Local
Culture: the story of Earthwork Music
More and more
we're all becoming victim to the cookie-cutter, one size-fits
all mentality which has resulted from the continued "malling"
(or is it mauling?) of America. We are wearing the same clothes,
shopping in the same big-box stores, listening to the same music,
eating the same monocrops and experiencing the same monoculture.
Thankfully there are some who have continued to actively resist
this rapid decline in cultural diversity, by breaking the chains
of conformity and making unique contributions to more localized
community-based enterprises. This is the driving force behind
Earthwork Music, an ever-growing collective founded by folk musician
Seth Bernard in 2001. According to the collective's mission statement,
they are responding to the homogenization of mainstream music
by working to create and promote original, independent music while
raising community and self-awareness.
Today Earthwork
music has developed into a dedicated assortment of friends, including
12 different recording artists. With the help of his inseparable
partner, the talented Daisy May Erlewine (Her album, "Heart
Song," is Earthwork's bestselling record), Bernard's collective
has come far since its humble beginnings. In the fall of 2001,
Seth released his first self-recorded album, "Hello Fellow
Travelers," on a trailer stage behind the barn at the 183-acre
Earthwork farm in Missaukee County.
The farm, which
inspired the name for the collective, was founded in the late
seventies by his parents in an attempt to return to a lifestyle
based upon self-reliance, communal living, ecology, and spiritual
growth. Growing up on the Earthwork Farm provided an environment
well-suited to foster the development of Seth's creativity and
imagination. Seth, along with his older sisters, experienced a
strong sense of community and had the chance to make friends with
all kinds of beings. Peacocks, goats, Scottish Highland cows,
chickens, turkeys, Peace Corp volunteers, old-thyme string-band
musicians, and performing artists-to name a few. Most importantly,
he had the freedom to experiment and explore. "There were
big open fields, thick magical woodlots, rusty junkyards and funky
old farm buildings to play in. And then I noticed there were the
guitars, fiddles, pianos, banjos, mandolins and saxophones for
playing," says Bernard. From helping his father with beekeeping
and learning how their society works better than our own, to listening
to his mother singing while she worked in her massive organic
gardens, the lessons of life on the farm were carried into fruition
with the creation of Earthwork Music.
After building
a stage inside the Earthwork barn in 2002, word quickly spread
of Seth's endeavor. Seth explains: "Dan Kahn led Luke Winslow-King,
Steppin' In It, myself and some friends in a review of Woody Guthrie's
songs and stories called 'From California to the New York Island.'
From then on, we were in new territory. We'd found each other,
and we'd found Woody Guthrie." Then, about two years ago,
May Erlewine came into the picture. From sewing every single compilation
CD to designing the Earthwork Music website, May has done more
than anyone to move the project forward. What? Sewing compilation
CDs? This is but one example of the values of Earthwork Farm translating
into the operation of Earthwork Music. Many of their albums come
in different kinds of paper sleeves and each one is sewn together
by Daisy May. Two CD packages can be obtained from an 11"
x 17" sized paper very little waste. Earthworkers get together
with friends, watch movies, cut, fold, sew and stuff liner notes
and stickers, while burning CDs. "We like things to have
a personal touch. We try to put as much care as possible into
our albums, start to finish," says Bernard. May's family
has also been extremely supportive of the collective, even going
so far as to donate a building for their use.
The new Earthwork
Music headquarters is housed within a large, white building in
Big Rapids. The complex belonged to Erlewine's father, who had
used the building for his businesses Matrix Software and the popular
All-Music guide. Once the collective has finished moving in, they
will have a fully-equipped video studio, audio studio, mail room,
conference room, offices and a house next door for team members
to live or stay in. This is not to say activities will cease at
the Earthwork Farm. The farm will continue to host two annual
events: Earthwork Harvest Gathering (the third weekend in September)
and the newly-created Earthwork Family Weekend, an educational
festival-camp developed for parents and children (the fourth weekend
in June). Meanwhile, work has begun on "The Earthwork Occasional"
which will be released sometime in 2006. The newsletter/zine will
include recipes, comics, updates, articles and interviews with
partners and collaborators. It will also spread interest in Earthwork's
artists with the release of lyrics and chords.
In addition,
there are plans in the works for a myriad of events aimed at raising
environmental awareness. "Earthwork Music is dedicated to
preserving our environment. We are all the environment. Saving
ourselves from irreparable social-environmental devastation is
the main deal. We're all going to need to do more than we've already
done," says Bernard. Earthwork artists perform at about 20
benefit concerts a year, and are networking with environmental
groups such as SEEDS (see the "Something Fresh" write
up on page six). These types of actions will continue to expand
with the implementation of new workshops, camps, school programs,
and conferences. Currently, a Water Festival and Energy Fair in
Mackinaw City is being planned with the help of a large community
of social-environmental first response groups (August 18-20).
"We can save the Great Lakes from corporate hands with enough
community networking, music and free snacks," quips Seth.
A common thread
runs throughout all of these actions: using music as a catalyst
to bring about cultural change. According to the folk-singer,
"Music inherently brings us together beyond our constructed
boundaries. We're walking around with all these names and numbers
and titles and all this baggage hanging on us. But when we're
really inside a musical experience-no matter how big or small-we
can enter a different realm." It's this realm where epiphanies
occur; the place where individuals realize they are a smaller
part of a greater whole. To Bernard, this means we are all even
a part of Dick Cheney. "If Dick Cheney is part of the one
thing, I'd better hold him up to my heart and love him if I want
peace. It's important. Ok... 'Ahhh... I love you, Dick Cheney.
All that greed's bad for your heart, come climb this tree with
me. No, I'm not kidding, just give it a try. That's it Dick, doesn't
it feel good? Free energy! There's soul in the soil! There's no
false intelligence around here. It's all alive, it's all connected,
and it's all sustainable. It loves you too Dick. Breathe in deep,
that there's fresh air. This is what we call 'Local Culture.'
This is the stuff dreams are made of!'"
By reclaiming
local culture, Earthwork Music has become a part of a broader
movement of individuals who are voting with each dollar they choose
to spend at a home-grown enterprise instead of a transnational
corporation. By "going local," it's possible to maintain
wisdom and diversity which would otherwise be lost forever. In
the end, it's not the musicians who deserve all the credit but
the countless teachers, farmers, volunteers, non-profits, and
the nameless individuals who donate their gift of time to make
the world a better place.
Visit earthworkmusic.com
for a complete transcript of our interview with Seth Bernard
Written
By Jason and Mallory Glover
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