When William Graves was asked in 1987 if there was anything in particular he wanted to include in Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program publicity about his art or his life, he wanted it known that he’d “soon have enough grandchildren to dob a house.”  William Graves lived in Lebanon, Missouri and among his professions he listed were farming and construction.  He was also a valuable link in the continuance of the Graves family tradition of the walking cane dulcimer.

b. 1917 d. 2001
Lebanon, MO
“Walking Cane” Dulcimer

Apprentices:
1986 Lynn Wosilait
1987 Stephen Atwell
1988 Stephen Atwell
1989 Connie Renee (Graves) Welch
1990 Paul Vandaveer, John Graves

The “walking cane” dulcimer is an integral part of the Graves family tradition; that particular kind of dulcimer was created by his grandfather, John Mowhee, a Cherokee who served with the Union Army as a scout.  The instrument got its name for its dual purpose as a musical instrument and, according to family stories, a walking aide for Mowhee.  This dulcimer variation has three strings and is played by strumming the strings with a turkey quill.

Mr. Graves learned to play dulcimer from his mother, who was herself a fiddler. “When I was learning to play this dulcimer,” Graves said, “mother made me pick it with my thumb before she gave me a turkey quill to use.  I wore all the hide off that thumb!  I wasn’t but nine when I started playing.”   As an adult, Mr. Graves performed frequently in his community with his wife Doris, his sons Don and John, and his daughters Vivian and Daisy.

The walking cane dulcimer’s appeal as an instrument and William Graves’ appeal as a master are evident in the number of apprentices he took on through the years.  Not only did he work with his own children, he also took on neighbors and others from the surrounding area who had an interest in learning the instrument. His son John and daughter Vivian were both motivated to keep on the family tradition; Vivian stated, “I grew up listening to this way of playing.  Maybe someone else would enjoy it and I can play it.”

John recognized the difficulty in keeping the tradition alive, and he said,  “I have been wanting to learn how to play the dulcimer for some time, but could never get dad to take the time I needed.  I feel I had an extra bonus by being in the program and having my dad for a master.”

Apprentice Connie Welch (TAAP 1989) stated, “Mr. Graves is a traditional Ozark music man,” and his abilities, she said, were “outstanding.”  Today the walking cane tradition continues to be a part of the Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program through Bill’s son Don, a master of the walking cane dulcimer himself, who is creating, playing, and teaching the instrument to this day.

 

Audio clip: William Graves instructs his apprentice and son John Graves.  The Graves recorded many of their lessons, which are now housed at the Western Historical Manuscripts collection at the Missouri State Historical Society.

Richard Martin was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1928, and in the course of his life lived in Chicago, New York, and Mire, France. He obtained a bachelor’s degree in business administration and worked with computers and in teaching positions like adjunct faculty at the Harris-Stowe State College in St. Louis. An active member of the arts community in Missouri, he founded the Children’s Performing Arts Academy in St. Louis and was a member of the Arts and Education Council of Greater St. Louis and the Missouri Folklore Society.

b. 1928 d. 2008
St. Louis, Missouri
Jazz Tap Dance

Apprentices:
1987 Dana Jackson, Alan McLead, Jimmie Lee Meyers, Jayda Guinn
1988 Dana Jackson, Alan McLead, Wallace Robinson
1989 Phylis Davis, Jayda Guinn, Dwayne K. Robinson
1990 Allyssa Brown
1991 Netasha Williams, LaTonya Frison, Kashita Wicks
1992 Sean McGilberry
1993 Troy James, Joe Hayden, Albert Wilson Hodge
1995 Lavette Bluett, Ken Turner
1997 Mark Gladney

 

The nephew of the world-renowned dancer Josephine Baker, Mr. Martin’s desire to perform seemed fated; his very first venues included the living rooms of his family and neighbors. His formal career began with a performance with the legendary Bill “Bojangles” Robinson when Mr. Martin was only four years old; at the age of 10, he had performed at places like the St. Louis Municipal Opera, community centers, and neighborhood taverns.

Mr. Martin founded the Children’s Performing Arts Academy, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to teaching arts like jazz tap and other arts to disadvantaged youth in the St. Louis area. Martin intended the Children’s Performing Arts Academy as a source of motivation and discipline that translated to all aspects of his students’ lives. He took a great deal of pride in noting that his pupils obtained at least a high school education, if not further. His students’ admiration was evident in their desire to emulate Mr. Martin. In an application dated 1991, apprentice Sean L. McGilberry stated that he wanted to be a professional performer and teacher himself, and ““I take pride in the knowledge that I have obtained through Mr. Martin’s leadership and being aware of who I am and having some focus to where I am going with my skills.”

Mr. Martin co-produced the African & Irish American Multi-Cultural Concert in St. Louis in collaboration with TAAP master Helen Gannon; the event featured performances in both African-American jazz tap dance and Irish American step dance, in an innovative display of the relationship between the two art forms.

Mr. Martin’s frequent involvement with the TAAP program often included multiple apprentices in a range of ages from grade school to high school. His commitment to teach the art form and to educate his students about its complex cultural heritage was apparent in the statements from the apprentices themselves. Missouri Folk Arts Program Director Dana Everts-Boehm relates in a site visit report in 1991 of how “they loved the dance classes–but how Mr. Martin was a tough taskmaster.”

Audio clip: Richard Martin asks a student to demonstrate a new step and then supervises the whole group practicing it in a lesson recorded September 9th, 1993.

Pete (Preston) McMahan was born near Bluffton, Missouri. Throughout his life, he worked in tire sales and service; he was a veteran of World War II. Mr. McMahan became interested in playing the fiddle at age six listening to old time fiddler Clark Atterberry play at local dances.

b. 1918 d. 2000
Harrisburg, Missouri
Old Time Fiddle

Apprentices:
1989: John Griffin
1990: John Griffin
1991: Victor Phelps
1998: John P. Williams
1999: John P. Williams

Mr. McMahan and his seven siblings all played musical instruments; he stated, “We just entertained ourselves” at home and at parties. He won his first fiddle competition at age fifteen, and he remained an active, much-honored contestant (calling his prizes “grocery money”) and contest judge for decades. Among his many accolades, Mr. McMahan was inducted into the Missouri Old-Time Fiddling Hall of Fame, and he recorded several albums of fiddle tunes, including a selection in the Grammy-nominated Now That’s a Good Tune: Masters of Traditional Missouri Fiddling. In 2005, a 2-CD set titled, Pete McMahan: 50 Old-Time Fiddle Gems, was released. Produced by Mr. McMahan’s long-time friend and fellow fiddler Howard W. Marshall with assistance from Sarah McMahan, these recordings are reissues of four LPs made by Mr. McMahan in the 1970s.

Mr. McMahan’s quick, lively “Little Dixie” style was well suited for dancing. Apprentice John Griffin stated that emulating the master fiddler’s style was difficult, because although he had been able to learn some by listening, Mr. McMahan played with such speed that figuring out the correct bowing and fingering was hard. In his lessons, Mr. McMahan slowed the tunes down and Griffin was able to keep up. In 1989 Griffin wrote, “For me, Pete’s delivery of his music is more full of life and emotion than any other fiddler I have ever heard. He is the best.“

In a TAAP site visit report from 1990, Howard Marshall stated, “McMahan is an impeccable master fiddler and known far and wide for his music. He has deep authentic roots in the strictest definitions of traditional art in Missouri. “ Mr. McMahan often told Marshall, “You’re not playing the fiddle unless you make people want to dance.”

Audio clip: Pete McMahan discusses and demonstrates harmonic notes on the fiddle in a lesson with John Williams from 6/11/1998.

For further online reading, check out the profile of Pete McMahan at Missouri Traditional Fiddle & Dance Network and a tribute in 2000 from Howard W. Marshall in Fiddler Magazine.  

Joseph F. Patrickus, Jr. was born in Chicago, Illinois but has been making custom Western-style boots in Camdenton, Missouri since 1978. Taught by his California-dwelling Uncle Aldie, Mr. Patrickus is a fifth-generation custom bootmaker. He credits his training as an electrical engineer with an easy transition into a second career in bootmaking.

b. 1947 d. 2018
Camdenton, Missouri
Custom Handmade Western Bootmaking

Apprentices:
1987 Joe Patrickus, III & Franklin Holler
1989 Kathleen Patrickus Flanders
1990 Kathleen Patrickus Flanders
2002 Kathleen Patrickus Flanders
2007 Stephen Mino

 

Mr. Patrickus makes custom boots for “the true boot connoisseur,” incorporating regional and exotic materials in the finished product. In addition to making boots, Mr. Patrickus is one of just a few artisans who still makes wooden “lasts”—the wooden form around which the boot is shaped—rather than relying on mass-produced plastic lasts.  In 2007, Mr. Patrickus noted, “In my opinion, the art of making a great western boot includes every aspect of the boot—from the design and visual artistic elements to quality constructions and a perfect fit enabled by the use of custom lasts.

Outside evaluator Donald Love praised Mr. Patrickus’s teaching during a 1987 session, observing, “bootmaking is a slow, laborious process.  Even a master requires weeks to finish a pair.  Beginners could easily become burned out from trying to work too fast, or discouraged by the slow pace.  Joe keeps up a steady stream of encouragement.  He urges them to the next steps, and, when necessary, reins them in to make sure the work at hand is being done with sufficient care.”

Among his many apprentices are Mr. Patrickus’s son and daughter, who were eager to carry on the family tradition.   According to MFAP staff evaluation in 1989, there were only three women who practiced traditional bootmaking in the United States.  Kathleen Patrickus noted, “I love making boots, I always have wanted to learn.  You can put your dreams in boots.  I’ve helped my father in the shop for several years, and this program has made it possible for me to learn how to make boots from the beginning.”

Audio clip: Mr. Patrickus and Stephen Mino discuss the process of learning inlay technique with MFAP Folk Arts Specialist Deborah Bailey on a site visit to the apprenticeship in 2007.

Vesta Johnson describes fiddling as “excellent therapy.” A fourth-generation musician, Mrs. Johnson is a member and co-founder of the Missouri Fiddlers and Country Music Association. “I started playing fiddle at age seven. I learned from my mother at home, and I learned from my dad and other fiddlers from the area. My dad once handed me the fiddle when he was playing at a house party and told me to play a couple of tunes, which I did. I don’t remember ever being asked again.”

b. 1922
Kirkwood, Missouri
North Missouri Old Time Fiddle

Apprentices:

1989 Reese Stanley

1990 Brandi Bonds & Paul Brake

1995 Matt Vanover

1996 Michael Vanover

2006 Megan Greene

2010 Ellen Gomez

2011 Terri Brandt

2012 Terri Brandt

2015 James Hall

According to her many students and other fellow-fiddlers, Vesta Johnson’s fiddling is known for its infectious rhythm.  Her sense of “good time” has helped to establish her deserved reputation as a talented dance tune player.

Although her mother, sister and daughter also played the fiddle, women fiddlers of Mrs. Johnson’s generation are relatively rare.  During her decades as an instructor in her home and at the Bethel Fiddle Camp, Mrs. Johnson has worked to provide opportunities for all young fiddlers to ensure the continuation of the tradition. “We just never had the opportunities the men had,” Mrs. Johnson told MFAP staff member Julie Youmans in 1988.  “I wish I had had a fiddle camp like this to help me.  Women didn’t just go up and play with strangers like they are all doing here, and I feel uncomfortable about breaking in on a jam session to play.  Not a woman’s proper behavior. “

In 2006, Mrs. Johnson reminisced about her long career as a fiddler. “I even played fiddle contests—even then [1970s and 1980s] women did not play fiddle contests really—it was always men, the judges were men too. But I made myself get up and do it. There were some tongues wagging, and looks, too. It wasn’t always easy but I saw no reason why women couldn’t do it.”

Over the years, Mrs. Johnson has taught hundreds of fiddlers in both formal and informal lessons. During a site visit at Mrs. Johnson’s home in Kirkwood, Julie Youmans observed, “Vesta is remarkable in her seemingly never-ending pool of fiddle students that keep coming out of the woodwork to ask her for help.  She repeats that she never felt she was a teacher, yet she obviously does it well.  Last year at the Bethel Fiddle Camp, she was touted among the students as one of the better, if not the best, of the teachers there.  She makes them play a lot, rather than taking too much time demonstrating, and she is very organized in how to go about it.”

Mrs. Johnson is known for her vast repertoire of Missouri fiddling tunes, particularly dances tunes, including hoe-downs, hornpipes, two steps, waltzes and schottiches. Apprentice Megan Green wrote in 2006, “I’ve learned a lot of tunes from Vesta but I have much more to learn…She’s just a wonderful fiddler and person too. She knows so many tunes I want to learn and she also has the history and perspective of many years. She knew and played with a lot of the great fiddlers from Missouri and she tells me about them too and what she learned from them throughout the years.” Ms. Green added, “I’ll keep on learning from Vesta as long as she’ll have me.”

Now in her 90s, Mrs. Johnson regularly appears at local, regional and national events. She continues to participate in the TAAP program with new apprentices, maintains an active teaching schedule, plays at monthly jam sessions and carries on her musical traditions both within her family and within the wider communities to which she belongs.

Audio clip: Vesta Johnson and backup guitar player Dale LaRose play the tune “Robinson County” in May of 1997.

Bernard Allen applies his love of Ozark hand woodworking methods to instrument making, primarily fiddles and mandolins. Here, Allen holds a fiddle with a natural finish that allows the beauty of the wood to stand alone. Allen uses the curled ƒ-holes (visible here and on many of the exhibition’s instruments) as a tuning mechanism during the construction process, blowing across the holes with his mouth and gently shaving the bass bar until the instrument is tuned to F. The paired curled ƒ-holes allow sound to vibrate more freely.

Patrick “P.J.” Gannon is an internationally known performer and teacher of traditional Irish music. With his wife Helen Gannon, herself a master artist in the Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program in Irish step dance, he founded St. Louis Irish Arts, a branch of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann, (The Cultural Movement of Ireland) in 1973. Born in the Galway area of the West Coast of Ireland, Mr. Gannon moved to St. Louis in 1967 and eventually took a position as a professor of psychiatry at St. Louis University. Both his parents were accomplished singers and lilters, and as a boy, Mr. Gannon learned to sing, lilt, play harmonica, tin whistle and piano accordion.

b. 1931
St. Louis, MO
Sean-nòs (Traditional Irish Singing), Irish Tin Whistle, Irish Harmonica

Apprentices:
1988 Linda Herndon & Meghan O’Connor (Tin Whistle)
1989 Kelly Russell & Sarah Casey (Tin Whistle)
1990 Michelle Sheets (Tin Whistle)
1993 Margaret Shannon (Sean-nòs)
1994 Amelia Flood, Margaret Shannon, Rachel Cameron (Sean-nòs)
1997 Sally Sutter (Irish Harmonica)

Lilting is a way of singing that fills the function of an instrument for dancers. In the village where he was born, Mr. Gannon’s father was the favorite lilter and singer. In March, 1994, Mr. Gannon recalled, “The only entertainment may have been one instrument, a fiddle or a flute, sometimes no fiddle, no flute, so what they would have would be a singer. Now if that singer could lilt, then they could dance. So I learned lilting also. So the lilter would lilt and they would dance the reel, the hornpipe, and the jig, which are the three basic dances. The reel would be the group dancing, the jigs and the hornpipe if there were single dancers. And lilters were held in high esteem.”

In his work with his apprentices, Mr. Gannon reinforces the traditional relationship between music and dancing. In 1988, outside evaluator Eileen Flanagan noted, “One aim of whistle playing in Gannon’s school is to become good enough to play for dancers.  In Ireland many players of great reputation do not have the stamina and temperament to do it.  At this moment Meghan [O’Connor] does play for dancers as does Linda [Herndon].  This came about as a result of their apprenticeship.”

In 1994, Mr. Gannon mused, “The apprenticeship is really what pushes them on. When you’re doing an apprenticeship you really put your best behind it, because they’re going to be the role models for the others. The important thing is that they don’t hide it. So we bring them out in March and they perform to audiences and that’s where their confidence develops. In fact, they get so confident that they get very cheeky.”

According to Eileen Flanagan, “A no nonsense teacher, P.J. allows no idle chatter and focuses on music throughout the 40 minute lesson.  His teaching style is that of a parochial school teacher: he is in complete authority but not excessively rigid.”

Mr. Gannon’s apprentices appreciate his knowledge and skill as a teacher. Margaret Shannon noted in her application to apprentice in 1993,  “He is easy to learn from.  He understands all the stories and ways of being Irish.” In the same application, Sara Dobbs (eleven years old at the time) wrote, “I am very lucky to be able to study with Dr. Gannon.  He knows a lot and is a great teacher. My grandmother was born in Ireland and I am very proud of my Irish heritage.”

 

Audio clip: During an interview with MFAP staff at St. Louis Irish Arts in August 2006 prior to their program and performance at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., Mr. Gannon talks about his family’s musical traditions in Ireland during his childhood in the 1930s.

Donald Graves still plays his great-grandfather’s dulcimer as well as his own. Maw-Hee, also a fiddle maker, wrote his name and the year of completion inside each instrument. Graves continues that tradition today. Like many rural nineteenth- and early twentieth-century luthiers, Maw-Hee built instruments on request only, not as an occupation. Similarly, Graves makes dulcimers by request for family members and special friends.

Any conversation about the notable Ozark music tradition of Ava, Missouri is incomplete without mention of Edna Mae Davis, square dance caller and dancer. In an application for the TAAP program, she listed her occupations as housewife, clerk, and ‘beauty operator,” but Mrs. Davis’ career in square dancing started much earlier than that, when she started dancing with her family at the age of three. “That was about all we did in our community,” she wrote.

b. 1929 d. 2003
Ava, Missouri
Square/Jig Dancing and Square Dance Calling

Apprentices:
1988 Donald Randleman, Imogene Kane, Cindy Keeling, Josh Bradley, Mark Kane
1989 Amy Jo Davis, Michelle Kane
1990 Lacy Davis
1991 Clinton Overstreet
1993 Desha Marie Worth, Mike Bristol, Crystal English, Mandy Whittenhall, Cathy Davis

Edna Mae Davis’s leadership role in maintaining the area’s musical heritage was evident in the active role she took as a teacher and performer. She stated that while “[t]he tradition is very good in this community, […] fewer young people are learning how to do this.” In order to keep the tradition alive, she apprenticed not only family members (her daughter Cathy, for example, apprenticed as a caller in the program) but also members of the community, often teenagers.

Noted Ozarks community scholar Gordon McCann complimented Mrs. Davis’ aptitude for teaching square dancing; he stated, “I have been to a number of square dances where Mrs. Davis was present and have witnessed her ability to take amateurs, ‘city slickers’ such as my wife and myself, and in an hour’s time having us keep up with the best of them as far as the figures are concerned.”

Outside TAAP evaluator Catherine Parce agreed with Mr. McCann’s assessment; she participated in a 1990 square dancing event in which over thirty children cycled in and out of the dance. “Some of the youngest children, several of whom had never danced before, had trouble distinguishing right from left. With tireless patience Davis and her daughter pointed out the errors and re-directed them time after time.”

In an obituary, Missouri Folk Arts Program director Lisa Higgins observed the joy Mrs. Davis took in her work, stating, “Every time I worked with Edna Mae or ran into her at events, like the West Plains Old Time Music & Heritage Festival, I could see how much she loved dancing and calling. As I have looked through old photos of her from the archives, Edna Mae is always smiling, sometimes even throwing her head back and laughing with joy.”

 

Audio clip: The square dancers tap out a lively rhythm to the music as Edna Mae Davis calls the dance at the Big Muddy Festival in 2001.

Missouri is home to vibrant musical traditions, a sign of the state’s rich artistic and cultural diversity. Every cultural group that settled in Missouri brought its musical customs, including easily transportable instruments and the skills to build and repair them. Although often overlooked, the visual and aural art of luthiery—the intricate craft, repair, and restoration of stringed instruments—is central to musical expression.

By the 1860s, St. Louis was home to multiple small luthier shops and two manufacturers of stringed instruments. Perhaps Missouri’s most influential manufacturer was the Schwarzer Zither Factory founded in 1866 in Washington by an Austrian immigrant. Employing German craftsmen, he developed award-winning, innovative, and elaborate instruments that are still admired for their quality. Luthiers were needed in isolated rural areas, too. Local musicians often served in that role, as a sideline to their primary occupations. Periods of economic hardship required creative solutions, so instruments were strung with braided horsehair or screen wire, and fiddles were created from recycled cigar boxes and other found wood.

Research in the archives of the Missouri Folk Arts Program uncovered a tribute to the late Cope Ashlock, a luthier who once operated The Violin Shop in downtown Columbia. He printed a telling motto on his business cards: where work is art and art is work. Ashlock’s philosophy aptly describes the dominant theme in this exhibit – building instruments by hand is an art, and creating art requires skill, precision, and lots of hard work.

Today, despite the ready availability of mass-produced stringed instruments, luthiery remains a living art form in Missouri. As mandolin maker John Wynn stresses, “Putting together a mandolin from a kit is not instrument making; it’s assembly. I make every part and decorative feature of my mandolins from beginning to end. I take pride in the quality of my work.”

This exhibition celebrates the work of six contemporary Missouri luthiers, all of whom participated in Missouri’s Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program (TAAP). All are accomplished musicians, passionate about their music and instrument making. Each learned through a combination of sources: formal instruction, mentors and peers, books, imitation, and old-fashioned trial and error. Each begins his work with carefully selected wood. Each, by cutting, measuring, shaving, shaping, bending, tuning, and finishing, turns simple boards into intricate instruments that are pleasing to both eye and ear.