"Something of the Druid In Him": John Jacob Niles and the Old Music of the New World

John Jacob Niles, posing with one of his hand-built dulcimers.

On December 15th at 7:30 pm, at Crestwood Christian Church, Musick's Company will present a program of "old music from the New World", featuring the music of Kentuckian musicologist John Jacob Niles. Unless you're particularly familiar with Kentucky music history, you might not know of Niles and his work. What did he accomplish, and what does he have to do with early music? Read on, and learn how John Jacob Niles earned the title of "the Dean of American Balladeers".

Born in Louisville, Kentucky, Niles hailed from a particularly musical family. His great-grandfather was a composer, organist, and cello manufacturer, and his mother, Lula Sarah Niles, taught him music theory. Niles began writing down folk music as a teenager, and became a serious student of Appalachian folk music by transcribing traditional songs from oral sources while an itinerant employee of the Burroughs Corporation in eastern Kentucky, from 1910 to 1917. After sustaining an injury in the U.S. Army Air Service during World War I, he studied music in France, first in Lyon, then in Paris at the Schola Cantorum, also meeting notable scholar and activist Gertrude Stein. When Niles returned to the United States in 1920, he continued his studies at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, then moved to Chicago, where he sang opera and folk songs on early radio. From here, Niles' musical career blossomed: in 1925, he moved to New York City and held various jobs in the entertainment industry. In the 1930s, he toured Europe and the United States with contralto Marion Kerby. He performed at the White House in 1938, and on occasion at the Newport Folk Festival during the 1950s.

John Jacob Niles with another of his beautiful instruments.

For The Center for Old Music in the New World, John Jacob Niles' study of Appalachian music makes him of particular interest and admiration. A skilled craftsman, Niles made his own lutes and Appalachian dulcimers and specialized in the songs of the Appalachian Mountain region. His ballad collections frequently included material that he composed, such as “I Wonder As I Wander” and “Black Is the Color of My True Love’s Hair,” or arranged, as well as ballads transcribed directly from oral sources. His published works include Songs My Mother Never Taught Me (1929; with Douglas Moore), Songs of the Hill Folk (1934), The Shape Note Study Book (1950), and The Ballad Book of John Jacob Niles (1961). His last work (1972) was the Niles-Merton song cycles, settings of poems of the Trappist monk Thomas Merton.

John Jacob Niles' extensive work as a composer and transcriber has transformed the scene of American music. Without his work, it's quite likely that our understanding of Appalachian and early American music would not be as rich and expansive. His dedication to the study of music, and his love for performance, set the stage for later musicians who would leave indelible marks on our culture -- people like Joan Baez, Burl Ives, Peter, Paul and Mary and Bob Dylan have all performed his work.

John Jacob Niles performing with his legendary energy and verve.

With all that being said, why is The Center for Old Music presenting his work? The fact is that America, like any other country, has its own traditions of early music that reach back to the medieval and Renaissance periods in Europe. Much of the music John Jacob Niles transcribed in the hills of Appalachia have direct and indirect ties to the compositions of Scotland, England, France and others. His use of instruments like the lute and dulcimer hearken back to the troubadours of old. His contemporaries agreed: writer Henry Miller once proclaimed that "the metallic clang of his dulcimer never failed to produce ecstasy. He had a voice which summoned memories of Arthur, Merlin, Guinevere. There was something of the Druid in him." Performing his work is a unique opportunity to bridge the histories and cultures of America and old Europe, proving that early music still plays a crucial role in understanding our world and the songs that connect us.

We hope you'll join us on December 15th at 7:30 pm, at Crestwood Christian Church to celebrate America's early music, and to experience the profound connections that we all share through song.