sc.edu or Craig Stinson at 803-734-8697 or CStinson@arts.state.sc.us.