Building the Field Work Archive: Organizing Oral History w/ Folklorist Derek Piotr

Folklorist and Joel Barlow alumnus Derek Piotr spent the summer conducting fieldwork in Appalachia, documenting traditional songs and stories passed through the generations. Join us as we welcome him back to share new treasures and old favorites. Derek began archiving folksong, poetry, memories, interviews and tales in 2020. The focus of this collection is on the “non-singer”; in other words, someone with no background in musical performance but who can still relate a song or folkloric memory. In this lecture, Piotr will explain his last three years of fieldwork and autoethnography, and will highlight significant recordings from the Archive.
Lyric sheets to key songs collected will be available for an optional sing-along to close the program.