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Shapes of America: A radio special about shape-note singing

By Kiana Del|Justin Hicks

“Shapes of America” is an hour-long special from Louisville Public Media and the Appalachia + Mid-South Newsroom.
Justin Hicks / LPM
"Shapes of America" is an hour-long special from Louisville Public Media and the Appalachia + Mid-South Newsroom.
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Shape note singing is one of the oldest musical traditions in this country. It’s a practice that began in colonial America, and after centuries of ups and downs in popularity, today it’s finding an expanded and surprisingly diverse new following… and some of its singers believe the music can teach democracy a thing or two.

Join Louisville Public Media’s Laura Atkinson and Justin Hicks as they trace this tradition, from its origins 200 years ago to the largest Sacred Harp singing in living memory. “Shapes of America” is an hour-long special from Louisville Public Media and the Appalachia + Mid-South Newsroom.

You can hear the special live on the radio Sunday Dec. 28 at 6 p.m. on 90.5 WUOL and 89.3 WFPL.

The History of Shape Note Singing

Step back in time some 200 years, to Colonial America, and discover the birth of American music. What began as tunes handed down by settlers from the British Isles quickly morphed into something unique to this country.

Shape note singers at an annual gathering in Benton, Kentucky read music from books like 'The Southern Harmony' where the notation uses shapes like triangles and squares to help them sing without instrumental accompaniment.
Shape note singers at an annual gathering in Benton, Kentucky read music from books like “The Southern Harmony” where the notation uses shapes like triangles and squares to help them sing without instrumental accompaniment. (Justin Hicks)

A scholar on Appalachian music shares how the shapes of what would become The Sacred Harp begin to form, and letters from early Yale students and soldiers in the Civil War share how the music becomes a cultural phenomenon. A century later, though, interest is waning…

Can shape note singing survive?

The Sacred Harp’s radical welcome

We begin at the Indiana State Fair to listen to shape note singing in the wild. There, we meet a documentarian working on a film about shape note singing.

Sarah Ward is a leader in the Indy Sacred Harp community, a growing community of singers in Indianapolis, Indiana. Each year, they help organize a singing at the Indiana State Fair.
Sarah Ward is a leader in the Indy Sacred Harp community, a growing community of singers in Indianapolis, Indiana. Each year, they help organize a singing at the Indiana State Fair. (Justin Hicks/LPM)

Through his film, he introduces us to some characters of The Sacred Harp community — a queer singer who was ostracized from his church family, a woman whose voice was too brazen for her own Mennonite community, and a person whose nomadic, counter-culture lifestyle led them to find a surprising home in The Sacred Harp.

The largest shape note singing in living memory

The Sacred Harp publishing company announces a new edition of the “Sacred Harp” will be released. To celebrate, they organize the biggest shape note singing in modern history.

A singer at the debut weekend-long singing convention clutches their brand-new edition of 'The Sacred Harp.' The songbook is one of the most popular collection of shape note music.
A singer at the debut weekend-long singing convention clutches their brand-new edition of “The Sacred Harp.” The songbook is one of the most popular collection of shape note music. (Justin Hicks)

There, we meet some surprising contributors to the book along the way, including a man who found his way to The Sacred Harp through punk music. Finally, we hear the long anticipated sound of more than 700 singers from all over the world coming together to sing from the new Sacred Harp.

Listen in the player above, in your podcast app, or on the radio Sunday Dec. 28 at 6 p.m. on 90.5 WUOL and 89.3 WFPL.

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