{"id":27071,"date":"2017-12-01T03:58:15","date_gmt":"2017-12-01T11:58:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=27071"},"modified":"2017-11-29T22:14:03","modified_gmt":"2017-11-30T06:14:03","slug":"reinventing-old-time-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2017\/12\/01\/reinventing-old-time-music\/","title":{"rendered":"Reinventing old-time music"},"content":{"rendered":"

Woody Forster and Devora Laye of the Burying Ground. (photo by Mary Matheson)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Contrary to what you might expect, given the band\u2019s name, there is much joy in the Burying Ground. Woody Forster and Devora Laye obviously love what they do, and it comes through in their music, their performances, their promotional photos and even in their responses to an email interview. So, from where does the name come?<\/p>\n

\u201cThe name came from the Blind Lemon Jefferson song \u2018One Kind Favor,\u2019 where he uses the line to describe his resting place,\u201d explained Forster. \u201cI also see it as maybe a metaphor for us finding this music for ourselves that has essentially been buried and forgotten in popular music today, and we are trying to draw from that place and explore those musical styles again.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Burying Ground plays 1920s and \u201930s blues, ragtime, country and jazz, as well as original works in those genres. Their upbeat songs evoke images of musicians jamming away on the wooden porch of a farmhouse, people dancing and enjoying some moonshine. Their hurtin\u2019 songs, with Forster\u2019s gravelly voice, can make you feel like pouring yourself a stiff drink. The pair share the vocals, with Forster on guitar and Laye on myriad instruments, including the washboard, cymbals, tin can and cowbell \u2013 the sounds she produces with the saw will make you shiver. Various other musicians join the duo for performances and recordings.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t exactly find a reason why I love the music from that era,\u201d said Forster. \u201cI just seemed to get drawn deeper into it as I explored the history and the musicians that created it all. There is certainly a raw intensity in the sounds, as well as a very genuine feeling that I maybe don\u2019t get out of other types of popular music through the last century.\u201d<\/p>\n

In November, the Burying Ground released a vinyl version of their eponymous album, which came out in June this year. It followed by a mere six months the group\u2019s January 2017 release, Country Blues & Rags<\/em>, which is \u201ca collection of the band\u2019s renditions of some of their most beloved songs.\u201d The Burying Ground\u2019s first album was Big City Blues<\/em>, in 2015.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe new EP is 11 original songs,\u201d Laye told the Independent<\/em>. \u201cOur process is different from song to song. The last song on the album, \u2018Longing for Home,\u2019 is a song that I wrote for guitar and voice. The melody often comes to me while I\u2019m walking around. For this particular song, I was walking around Vancouver when I smelled woodstove smoke, which made me miss living on Hornby Island, where I spent a couple years in my mid-20s. I sang it for Woody and he played along.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Mean Spirit Blues\u2019 was a trickier process for it\u2019s a more complex song. I hummed the melody to Woody and he put the music to it. He often suggests a bridge or middle part of the song and we just play around with the ideas. We bounce ideas off of each other and give each other feedback. It\u2019s fun, challenging and a nonstop learning process.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are always bouncing ideas off of each other creatively to see whether we are liking what the other is bringing to the table, and tweaking the songs so we are both happy with the final outcome,\u201d agreed Forster.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are learning a lot about writing music together and pushing ourselves to constantly grow and improve \u2013 and, at the same time, having a lot of fun doing it,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The two are definitely in sync. They have known each other a long time.<\/p>\n

\u201cDevora and I met around 15 years ago now, although we didn\u2019t start playing music with each other until much later,\u201d said Forster. \u201cThe Dire Wolves [band] started around 2008 and it was originally formed as a three-piece with me on mandolin, Blake Bamford on guitar and Joshua Doherty on harmonica, with Devora joining in on washboard a short time after. When the band split up around 2013, Devora and I kind of threw around the idea of starting a new project \u2013 we were both huge fans of early Americana music and both got more serious about it. And, from there, it has grown into the project we have created, and continues to grow.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both Laye and Forster come out of Vancouver\u2019s punk scene, having been in different groups over the years. \u201cAs time went on, I gradually got more into old-time, and started studying it seriously in the last five years,\u201d said Forster. \u201cOne of our first performances was at a venue called the China Cloud and I can remember being super-nervous, my hands were shaking, and I forgot lyrics, but somehow got through it with out train-wrecking the show. It has taken me awhile to get used to singing and playing guitar in front of people in such a stripped-down form of acoustic music. Not to say I still don\u2019t get nervous, but I can hide it a little better now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Laye\u2019s musical path has been varied.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt home,\u201d she said, \u201cI was always surrounded by music. My dad plays guitar and has always written songs. He used to sing and play for us at bedtime and, of course, many other times. Growing up, I was exposed to different types of music, from classical to folk to Jewish music (Shlomo Carlebach was a big hit for me). My part of going to synagogue every week was the singing. When I was old enough to walk to the synagogue on my own, I would go for the evening\/ma\u2019ariv<\/em> service on Saturdays to sing the zemirot with the enthusiastic congregation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always loved to sing and play,\u201d said Laye. \u201cMy eldest sister, Aviva, played the flute and I thought that was really cool and decided I wanted to learn how to play. I started taking lessons from Andrea Minden when I was 7 years old. Started on the recorder, of course, because my hands were too small for flute!<\/p>\n

\u201cAnyhow, I studied with Andrea until I was about 14. She was in a family band called the Minden Ensemble and they\u2019d play all sorts of unusual instruments, such as vacuum hoses, bottles, spoons, pots and pans and the saw. Andrea showed me how to hold and bow the saw. When I was in my early 20s, I decided to pick it up and teach myself how to play along to songs, and have been having a lot of fun with it ever since.\u201d<\/p>\n

And how did she come to the washboard, which she also plays in the Myrtle Family Band?<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always loved to tap on nearby objects,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019d tap on tables, chairs, find music and rhythm in glasses. I think my parents have learned to appreciate that side of me! Haha. I taught myself to play a drum kit when I moved out of my parents\u2019 house, and played drums for some years before picking up the washboard. I had a partner who played old-time banjo and he suggested that I pick up the washboard so we could jam. I wasn\u2019t sure it was a real instrument and thought it slightly inferior to a stringed instrument but, soon after, realized it added a lot to the music and can really be the backbone of a band. I ended up getting more and more into the old styles and into the playing and here I am today playing every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Forster and Laye are based in Vancouver now, but this has not always been the case.<\/p>\n

\u201cI spent much of the past year on the Sunshine Coast and commuting to the city for gigs and to see family and friends,\u201d said Laye. \u201cThe coast has been really great. I love to be surrounded by the trees, down the street from the ocean \u2013 bears, deer, coyotes and cougars through my backyard! Room to think in the quiet.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe community on the coast has been so supportive of the Burying Ground,\u201d she said. \u201cI didn\u2019t really have any expectations of what it would be like. I didn\u2019t really know anyone when I moved over to Gibsons, and feel very grateful to have met such kind, supportive and inspiring people. Smaller communities are often more supportive, there is the time for that when the pace is slower. The city can be real tricky to break into. There are so many musicians, so much going on all the time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe coast is also limiting,\u201d she added. \u201cAs professional musicians, there are only so many gigs you can play. Our band lives in the city.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information about the Burying Ground, to hear their music and check out their upcoming shows \u2013 including the JI Chai Celebration on Dec. 6 \u2013 visit theburyingground.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Woody Forster and Devora Laye of the Burying Ground. (photo by Mary Matheson) Contrary to what you might expect, given the band\u2019s name, there is much joy in the Burying Ground. Woody Forster and Devora Laye obviously love what they do, and it comes through in their music, their performances, their promotional photos and even […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27051,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[788],"tags":[7627,7626,4170,7628,7629,7625],"class_list":["post-27071","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music","tag-blues","tag-devora-laye","tag-jazz","tag-ragtime","tag-the-burying-ground","tag-woody-forster"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27071","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27071"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27071\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}