“It once was lost, but now it’s found,” offers bluegrass legend Jim Lauderdale about Sacred Harp singing in his narration of the new documentary Awake, My Soul: The Story of the Sacred Harp. The statement is only partially true, for although the film shines an invaluable light on the history and significance of the age-old gospel art form in America, Sacred Harp has never been about the public. It’s a deeply personal expression, grounded in the communal, congregational spirit of immaculately intertwined a cappella harmonies. Awake, My Soul is an exceptional exploration of the style and its significance, but the documentary’s power lies in the stories and testimonies of the everyday folks for whom the hymns have been a pillar for generations.
Sacred Harp singing is an a cappella singing style based on shape note singing that has been the backbone of church services throughout the South and rural communities for more than 200 years. The Sacred Harp itself is the 1844 hymnal that remains the basis for the tradition, using four shapes to represent the musical scale. Hymns often begin with a round of singing each note (fa, so, la, mi) before inserting the words in the verses. Awake, My Soul is the first feature documentary to examine the subject, and it’s an appropriately reverent celebration of the music’s tradition and importance.
The film thankfully avoids the usual pitfalls of inadvertently portraying its rural subjects in an ignorant light. The filmmakers, Matt and Erica Hinton, are themselves Sacred Harp singers from Georgia, and their sincere appreciation for the tradition is reflected in every aspect of the documentary in ways that a director from outside the culture likely would not be able to achieve. One could imagine the film easily derailing by interviewing expert musicologists, folklorists, or even famous contemporary artists noting the music’s influence on them, but instead the Hintons rely on the narratives of the people for whom the music is a part of their life, and who are able to represent the culture with an understanding both historical and personal.
Witnessing the actual singing – huge congregations of lay people melding their voices in swelling ecstasy that rivals any choral performance – is a marvelous experience, even on film. The gatherings are far from performances, however; inherent to the tradition is participation, which the film juxtaposes with the rise of a more progressive and presentational gospel style of the 20th Century.
While the film remains smartly on the subject of the Sacred Harp communities, its release does come with a two-disc CD set that features contemporary artists performing some of the hymnal’s songs. Disc one features the traditional versions, recorded in churches throughout Alabama and Georgia, while the second offers the songs re-arranged by artists such as Elvis Perkins, Richard Buckner, Woven Hand, Doc Watson, Sam Amidon, Danielson, Rayn Gellert (of Uncle Earle), and Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones, to name but a few of the 20 reinterpreted tracks. Though most of the songs are not a cappella (Woven Hand attempts the original form amazingly with the opening of “Consecration” before descending into an experimental drone and clang), they are nonetheless compelling as re-workings of the gospel style.
Mac Powell’s “Help Me Sing” is gloriously haunted with a stark fiddle and acoustic guitar while Cordelia’s Dad delivers a bruising banjoed version of “The Traveler,” though All Things Bright and Beautiful’s electric delivery of “China” and Tenement Halls’ “Essay” stretches a bit too far afield. There are delicate moments as well, such as the Good Players’ “David’s Lamentation” and Liz Janes’ beautiful “Abbeville.” But Richard Buckner, who has always had a plodding and brooding sincerity to his work, offers one of the best performances with the absolutely eerie “Windham” and Doc Watson’s recorded reminiscences of growing up with the Sacred Harp tradition and introducing “And Am I Born to Die?” may be the album’s ultimate testament.
This article appears in September 26 • 2008.
