Urban Pioneers:Polly Stewart Correspondence, 2004 e-mails

Email archive of Polly Stewart, 2004; includes planning the reunion concert of October 2004 and setting up an oral history interview with Utah Phillips

w oup Wise WebAccess Message Item ~ Mai I Message Close Previous Next Forward Reply to Sender Reply All Move Delete Read Later From: Polly Stewart To: Date: Thursday - June 3, 2004 4:16 PM Subject: Update: 1960's folk-music revival oral history at AFS AN INVITATION TO MEET INFORMALLY AT THE FIFE CONFERENCE NEXT WEEK Thursday, June 3, 2004 Dear Folklorists and Interested Parties- Page 1 of2 Novell. Properties This is to follow up on a posting I sent out a couple of weeks ago about possibly bringing together at AFS 2004 some Utah folk-music revivalists of the 1960's for some baseline oral history documentation and also possibly a concert (this latter would be secondary to the purpose of the initiative and would not have to be at an AFS venue). I thank all of you who responded to that posting. The Fife Conference might offer a good opportunity to recap and to plan further. I realize not everybody is going to the Fife, but I will definitely be there Monday (June 7) and Tuesday (June 8) and Thursday (June 1 0). I propose an informal lunchtime gathering Tuesday, June 8. Let me know if you can meet then. Otherwise, I'll just try to network. Here are the issues as I see them: 1) A historic opportunity to assemble principals of the 1950's and 1960's urban revival in Utah is presenting itself at the AFS meeting in October 2004, though outside the AFS program framework (I did not try for a regular April 15-deadline program slot because I was already obligated to participate in another event, and this year we are limited to just one event). Needed is an informal gathering place such as a hotel room of the type ordinarily set aside for evening musical performances. 2) Though the principals are performers (Rosalie Sorrels, Bruce "Utah" Phillips [and, briefly, Saul Broudy, who later produced a Penn doctoral dissertation on Phillips], Barre Toelken, Hal Cannon, Tom Carter, Polly Stewart and many others), our interest is not primarily in having these people perform but rather in garnering oral-history style documentation of their reminiscences. I was able to consult with Rosalie on May 21 while she was in SLC for a concert and she is provisionally interested in this format and is willing to talk further; I have not been directly in touch with any other performers besides Saul Broudy. 3) We need to identify technical and material resources for non-studio audio (and video?) recording of oral­history narrative and possibly also of singing and playing. 4) Some of the principals will need at least their expenses covered and may require a fee in addition. Money could be generated through a concert, but a paid concert at AFS seems an unrealistic goal at this late date of planning. A public concert in town might do the trick. But who would impresario the concert? Could the Utah Folklore Society take charge of such a venture? Or is another group or person or institution or entity more suited to it? What other resources besides a paid concert might be developed to satisfy money requirements? 5) The USU press may entertain a scholarly book project, targeted for two or three years down the road, that uses the AFS oral-history documentation as a starting point. A book proposal would need to be written quite soon. If such a proposal were written and accepted, the press might be able to provide some kind of financial support for the October 2004 AFS meeting phase. (I have discussed the scholarly book idea with no one except staff at the USU press. It would require much advance work about permissions and the like, and may not be at all realistic.) That's the way I see it for now. I am very insuecure about the mailgroup <utahfolklorists> and do not know if it is sending messages to anyone. Please write back and tell me if you got this posting, if you can or cannot possibly meet for lunch at USU on Tuesday, June 8, and if you think the concert and the book ideas are worth pursuing and what the ramifications might be. Thanks, http://131.118.32.30/servlet/webacc?action=Item.Read&User.context=mvpsVpgulpHu&Ite... 9/2/2004 i i Nise WebAccess Message Item PageL. or ,j RE: October 2004 Oral History and Performance Possibilities Dear Bruce, I write in the hope that this letter finds you in improved health (notice of your health difficulties has been ricocheting around the internet for some time, but I am told that much of the information is obsolete). I've left a couple of voicemails on your phone at home and at No Guff in the last couple of weeks and don't know if you're out of town or what. I do hope you're okay. Here in writing is the proposal I've been trying to convey to you by phone: In recognition of historic movements and of the need to capture the oral history of movers within them, I am capitalizing (you should pardon the expression) on the peculiar fact that the American Folklore Society is meeting in Salt Lake City this fall, for the first time in 26 years, and that an anthology called Folklore in Utah (ed. David Stanley) is being prepared by Utah State University Press for sale at the meeting. A historical rundown of Utah folklorists and folkloristics, this volume should contain way more than it does about the urban folk music revival of the late 1950's and early 1960's, a kind of Golden Age, in which you, my friend, played a central role. My idea is to gather you and Rosalie and others connected with said Golden Age at AFS and record an oral history session for potential use in a future publication to supplement what isn't in Folklore in Utah-or, if a publication is not in the offing, at least for "posterior." Many details remain to be worked out. I have waited to approach you until after making sure I had AFS permission and a venue for the oral history session The Social Justice Section of the AFS, represented by Bill Westerman, desires to co-sponsor the oral history session (the session's main sponsor is likely to be the Folklore Society of Utah, though this is one of the details not yet worked out). A related activity, important financially, would be a public concert in Salt Lake City, the proceeds of which would be divided between you and Rosalie. I ran into Rosalie in SLC in late May and asked her informally if she were interested in such a project and she is. The sponsors wish to remunerate the expenses you and Rosalie (and possibly also Saul Broudy) incur, and on top of that to ensure that you will earn-what? several hundred dollars on top of expenses. A business agent I am not, but the spirit of this offer is that you can contribute significantly to the oral history of an important period. The AFS meeting will be held at one of the downtown hotels (I can't remember which one) from Wednesday, October 13 through Saturday, October 16. I would not be trying to get this program together if I did not have a personal investment in it through my direct experience of the age, and a deep and abiding personal regard for you. Please Jet me know at your earliest convenience whether you find the ideas above appealing and/or possible. We will need to meet a program printer's deadline by mid-July. Please call or write in advance of that if you can do it. Love to you and yours, Polly Stewart >ATTACHMENT part 2 application/octet-stream name=AFS letter to Bruce Utah Phillips.doc Do you Yahoo!? http:/ /131.118.32.30/servlet/webacc?action=Item.Read&User.context=mvps VpgulpHu&Ite... 9/2/2004 / Saturday, June 26, 2004 RE: October 2004 Oral History and Performance Possibilities Dear Bruce, I write in the hope that this letter finds you in improved health (notice of your health difficulties has been ricocheting around the internet for some time, but I am told that much of the information is obsolete). I've left a couple of voicemails on your phone at home and at No Guffin the last couple of weeks and don't know if you're out of town or what. I do hope you're okay. Here in writing is the proposal I've been trying to convey to you by phone: In recognition of historic movements and of the need to capture the oral history of movers within them, I am capitalizing (you should pardon the expression) on the peculiar fact that the American Folklore Society is meeting in Salt Lake City this fall, for the first time in 26 years, and that an anthology called Folklore in Utah ( ed. David Stanley) is being prepared by Utah State University Press for sale at the meeting. A historical rundown of Utah folklorists and folkloristics, this volume should contain way more than it does about the urban folk music revival of the late 1950's and early 1960's, a kind of Golden Age, in which you, my friend, played a central role. My idea is to gather you and Rosalie and. others connected with said Golden Age at AFS and record an oral history session for potential use in a future publication to supplement what isn't in Folklore in Utah-{)r, if a publication is not in the offing, at least for "posterior." Many details remain to be worked out. I have waited to approach you until after making sure I had AFS permission and a venue for the oral history session The Social Justice Section of the AFS, represented by Bill Westerman, desires to co­sponsor the oral history session (the session's main sponsor is likely to be the Folklore Society of Utah, though this is one of the details not yet worked out). A related activity, important fmancially, would be a public concert in Salt Lake City, the proceeds of which would be divided between you and Rosalie. I ran into Rosalie in SLC in late May and asked her informally if she were interested in such a project and she is. The sponsors wish to remunerate the expenses you and Rosalie (and possibly also Saul Broudy) incur, and on top of that to ensure that you will earn-what? several hundred dollars on top of expenses. A business agent I am not, but the spirit of this offer is that you can contribute significantly to the oral history of an important period. The AFS meeting will be held at one of the downtown hotels (I can't remember which one) from Wednesday, October 13 through Saturday, October 16. I would not be trying to get this program together if I did not have a personal investment in it through my direct experience of the age, and a deep and abiding personal regard for you. Please let me know at your earliest convenience whether you fmd the ideas above appealing and/or possible. We will need to meet a program printer's deadline by mid-July. Please call or write in advance of that if you can do it. Love to you and yours, Polly Stewart Group Wise WebAccess Message Item Page 1 of2 fA '{\.A, {I~ ./ Mai I Message II p~ 1 ~ '~~II. Close Next Forward Reply to Sender From: To: CC: Date: Polly Stewart Friday -July 30, 2004 2:06AM , J I IJ Reply All Move Delete Read Later Subject: RE: AFS session: A Conversation with Rosalie Sorrels andUtahPhillips Thursday, July 29, 2004 Dear Rosalie, Properties Thanks for the update (or rather non-update) on the elusive U. Utah Phillips. He's had plenty of chances to respond--1 guess maybe he just doesn't want to participate. Now, my dear, about YOU. I am overjoyed that you are enthusiastic about the AFS project and I can't wait to see you down here again in October. (I am copying this posting to an officer of the Folklore Society of Utah whose services and expertise will be essential if you should decide to give a concert in town.) I want to make clear, though, that we need to be thinking and talking about two distinct and separate events, an Official one and an Unofficial one, while you are here in October. 1) The Official Event is the "Conversations with ... "AFS session scheduled for Saturday morning, October 16 from 8:15 to 10:00 a.m. (yes, alas, a.m.) at the hotel. The format of this is that of a reminiscence and oral history session moderated by me but participated in by you and as many other old (you should pardon the expression) urban revivalists as we can winkle out of the woodwork. This session is to be recorded. The event was inspired by my reading of the manuscript of the anthology Folklore in Utah (ed. Dave Stanley, Utah State University Press, 2004) and my realization that the manuscript contained no information at all about the urban folk music revival as this was played out in Utah in the late 1950's and early 1960's. The reason for this was that no one who contributed to the anthology had any direct experience with the urban revival. The only documentary sources about it were contained in the Harold Bentley papers, but no references therein had struck a spark with anyone because, again, neither the editor nor any contributor had been around to experience the U.R. directly. I realized that that an important historic period was in danger of being erased, and started screaming, and set about trying to gather you, Bruce, and others for a session that could be recorded for possible later use in a scholarly publication that would make up for the absences in the Folklore in Utah anthology. The American Folklore Society meeting was a perfect venue for this. (I am happy to report that because of my Post-Reading Barbaric Yawp, the editor, Dave Stanley, revised his introductory chapter and included some materials about the U. R. from the Bentley papers--a starting point for future scholarship. There was no time to write a full chapter, but that's why we're having the Conversations With session in October in the first place-to create materials that can erof potential use in the production of a potential article or book down the pike.) rl <; "-.) 'ij I....# So the first of these events is to be for talk and reminiscence. The maki otmusic is of course not forbidden, but the Conversations With session is not eant to be a concert in any usual sense. Because it is a part of the AFS meeting, it is not "public"; only payin onference-goers will be in the audience (exceptions can of course be made, and are regular e f.ar sessions such as ours so that particular pfuple can be included in the event, but it is still not a public event). We may be. able to write some grants l9 jl~lp cover R(H1ticipaRts' travel and lodging expenses, butlbe OfficialEvent is not'a-maney-maker, sooooo . . . ""ltT~ Unofficia1 Event,· complete1ye~tyour discretion and completely separate from and independent of American Fotktore Society activities, ·woutd be a pt;Jbl.ic_concert, in tqwn, not at the hotel and not under the aegis of the AFS, whose purpose will be to attract a paying audience and to generate a gate .to en~· what meager moneys we may (or may not) be able to squeeze out of local arts and humafltties granting agencies to pay your expenses for the Official Event. _..... .. . ·- ... -- . '- "" ·~'""'..,____ J http i//131 . 118.32.30/se,ivietJ,webacc~~d&User.context=psozK.ljmkfPq~{t~ . . . 7/30/2004 ,' '• ' Wise WebAccess Message Item Page 2 of2 I infer from our correspondence that you are willing to present such a concert because of its potential for making money. If this is so, the Folklore Society of Utah can start immediately working on arrangements, in consultation with you. Many questions remain to be answered-for example, 1) do you desire a solo concert, or would you like to have others on the stage? As I mentioned in my posting yesterday, everyone else I know who might be in the concert, with the exception of Utah Phillips if he materializes, has a day job and does not need the money from a concert, though somebody may well insist, quite reasonably, on an artist's fee; but I am guessing that as things develop, you will be the principal recipient of the concert's gate, after expenses. 2) The early Saturday morning time for the Conversations With session at AFS may put a crimp in Friday night (or not-), but is there a day and time you think would be optimal for the public concert? 3) Do you know of a particular place or places in Salt Lake City and vicinity that would suit as a concert venue? 4) Do you have a protocol for publicizing the concert that you would like us to follow? 5) What should be ticket price be? There are probably a zillion other questions to be answered here. I wish to reiterate that this second, Unofficial, event is entirely at your discretion because of its potential benefit to you as a moneymaker. Tomorrow evening I will be in Provo at BYU for a 7 p.m. folklife exhibit opening and will have a chance to brainstorm there with an officer of the Folklore Society of Utah who, it happens, has a lot of experience as a concert impresario. I will speak with her about all these things. If you have an opportunity to reply to this posting before about 5 p.m. tomorrow, I can take your posting along with me. Once again, the Official Event is solid as to format and time, but the conformation of the Unofficial Event is fluid will depend on what you wish for it. Let me know. Soon, Polly p.s. I forgot to include my mailing address earlier: >»"Rosalie Sorrels" 07/29/04 10:37 AM>» Hi, Polly .. . I'd be delighted to participate in any configuration you desire. I have no idea what Bruce is up to ... l do know that Joanna's son got married in Hawaii in June and he went there instead of coming to the Kate Wolf Festival. .. l've also seen his name on a couple of Festival bills, but I haven't spoken to him in several months. I'd love to do a concert with you and Hal and Barre or any other of that old lot... can't think of anything better ... l do need to make some money if I can, although I'll be ok if it just doesn't cost me ... perhaps I could cobble together something outside to go with the event. Let me know as soon as it looks to be solid ... love, Rosalie Don't just search. Find. Check out the new MSN Search! http://search. msn. click-uri. com/go/on m00200636ave/direct/O 1 I http:/ /131.118.32.30/servlet/webacc?action=Item.Read&User.context=psozKljmkfPq&Ite... 7/30/2004 Group Wise WebAccess Message Item I .~ Mai I Message Close Next Forward Reply to Sender From: To: CC: Date: Polly Stewart Monday- August 2, 2004 12:07 PM Reply All Move Delete Subject: RE: CORRECTION to 7/29/04 text: Conversation with Rosalie Rosalie Sorrels wrote: »> "Rosalie Sorrels" 08/02/04 09:13 AM »> Page 1 of2 Novell. Read Later Properties Dear Polly ... l think a concert with you, Barre, Hall and me would be splendid .. . ! might be able to bring off something else as well. .. a house concert or something of that nature. I have a friend who has promoted me before down there ... Bbs Delay ... who has a nice show on KRCL. .. she always get a crowd out for me ... and Teresa Jordan (Hal's wife) would probably have some good ideas. I really want to establish myself in the western arena again ... how quickly they forget) and I love getting a chance to do the traditional material. I'm trying to get my Idaho Folklore book reprinted, and this would surely help with that project. Anyway ... count on me ... what are the exact dates so I can explore possibilities in Nevada as well? ... love, Rosalie Monday, August 2, 2004 a.m. Dear Rosalie, Thanks for your reply. I'm copying this correspondence to Ronda Walker Weaver, the person I mentioned earlier who has done a lot of concert production. Ronda and I did confer at BYU last Friday evening and started working on some of the things you mention below. First, the dates. The AFS oral history event at the hotel set for Saturday, October 16 from 8:15 to about 10 a.m. (I can't remember exactly which hotel it is, but it's one of the downtown hotels.) Ronda and I looked at the AFS meeting calendar and we think the best time for the public concert (glad you are okay about including others in the performance. I'm flattered! I'll get in touch with the others. More on that below) will be Saturday, October 16 at 8 p.m. Here are the ~dvahtages: All four evenings of the annual meeting (Wednesday through Saturday) are already committed to conference pro~ram events, but Saturday is the least problematical for AFS meeting goers because $<;!turqay's evening events (the annual banquet and the dance) will cost money. Many AFS mempers balk ~t th~ co~t and do other things on Saturday night anyhow, so Ronda and I got pretty excited Rbout billing your conc~rt a~ ~n "alternative Saturday evening event." We got even more excited as we thought about re'lM9 ~ y~n~~ ~~ch a~ ~liot Hall at the Woifqrian Church, because if it is available (I've inquired and will sooh hear back), and if we are given permission to have attendees bring takeout dinners in, we could construct 1) a little alternative banquet, 2) a concert, and 3) an alternative dance party with a local contradance ensemble, all in Eliot Hall. (Or maybe have the meal and the contradance in Eliot Hall and the concert in the sanctuary.) We also thought about Orson Spencer Hall Auditorium as a concert venue, in honor of the great and glorious concert we gave there in June 1961 , but we would not be able to have the "dinner'' or the dance at that location. I have not yet inquired into the availability of OSH Auditorium. A double plus is that Trax (the local light rail) goes from downtown to the university campus, and AFS people could easily walk from there either to the Unitarian Church or to Orson Spencer Hall. As to a house concert in addition to the public concert, that sounds great too. If you like, I can get in touch with Teresa Jordan, but you may want to develop that on your own. I'm at your service in any case. Ronda suggested I approach Ken Sanders and pick his brain about venues and publicity; perhaps Ken will have some ideas for a house concert as well. I wanted to ask you how you felt about my trying to bring Jim Sorrels into the oral history component of our venture. If you are averse to this idea, it need go no further, but I am bringing it up because of Jim's importance in the history of the folk music revival in Utah. The Harold Bentley papers that Dave Stanley­consulted show you and Jim almost invariably mentioned as a team. I had thought about Jim but did not http:/1131 .118.32.30/servlet/webacc?action=Item.Read&User.context=oxqqMauvckNm&Ite... 8/2/2004 1Wise WebAcc~~~ M~~~age lt~m Page 2 of2 know how his health W<;l~. y,t mY ~~w~~r H~ath~r ~old me she saw him at the supermarket over Christmas last year and he seem~~ Q~¥ t~ h~f, 1 J.fTI not ~~f)ctly sure where he is living now, but this question could be resolved with little ditfiO~IW· ' Let me know how yoy ~i! ~~~Yl. th~l . .I f ~9~. w.. 9 \JI9 prefer that we. proceed without Jim during the AFS program, somebody can ~~~fYI'Yf ~lm ~'P~f,,~ly at some later t1me. Let me know what you think i~~H~ ~~~ \nlf· love, r . p http://131.118.32.30/servletlwebacc?action=Item.Read&User.context=oxqqMauvckNm&Ite ... 8/2/2004 Group Wise WebAccess Message Item Mai I Message Close Previous Next Forward Reply to Sender From: To: Date: Polly Stewart Tuesday - August 3, 2004 9:42 AM Reply All Move Delete Subject: Modified heading: update [Conversation with Rosalie] Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2004 a.m. Dear Ronda, Page 1 of3 Novell. Read Later Properties Thanks for your note. Welcome back! As to your question, please continue to seek out Utah County revivalists. I'm sure Rosalie doesn't mean to exclude everyone from a concert except the people she named. In fact, in my other posting to her I asked if we could seek out her former husband Jim Sorrels. I did see Ken Sanders yesterday and he expressed willingness to help in any way he could. He publicizes his bookstore events principally through his mailing list. For each event he sends out a blanket press release to all papers along the Wasatch Front and finds that the small-town papers are more faithful about printing his press releases than the biggies. I mentioned the same-day publication of the notice about Rosalie's concert in May and it turns out that this is a Tribune initiative and he has no say about when (or whether) press releases are printed. He relies also on local alternative radio stations, mentioning three (KUER and two others whose call letter I don't remember); one of these three has a female dj who is a great fan of Rosalie's (Rosalie mentioned this dj in her earier posting in connection with a possible house concert). Ken suggested the SL County Library Auditorium, which seats 320, and I immediately went to the Library to inquire, but found that the space is already booked for Saturday, October 16. Cheers, p »>"Walker Weaver'' 08/02/04 13:03 PM>» Polly, So do you want me to still contact my list regarding other "revival" musicians? I think what Rosalie has proposed would be incredible. The family reunion and baby blessing were fine - Cedar City was quite a drive and spending time with Scott's ex wasn't a joy, but his children and grandchildren were great. This makes the "other'' bearable. I'll wait until I hear from you to make my next move. Take care, Ronda - --- Original Message --- From: "Polly Stewart" To: Cc: Sent: Monday, August 02, 2004 10:07 AM Subject: RE: CORRECTION to 7/29/04 text: Conversation with Rosalie > Rosalie Sorrels wrote: > >» "Rosalie Sorrels" 08/02/04 09:13AM »> > >Dear Polly ... l think a concert with you, Barre, Hall and me would be >splendid ... ! might be able to bring off something else as well ... a house > concert or something of that nature. I have a friend who has promoted >me before down there ... Bbs Delay ... who has a nice show on KRCL. .. she >always get a crowd out for me ... and Teresa Jordan (Hal's wife) would > probably have some good ideas. I really want to establish myself in the >western arena again ... how quickly they forget) and I love getting a http:/ /131 .118.32.30/servlet/webacc?action=Item.Read&User.conte:xt=ougrMeghoeBi&Item... 8/3/2004 Qroup Wise WebAccess Message Item / Mail Message Close Next Forward Reply to Sender From: To: CC: Date: Subject: Polly Stewart Saturday- August 7, 2004 4:06 PM RE: Updates [Conversation with Rosalie] On August 3, 2004, Rosalie Sorrels wrote: Reply All Move Delete >» "Rosalie Sorrels" 08/03/04 11 :35 AM >» Page 1 of2 Novell. Read Later Properties Hi. .. EIIiott Hall sounds good ... it's too bad to have the capacity so limited but on the other hand ... a full house always feels good. I don't think you need more than four or five on the stage though. If you have Hal, Barre, me and you that'll present a rounded view of the material. most of the people that come to mind are sadly gone like Olive Burt ... Juanita Brooks ... some of the other players ... do you remember any good story tellers? Phillips would be great there, but he can't be the only one ... why don't you ask Hal or Teresa (who is great herself) if there are any good cowboy poets around? This is going to be fun ... love, Rosalie Sat. Aug. 7, 2004 Dear Rosalie, I gather that (despite its limitations) Eliot Hall will be okay with you as a venue. So unless I hear otherwise from you today or tomorrow, I will call the church on Monday and sew up the arrangement. About the seating-the figure of approximately 75 is on the low side, actually. That's how many chairs can be set up in accordance with the existing floor plan, which includes a row of pews set more or less permanently against the west wall. The Unitarian Church staff member I talked with last week sounded reluctant to move the pews for us, but we may be able to persuade her to let us move them ourselves for the evening (into the chapel, say) if we promise to be careful with them; and to configure the folding chairs to accommodate as many audience members as possible. I'll pull all the strings I've got-talk up the prestige of the Folklore Society of Utah and the American Folklore Society (ha ha), play on my family's long-term membership in the church, put the arm on the minister. Your suggestion about keeping the number of singers on the program small is fine with me. I will, though, also ask around about cowboy poets. I will be glad to ask Hal and Teresa, but also am relying heavily on the expertise and knowledge of Ronda Walker Weaver down in Utah county. You didn't mention in your posting how you felt about the idea of a dance party afterwards. May we assume that this is okay with you? It suddenly occurs to me that Ronda and I have not discussed pay for the dance musicians but this may impinge on the amount that comes to you once the rent and other expenses are taken out. However, there are other sources of income that can be used either to pay the musicians or to enhance the amount we pay you. Speaking of expenses-what housing do you usually use when you are in Salt Lake? This like a good time to start building a budget. Also, please do send the press materials you mentioned. Ronda says we should start publicity in early September. More soon, and thanks a million for your enthusiasm. Polly I've pretty well given up on Bruce, who has not responded to any of my calls or letters since June, when he placed a brief call to my mother's number while I was not there-Mom had a nice little chat with him but he didn't say anything about my request-and there was no answer when I ecstatically called back shortly afterwards. I've reluctantly asked the AFS staff to remove his name from the official program. However, he may tum up as the time approaches, and if so we'll accommodate him as best we can. That's about alii know right now. No need to reply if the above is copacetic with you. My next step, aside http:/ /131.118.32.30/servlet/webacc?action=Item.Read&User.context=epvpNk.qreqPm<e... 8/7/2004 .p Wise WebAccess Message Item Page 2 of2 from firming up the Eliot Hall reservation, will be to contact the other potential performers, Hal and Barre (I think Barre is in Austria right now), and to consult with Ronda and Hal and Teresa about cowboy poets. Best wishes, http:/1131.118.32.30/servlet/webacc?action=Item.Read&User.context=epvpNkqreqPm&Ite... 8/7/2004 Group Wise WebAccess Message Item / Page 1 of2 Mai I Message Close Next Forward Reply to Sender Reply All Move Delete From: Polly Stewart To: CC: Date: Monday -August 23, 2004 7:37 PM Subject: AFS: Oral history session and offsite concert: update Monday, August23, 2004 Dear Barre and Hal, Novell. Read Later Properties This is to follow up on correspondence I initiated a couple of months ago concerning an idea that developed after I read the manuscript for Folklore in Utah (ed. Dave Stanley). I had noticed that the manuscript contained no material about the urban folk music revival in Utah during the late 1950s and early 1960s. I thought that a tape-recorded oral history session at AFS in Salt Lake City in October featuring some of the people who had participated in the movement in some way or other could be a step toward documenting the era. In addition, a public concert not under the aegis of AFS would provide money to participants who were making their livings by concertizing. So here are the developments: --The time of the official oral history session at AFS is Saturday, October 17 from 8:15 to 10:00 a.m. at the hotel. I know, it's way early. --The time and venue of the unofficial concert is Saturday, October 17 in the evening (7 or 8 p.m.) in Eliot Hall at the Unitarian Church on 6th South and 13th East, very convenient to the TRAX light-rail system. Guests will be permitted to bring their own food in. There may be a dance party afterwards with live musicians. Due to nonprofit venue restrictions, we will not be allowed to sell tickets for the concert but may request donations at the door. I have received an enthusiastic yes from Rosalie Sorrels, but so far, aside from a brief and cordial and noncommital phone conversation with my mother, no response from Bruce Phillips. I have called his number a dozen times both before and after his enigmatic chat with my mom and have never gotten any answer except from a house-sitter, and I have written two letters besides, all to no avail. It breaks my heart and bruises my ego, but the indications are that for some reason Bruce does not wish to participate. In my much more satisfactory correspondence with Roaslie I mentioned several names as possible co­participanUperformers. Rosalie did not want to be in the same space as her former husband, but she did express enthusiasm about sharing a stage with Barre and Hal and Polly. That's what I'm writing you both about now. Back a couple of months ago I got the impression from each oth you that you would be interested in this venture, and now I'm asking two quesitons: 1) Are you willing to participate in the oral history session and in the concert? (Tim Lloyd has cleared the way for you to participate in this session even though you may already have a spot in some other session; Tim explained that he just didn't want people making five or six appearances because that creates a scheduling nightmare. I fully acknowledge that the timing of both events is not altogether wonderful; the Saturday a.m. session's disadvantage is self-explanatory; the Saturday evening concert in town will conflict with the dinner portion of the official Saturday night AFS dinner-dance offering. However, there is something to be said for providing an attractive alternative to the official event, because many people don't want to go to that but do want something to do. 2) Are you willing to have the after-expenses proceeds of the concert go exclusively to Rosalie, inasmuch as Rosalie is the only one among us who depends upon concert proceeds for her livelihood? That sounds a little blunt, I guess, but money is something we should all need to agree about in advance. So that's what I'm proposing. Please let me know if you can do both events, or if only one event, which one. If you have problems with the arrangements, perhaps we can iron them out this far in advance. Polly http:/ 1131 .118.32.30/servlet/webacc?action=Item.Read&User.context=ftinSnjnniGm&Item... 8/23/2004 JupWise WebAccess Message Item Page 2 of2 p.s. I'm copying this posting to Ronda Walker Weaver, Vice-President of the Folklore Society of Utah and a music event impresario with much experience, who has very kindly volunteered to help make this project fly. http:/1131.118.32.30/servlet/webacc?action=Item.Read&User.context=ftinSnjnniGm&Item... 8/23/2004 Group Wise WebAccess Message Item Mail Message Close Next Forward Reply to Sender From: To: CC: Date: Subject: Polly Stewart Thursday - September 2, 2004 1 :29 PM Funding request background information September 2, 2004 Anthony Radich Western States Arts Federation Dear Mr. Radich, Page 1 of2 Novell. Reply All Move Delete Read Later Properties This is to follow up on the phone call that Elaine Thatcher placed to you yesterday afternoon. I represent the folk arts initiative about which she was calling. Our request is for $1 ,000, though we will be grateful for any amount of financial support you may be able to provide. The initiative is a dual performance event scheduled in Salt Lake City on October 16, 2004, to be headlined by participants in the "urban folk music revival" in Utah of the late 1950's and early 1960's-first, a morning taped session of personal reminiscences at the annual meeting of the American Folklore Society (AFS), and second, an evening folk music concert in town. These events constitute the opening part of a long-term plan for a critical and cultural study of the Urban Revival era as played out in Utah during the late 1950s and early 1960s. To explain briefly the long-term plan (with the proviso that we are requesting funding only for the dual event named above): it began forming in January 2004 when, as a manuscript reader for Utah State University Press, I looked at _Folklore in Utah_, an anthology about folk arts study in Utah. (The book's debut is to be in October 2004 at the AFS annual meeting in Salt Lake.) Although some of the volume's contributors, through archival research, were able to offer bits and pieces of information about the urban revival era, no contributor had any direct connection with it and nothing in the manuscript provided any sense of either the impact that the urban revival had had upon the Utah cultural landscape in the late 1950s and early 1960s or of the role that it had played as a kind of microcosm of the artistic and expressive scene that was soon to rock the nation as a whole. (I noticed the absence in the book manuscript because I myself had participated in the Utah folk music scene in those days.) January 2004 was too late for augmenting the manuscript {the volume's editor, David Stanley, did valiantly add relevant material to his introductory essay), but it was possible to envision a long-term project that might eventually fill the gap. Many of the Utah scene's principal folk music performers are still living, most significantly Rosalie Sorrels of Idaho and Bruce "Utah" Phillips of California, as well as Hal Cannon in Salt Lake City and others. I set up the oral history tape session at the AFS meeting in October, which if all goes well will include the three mentioned above, myself, and Barre Toelken of Logan, Utah, a bit of a latecomer to the scene (1964) but an important contributor to it nonetheless. The evening concert of folk music is needed not only because Rosalie and Utah have devoted followings here and would disappoint their fans if they did not perform, but also because they are professional artists with fees, and a concert would help defray the expense we will incur in bringing them to the AFS meeting. However, we are in need of resources besides the gate. Thus we are writing to you. We are, in addition, seeking cash donations from the Folklore Society of Utah and from private sources, and are appleaing to a large number of local groups and media organizations for in­kind assistance. I will be glad to answer any questions you may have about the project or about my own qualifications to head it (beyond my 24-year colleagueship with Elaine Thather). I can be reached in any of the ways indicated below. My fervent thanks in advance for any help you may be able to provide. Sincerely yours, Polly Stewart http:/ /131.118.32.30/servlet/webacc?action=Item.Read&User.context=mvps VpgulpHu&Ite... 9/2/2004 Group Wise WebAccess Message Item / Mai I Message Close From: To: Next Forward Reply to Sender Polly Stewart Reply All Date: Subject: Tuesday- September 14, 2004 11:16 AM Curiouser and Curiouser: An update Tuesday, September 14, 2004 a.m. RE: Variables, AFS oral history initiative, Salt Lake City meeting Dear Rosalie, Move Delete Read Later Page 1 of2 Properties Print View \ I ~- (.. )..o~ • 341 -J9ll- 3 3' An update is in order. There's much to be cheery about, but I must ask you for your help in making some decisions to accommodate certain changes in the picture. I'm going to Line out everything in writing, then will call you this afternoon to consult on the phone. Background: In the spring of 2004 I started trying to set up an oral history session at the Salt Lake City AFS meeting of October 2004 that might serve as the starting point for a project to make up for material largely missing from Folklore in Utah, an anthology prepared by Utah folklorists about Utah folkloristics, to be unveiled at the Salt Lake City meeting. The volume's researchers had access to documentary material about the so called "urban folk music revival" of the late 1950s and early 1960s through the Harold Bentley papers, but I could tell, in reading the manuscript for the Utah State University Press, that no one involved in the project had any direct knowledge of actual events of the era. I knew there were people around who could be the source of oral documentation for future research, and that's what I had in mind when I spoke to you in late May at Ken Sanders' bookstore. We talked about you, Bruce Phillips, and others as participants. We understood that financial compensation for you and Bruce would be necessary, and we thought that a public concert was the way to create financial compensation. So that's what I've been working to set up. Current situation: As I mentioned above, the picture down here keeps changing, but two things are certain: 1) There will be an oral history session about folksinging in Utah during the late 1950's and early 1960's, featuring some of the people who participated in the events of the era, at the American Folklore Society meeting in the Little America Hotel on Saturday morning, October 16, from 8:15a.m. to 10:00 a.m. in the Uintah Room. 2) You will be compensated for your partidpation in the oral histOJY session in the neighborhood of $1000, more or less, depending on how the variables work out. I will unpack these two things in order. 1) Bruce Phillips has not responded to any of my attempts to engage him. (On September 7, following your suggestion and after some latter-day scrambling, I postmarked him a letter offering a package of financial compensation, based upon projected concert earnings, a potential public grant, and potential private donations, to be equally divided between himself and you. Because I had learned that Bruce does ~ an agent thcough whom he had booked a concert in logan in February 2005, I am guessing that he will not respond to the letter and must proceed on that assumption.) So at the AFS session will be yourself, myself as moderator and participant, Hal Cannon and possibly his cohort Tom Carter, and Barre Toelken. Due to his medical condition, Barre will not extemporize but will work from a prepared text, and he will not appear until late in the~ about 9:10 a.nL The format of the oral history session will not preclude the presence of musical instruments to be used in the course of discussion, but it will not be a concert. The session will be recorded, so we will all have releases to sign. I am completely willing to negotiate with you about how your release should read. This is something we can discuss at the time approaches.. 2) About the finances. Here it gets way complicated, with glitches and ramifications all over the place! I'll try to tell it clearly. --Under the assumption that a public concert was the way to earn money, in August we (as you know) hired Eltot Hall at the Unitarian Church for Saturday evening, October 16. We thought we would make a full evening_ of it, throwing in a contradance after the concert, with the option for guests to bring in their own food and drink and offering the event as an alternative event for AFS goers who did not want to attend the AFS dinner and dance downtown, in http:l/13 Ll1&32.161/servlet/webacc?action=ltem.Read&User.context=np6uk1Zncrq5cq4... 9/14/2004 ~ WebAccess Message Item Page 2 of2 addition to publicizing the event through usual means along the Wasatch Front. However, we learned that Saturday night was a poor time for the event because of AFS restrictions. Thursday or Friday night would be okay, but not Saturday night. At this writing, Eliot HaU is potentially available to us on the Friday but not the Thursday~ We have until TODAY to tell the Unitarian Church whether we wish to use Eliot Hall on Friday, Oct. 15. --Meanwhile, two money resources have become available that I did not know about earlier. One of these is a grant from the Folklore Society of Utah in the amount of $500, as compensation for your participation in the oral history session. The other is an AFS Community Scholarship, an award that pays your AFS registration and entitles you to be present at any or aU events of the four~y meeting at the little America and pays in addition an advance cash award which, depending on availability of funds, wiU range from a high of $500 to a low of $100 and out of which you are expected to pay your own expenses as needed. (The actual amount of the award will be known to us by next Monday, September 20.) So right now at least $600 and possibly as much as $1000 witt be available to you for the oral history piece. - A thirrl potPntia! monPy rp<;()urc:e is a $1000 grant application to WESTAF, the regional arts council group in Denver, but this is shaky because we made the ap!)lication on the assumption that Bruce would be with. us and that the $1000 would ~e f:'qually dividPrl hPtwPPn yo1t and RrllrP. I don't know whPthE'r WE'\TAF wiH hP willine ro cntrrt<'lin ow' application now that Bruc~ is out of the pictur~, but this wm be known shortly. I am not counting on WESTA.F, though. --Getting back: to public concerts, two more sources of worry: First, we havP learnf'd thilt thP Unitnriiln (htm:h is planning a heavily~advertised fund~raising folk-music concert (featuring a group I don't know, but I just got back in town) in thP rhapP! on thf' f"VPnine of Sunday, Oct:ohf'r 17. ThP timin£ of this PvPnt is f'xtraorc'liMrily iAAuspidous for us and I v.1sh wF had knnwn ar.niit it earli~r. I just happened to be in church with my mom two days ago when it was annottnCE'd to thP conereeiltion. Sl"rond, WE' hi'!Vf' hPromP IIOE'i'ISY nhont thP rossihi!ity th(lt yow rr-rfnrm;:;nrt> hNE' in town in mid-Septembe-r with th~ Festival of the Book may rut into l he poreniiai iiudienr.e fm a t.ont:F.d in mid­October. --For that reason we are considPring two possihiiitiP<:: One, if the r~mount of compensr~tion that PvPntuiltP<; from grants and awards suffices to your financia~ needs, wiU it be necessary to offer a concert_ at am Two, if a concert is still c!Psirf'l1, wnu~rl ynn bP wii!ine to f'ntPrtr~.in thf' pm:sihi!ity of prP"..f'ntine it on Thi_Jrsc'l<'\y or Frid;ty evening in a muc:h smai!er, mm F ini imai F seii ing such as a private home, for an audiP.nt:e of up to 30 or 40 AFS members. and SLC aficiont~doc; who will havf!' bPPn notified of it priv(ltPiy, not through ruhlirity, and whoc;E' dont~tions t~t thf!' door would be lurned over lo you? These ME." the things I would like to discuss with you by phone this afternoon. l hope to talk to you then. Best, Polly 131.118.32.161/servlet/webacc?action=Item.Read&User.context=np6uk1Zncrq5cq4... 9/14/2004 Group Wise WebAccess Message Item Mai I Message Close From: To: Next Forward Reply to Sender Reply All Move Delete Polly Stewart Date: Monday - October 11, 2004 11: 13 PM Subject: Update on the AFS oral history session and some thoughts Monday, October 11, 2004 TO: Rosalie Sorrels, Barre Toelken, Hal Cannon, Heather Dorrell (Heather in case you are able to attend) Page 1 of 1 Properties Print View FROM: Polly Stewart, AFS session moderator I participant, "A Conversation with Utah's Urban Folk Revival Pioneers" WHERE & WHEN: Saturday, Oct. 16, 8:15a.m. to 10:00 a.m., Uintah Room, Second Floor, Little America Hotel (enter from West Temple between 5th and 6th South; park free under the hotel) 0 Pioneers-- 1 was alas unable to snag Bruce Utah Phillips, Brent Bradford, Gene Pack (of KUER) and Bruce W. Cummings for the AFS session (above). However, any number or configuration of participants will provide valuable information and this will be just the glamorous beginning of an open-ended project to interview people who were on the folk music scene in Utah at some time between the late 1950's and the middle 1960's. What I hope for principally is personal-experience narrative from individuals--"How I got interested in folk music, how I got started performing, what songs may have been present in my family's repertoire," stuff like that. If someone wishes to provide observations or insights or knowledge concerning the larger artistic and political scene in the nation and the world at that time, this too will be welcome. As to format, I will provide a short introduction and then ask you all to say a bit about your experience of the "Urban folk music revival." I do not want to over-orchestrate the session but will nonetneless attempt to get a fairly even distribution of people talking. I believe we will have a panel with 5 microphones. I hope also to have a roving mike in case there is participation from the audience. The mikes will be for recording, not for amplifying. AFS is videotaping our session (among other sessions) and will produce DVD recordings of it for sale. All of us participants will be asked to sign a release form. The materials recorded will be the property of AFS. I or any future researcher will be free to request permission from AFS to use the materials for scholarly projects. Barre will join us at approximately 9:30a.m. and will speak from a prepared text. (If others wish to bring notes, that's great too, but I do not expect prepared texts from everyone.) Because the evening concert (Sat. Oct. 16, 9:30 to 10:15, Sun Valley Room) will be a demonstration of some of the songs and tunes mentioned in the morning session, you may wish to construct a mental or written list of these and center your reminiscences around them. In no case, though, do I wish to direct anyone. Please let your own experience be your guide. This is kinda disorganized, but I hope you have a feel for what I hope will happen. The session will provide materials toward an oral history, but is not expected to be definitive. Please write or call if you have questions, suggestions, or comments. This is all of ours. Best wishes, Polly [e-mail] 801 -842-2306 http:/ /131.118.32.161/servlet/webacc?action=Item.Read&User.context=mtakleSk6go2lf7Km.d&l... 10/11/2004 Novell WebAccess Page 1 of2 Mai I Message Close Previous Next Delete From This Mailbox Delete From All Mailboxes Forward Reply to Sender Reply All Move Delete Read Later Properties From: To: CC: BC: Date: Subject: Polly Stewart Polly Stewart Monday - October 11, 2004 11 :13 PM Update on the AFS oral history session and some thoughts Monday, October 11 , 2004 TO: Rosalie Sorrels, Barre Toelken, Hal Cannon, Heather Dorrell (Heather in case you are able to attend) Print View FROM: Polly Stewart, AFS session moderator I participant, "A Conversation with Utah's Urban Folk Revival Pioneers" WHERE & WHEN: Saturday, Oct. 16, 8:15a.m. to 10:00 a.m., Uintah Room, Second Floor, Little America Hotel (enter from West Temple between 5th and 6th South; park free under the hotel) 0 Pioneers-- 1 was alas unable to snag Bruce Utah Phillips, Brent Bradford, Gene Pack (of KUER) and Bruce W. Cummings for the AFS session (above). However, any number or configuration of participants will provide valuable information and this will be just the glamorous beginning of an open-ended project to interview people who were on the folk music scene in Utah at some time between the late 1950's and the middle 1960's. What I hope for principally is personal-experience narrative from individuals-"How I got interested in folk music, how I got started performing, what songs may have been present in my family's repertoire," stuff like that. If someone wishes to provide observations or insights or knowledge concerning the larger artistic and political scene in the nation and the world at that time, this too will be welcome. As to format, I will provide a short introduction and then ask you all to say a bit about your experience of the "Urban folk music revival." I do not want to over-orchestrate the session but will nonetneless attempt to get a fairly even distribution of people talking. I believe we will have a panel with 5 microphones. I hope also to have a roving mike in case there is participation from the audience. The mikes will be for recording, not for amplifying. AFS is videotaping our session (among other sessions) and will produce DVD recordings of it for sale. All of us participants will be asked to sign a release form. The materials recorded will be the property of AFS. I or any future researcher will be free to request permission from AFS to use the materials for scholarly projects. Barre will join us at approximately 9:30 a.m. and will speak from a prepared text. (If others wish to bring notes, that's great too, but I do not expect prepared texts from everyone.) Because the evening concert (Sat. Oct. 16, 9:30 to 10:15, Sun Valley Room) will be a demonstration of some of the songs and tunes mentioned in the morning session, you may wish to construct a mental or written list of these and center your reminiscences around them. In no case, though, do I wish to direct anyone. Please let your own experience be your guide. This is kinda disorganized, but I hope you have a feel for what I hope will happen. The session will provide materials toward an oral history, but is not expected to be definitive. Please write or call if you have questions, suggestions, or comments. This is all of ours. Best wishes, Polly http://131.118.32.161/servlet/webacc?action=Item.Read&User.context=oy loxe Wp0ko4jg5Mib&I... 3/23/2005 to Nov . .M,2004 Dear Bruce, Enclosed is Folklore in Utah, the book that got this whole oral history project started. I may have mentioned to you that I was a reader for the Utah State University Press last December and I saw that there was virtually nothing in the manuscript about the "urban folk music revival" period (in quotes because it's a highly ambiguous and contested term) of the late 1950's and early 1960's in Utah. It got me pretty exercised and I shared my feelings with the USU Press managing editor, John Alley, who signaled the book's editor, David Stanley, about the absence. It was way too late to do anything except add a couple of paragraphs to the introduction, and these you will find on pages 9 and 10. It isn't anybody's fault, particularly; nobody who did research on the history of Utah folkloristics in preparation of this volume had any direct memory of the period. The only documentary information about it was found in scattered fragments in the U library special collections papers of Hal Bentley. Everything else was completely ephemeral. I realized it would vanish before long unless somebody documented the period via oral-history interviews. So that's what I'm trying to do now. If you will send a map or a set of directions to your place I will be most grateful. I plan to be on the road from Friday, November 26 to Wednesday, December 2. Three of those six days will be mostly or entirely devoted to travel. My trip will be a large triangle, with Salt Lake City, Los Angeles and Nevada City as the comers. My plan has been to travel south and be in LA first (Fri-Sat-Sun), then come north to Nevada City (Mon-Tue), then head back to SLC over the Sierra (Wed). However, if there is a long-range storm prediction for Monday and Tuesday, I may come to Nevada City first and then head south to LA. I hope you enjoy Folklore in Utah. I look forward to hearing from you. Soon, Polly Stewart Group Wise WebAccess Message Item Page 1 of 1 Mai I Message Close Next Delete From This Mailbox Delete From All Mailboxes Forward Reply to Sender Reply All Move Delete Read Later Properties From: To: Date: Subject: Polly Stewart Friday- November 19, 2004 10:17 AM RE: Thanks to everyone, and what do we do next Fri. 11.19.04 Dear Rosalie, Thanks much for writing. Yes, wasn't it a great time at AFS? Print View I'm driving to California the day after Thanksgiving to interview Bruce Phillips. After Christmas it will be time to take stock, review the Phillips interview tape and the tapes we made at AFS, and confer about a possible trip to Idaho for further interviews with you. At some time I would like to brainstorm all possible names of people connected in any with the era of the late 1950's and early 1960's--Wes Bowen, e.g., who died last year, as well as Gene Pack and others. I would like also to make arrangements to visit Jim in Arizona for his memories and possibly for copies of the I FMC newsletter (he may have retained some of them since he had them typed by his secretary at the phone company.) The time will eventually come for gathering all possible material artifacts (for example, Dave Stanley found among the Bentley papers a copy of the poster you created for the big June 1961 concert at Orson Spencer Hall Auditorium on campus). If you have paper or photographs from those days, I can probably arrange to scan the material at some future time. More follows, then, after New Year's. Hope your tour meanwhile will have been full of good experiences. My best to you. love, p » >"Rosalie Sorrels" 11/18/04 7:43PM>» http://131 .118.32.161/servlet/webacc?action=Item.Read&User.context=fkdivOPbciv3dqaBq6&It... 11/19/2004