Notes from the Field

In 1990, the Swedish black metal band Bathory released Hammerheart, in which they turned from worshipping Satan and cursing Christ to praising Odin and longing for Valhalla—thus Nordic folk metal was born.

Sixth Fandango Fronterizo Tijuana-San Diego, 2013 [1]

by Veronica S. Pacheco

Club Rasta is a tiny place on HaRakevet Street in south Tel Aviv: 20 square foot dance floor, DJ booth, nicely stocked bar, a few tables and chairs.  Small as it is, you can’t miss the entrance; it’s marked by a larger-than-life painting of a crowned lion in front of an Ethiopian flag, and the sounds of heavy bass that spill into the street.  Open on Tuesdays and the weekend, Rasta is the neighborhood bar of choice for Et

When I first began to conceptualize my dissertation project, I was most interested in the ways that musical performance shapes ethnic relationships and identity politics for Romani musicians in Vranje, Serbia. As such, I eagerly anticipated conversations in the field about performer strategies, musician-patron interactions, and musician roles in celebratory rituals.

On one particularly hot week this past July during the two-week stretch of time I planned to spend at Windham Tolland 4-H Camp, Connecticut experienced a series of hot, muggy, and exhausting days. A storm was scheduled to roll in and, accordingly, rest hour was extended to protect the campers in case of thunder or lightning. Lightning indeed struck, and not just from the sky.

In June of 1944, U.S. researcher Henrietta Yurchenco and a team of Mexican government workers set out on a multi-day journey from the old mining town of Bolaños in northern Jalisco. The team, aided by donkeys carrying supplies and audio recording equipment, were on a mission—funded by the U.S.

Greetings again from Colotlán, Jalisco, Mexico. In response to a comment on my first blog post, this entry explains a little bit about the difference between the words Wixárika and Huichol that are both used to refer to the indigenous group with whom I’m studying here in Mexico.

In planning my fieldwork trip this summer, I decided to focus my research on the “ethno-band” scene in Macedonia, and hoped to spend a lot of time with musicians who are continuing folk music traditions in contemporary contexts. Upon my arrival in June, I began contacting the musicians I know in that scene as well as friends who are active jazz musicians in Skopje, Macedonia’s capital city.

Greetings to Ethnomusicology Review readers! I’m delighted to begin my correspondence from Colotlán, Jalisco, México. As many of you know, Jalisco is often considered the home of what we might think of as stereotypically Mexican: mariachi, tequila, and the traje de charro.