In tune with Civil War

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Students attending the Kern County Academic Decathlon Concert, listening to the Americus Brass Band, probably saw something they never would have during the Civil War — Confederate and Union soldiers playing music together in the same group.

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Aaron Nigel Smith pounded out a beat of sorrow, as he and Elijah Rock created the sound and feeling of Negro Spirituals for students attending the Kern County Academic Decathlon Concert.

"When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again" may not be stored in the iPods carried by today’s youth, but it was on the minds of approximately 2,000 students from throughout California who descended on Bakersfield’s Rabobank Convention Center on Oct. 17. The occasion was the annual Kern County Academic Decathlon Concert. The song, which has been an inspirational tune in many wars, was one of approximately 29 chosen to depict the styles and characteristics of music performed during the United States Civil War. Students with notebooks and pens at the ready took notes in preparation for the music portion of the Kern County Academic Decathlon competition which will take place Feb. 2 at Bakersfield College.

The theme for this year’s decathlon is "The Civil War" and, appropriately enough, students will be quizzed on their knowledge of "The Music of the Civil War Era." Each year the Kern County Academic Decathlon Association, Kern County Superintendent of Schools and Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra sponsors the concert, the only one of its kind in California, to help students prepare. Every competing student has access to the United States Academic Decathlon music CD and study guide, but only those who attend the concert see the music performed live with an accompanying lecture.

Organizers try to keep the event as realistic to the theme, as possible. Certainly that was the case on Oct. 17, when students heard music performed by the Americus Brass Band, specializing in authentic music and costumes of the Civil War era. Some of the musicians were dressed as Union soldiers, others as Confederates. Adding to the mood were worn or discolored rotary valve musical instruments made during the Civil War. Some were smallish and resembled bugles. Others, such as the saxhorn, featured twisted piping and pointed straight up and over a shoulder. There were more conventional looking horns and tubas, as well as a snare and bass drum.

After several selections had been performed, lecturer Jerome Kleinsasser pointed out that the composers of four songs had borrowed their melodies from European operas. He disclosed how important a role music played in the Civil War. Many generals summoned their bands to the front lines, having them play such tunes as the Star Spangled Banner and Battle Hymn of the Republic to inspire troops as they battled. Many took a bullet through their tuba or worse.

Students heard several songs that became classics in American culture after the Civil War, such as "When Johnny Comes Marching Home," "Amazing Grace," "Home, Sweet Home" and "Goober Peas." The latter song was the ultimate in satire, poking fun at the enemy and officers and lamenting the soldiers’ fate of missing loved ones while fighting in a prolonged war.

Some of the biggest applause was reserved for Jason Theiste & Friends (Paul and Loren Barton) and the duo of Aaron Nigel Smith and Elijah Rock. They performed minstrel show music and songs of the slave culture, which Kleinsasser said were the "principle means of entertainment for the lower and middle classes during the 19th Century."

Theiste’s fiddle set the tone for the songs "Jim Along Josie" and "Follow the Drinking Gourd." His high-speed, instrumental duel with banjo-playing Paul Barton had students joining in with rhythmic clapping and then appreciative applause. Smith’s single guitar was an effective accompaniment to his and Rock’s renditions of Negro Spirituals "Ain’t I Right," and "Live Humble." They closed with Smith pounding out a sorrowfully, soulful beat on the bongo as he and Rock sang "Wade in the Water," about slaves trying to escape pursuing dogs by masking their scent in the river. Students were cheering out loud as the two left the stage.

"You could see through their music that it was a spiritual, struggle for African-Americans, but they were willing to take the risk," said student Paulina Gamez, a junior at Arvin High School, who will be competing in the Academic Decathlon. "This concert is awesome. It’s so much better seeing the music played in person. It’s a cultural experience. I am a visual learner and this concert gave me a better understanding."


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