Quick Q and A with Aubrey Atwater
 by Kathy S-B  ·  30 October 2008

Here’s a terrific interview with Aubrey Atwater, one half of the duo, Atwater Donnelly, who will be playing at the me–thee coffeehouse on November 7. Aubrey gives us some interesting insight into the music that she and her husband, Elwood, play as well as glimpses into life as a traditional musician. For additional information about this incredibly talented couple, go to their website. Also check out this video.

What is it about traditional music that sparks your passion?

I think we all have certain kinds of music that we respond to more than others. Maybe it has to do with culture and past lives (!) . . . who knows! But all I know is that in my young years whether is was the singer songwriter music of Joni Mitchell or the traditional Irish singing of Mary Black or the dulcimer playing and singing of Jean Ritchie, something about those sounds and stories moved me beyond belief and I felt like I’d arrived home and found my voice. As I developed my own artistic life, everything about traditional Celtic and American folk music and dance just seems to fit: the sound, the instrumentation, the sense of connectness to nature and family and community — all resonate with deeply with my nature.

You’ve performed your music before audiences outside of the United States. Are international audiences different than stateside audiences? Is their take on traditional American music a bit different in any way?

We haven’t performed a lot outside of the US: two trips to England, about six to Ireland and one to Prince Edward Island. One comment I have about feeling a difference in the audience is that folks in those places were much more accustomed to traditional music and dance just like they are in places like Southern Appalachia. People grow up with this music and dance. Kids take fiddle and step dance lessons instead of, say, classical piano. Also, people in those other countries didn’t seem as “wed” to the concept of genre. I noticed on some of the radio stations, you would hear country, then rock, then traditional folk perhaps all within 15 minutes on the same station. I liked that. I also think that in those other countries, people are not as caught up, necessarily, in the machines of pop culture and stardom and physical beauty . . .

Tell us about the film “Going Up Home” that your son produced about you. What was that experience like?

It was an honor and a very sweet way to spend time with Uriah and for us to all get to know one another more as adults. It was very relaxed (as some people note, the photos on the back cover of the DVD look like mug shots haha—we were not dressed up or made up in any way . . . just ourselves at home during some of the interviews and conversations . . .) It was also very sweet and very touching to get that kind of recognition and appreciation not only from our son but from our state when it was aired on RI PBS several times each summer in 2007 and 2008. It also ended up being a great success for Uriah. It was his first full film and final project for his master’s thesis in film studies. As a result, he ended up getting an invitation from Rhode Island College to teach film. We are very proud of him on many levels.

How would you compare the various musical configurations that you’ve both involved with? Duo? Trio? Band?

These recent configurations have been so exciting for us. A few months ago, I counted up how many “bands” we are now, and we are up to NINE! Performing with as many as nine of us at any given time: solo, duo, trio, four, six, seven, and nine member configurations . . . it’s a wonderful way to stay excited and keep on one’s toes as an artist. And our audiences have responded with great enthusiasm and support. For example, some were apprehensive at the idea of us changing and adding anything or anyone but when people first starting hearing fiddler/cellist/vocalist Cathy Clasper-Torch (who works the most with us), they were amazed. They said thing like, “You just sound like YOU, even more wonderful . . .” It was daunting for Cathy to join us: a married couple who had been playing as a duo for about 17 years! And it just felt like adding in a third “one of us” . . . so, the different configurations emphasize different aspects of our repertoire: Jerimoth Hill has become a very popular old-time string band gospel group. The Atwater-Donnelly Band, with Cathy, and Kevin Doyle, emphasizes some kick-butt step dancing . . . and we’ve recently started performing with three kids: Ruby May, Evelyn, and Samuel Miller. In the spring, nine of us with perform for 2000 middle school kids at the Providence Performing Arts Center. I could go on and on but you get the idea. The other amazing thing about performing with all these people, including the wonderful versatile John and Heidi Cerrigione as well as our own son, Uriah, is that we get to spend a lot of time with these people who we just adore. It is important to us to be happy in our work and love the people we work with. It’s almost unfair how much fun we have with all these people.

What kind of educational programs do you do for school children? How do they react to your music?

We do heritage programs in schools . . . assemblies . . . artists-in residence . . . for students anywhere from little tiny preschool kids to high school or college. We are both former teachers and we love kids and we love performing and working in schools. Pete Seeger has always said that if he had to choose only one audience to perform for and with, it would be with kids in schools and I love that. Children respond so well to our music and dance and it is an amazing way to connect immediately. After an assembly, it’s like we just made 200 new friends. Sometimes adolescent audiences look wary at first and one of my favorite things to do is to surprise them and to communicate joy and a passion for one’s work and to also connect children and teenagers with their own heritage and creativity and physicality . . . we often start our school shows with loud, percussive, a cappella clogging and it just flips the kids out. They’ve never seen anything like it! Two of my favorite quotes from fourth graders are: “My mouth was dropped (sic) open the entire time.” And “I almost fainted when you played banjo and danced and sang at the same time!”