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Oh Susanna

from Ladybug One by Harmonica Pocket

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about

O Susanna was written by Stephen Collins Foster and was first published in 1848. The song first appeared in a minstrel show, and another version of O Susanna became popular with the miner 49s as they were heading west into California and beyond during the gold rush. One of the main reasons I chose to record this song was for the irony in the lyrics. Despite the song's racist roots, I want to keep this American folk song alive by continuing to sing it's catchy pentatonic melody and ironic lyrics.

On the Ladybug One version of O Susanna I collaborated with Deobrat Mishra and Marco Zonka. Deobrat is an amazing sitar player and vocalist from Benares India, and Marco (now deceased) was an accomplished American tabla player. Over the years I had been inspired by Marco's versions of traditional songs set in different time signatures. I came up with the arrangement of this American classic in 5/4 time and presented it to them.

5/4 is a common time signature in North Indian Classical Music and these musicians had no trouble stepping right in and coming up with their parts. We tracked the song in an easy afternoon recording session. Incidentally, Deobrat had never heard the song before performing it! Nala and I wrote some vocal harmonies and layered that on top of the rhythm section in a separate session. It's a pretty straight forward jam without any tricks.

Part of the song's powerful impact for me is that we are taking a one of the most American songs in existence and giving it a North Indian treatment. But if you think about it, it is also the other way around. At a time in world history when intolerance and racism are rampant, we find a meeting place somewhere in between two cultures through music. We expose each other to new ideas, new rhythms, new ways of thinking, and it is at this intersection that my ethnomusicology and world music interests live.

Marco, Deobrat, and I have co-written and recorded a number of other original songs. Maybe some of these songs will get released someday over the rainbow.

lyrics

Well I come from Alabama
With a banjo on my knee
I’m going to Louisiana
My true love for to see
It rained all night the day I left
The weather it was dry
The sun’s so hot I froze to death
Susanna don’t you cry

O Susanna
O don’t you cry for me
I come from Alabama with
A banjo on my knee

Had a dream the other night
When everything was still
I thought I saw susanna come
Walking down the hill
A red, red rose was in her hand
A tear was in her eye
I said I come from Alabam’
Susanna don’t you cry

O Susanna
O don’t you cry for me
I come from Alabama with
A banjo on my knee

credits

from Ladybug One, released March 18, 2008

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Harmonica Pocket Port Townsend, Washington

Acoustic & chill, The Harmonica Pocket will win you over with laid-back originals and playful re-workings of songs you love.

Recorded on a tiny island in the Pacific Northwest using solar electricity, their albums feature ukuleles and guitars strummed over tight vocal harmonies and delicate fingerplucked melodies. Horn sections swell and tiny musical secrets are woven into the corners of the mix. ... more

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