A Sacred Feast: Reflections on Sacred Harp Singing and Dinner on the Ground

by Kathryn Eastburn

Some have called Sacred Harp singing America’s earliest music. This powerful nondenominational religious singing, part of a deeply held Southern culture, has spread throughout the nation over the past two centuries. In A Sacred Feast , Kathryn Eastburn journeys into the community of Sacred Harp singers across the country and introduces readers to the curious glories of a tradition that is practiced today just as it was two hundred years ago.

 

Each of the book’s chapters visits a different region and features recipes from the accompanying culinary tradition—dinner on the ground, a hearty noontime feast. From oven-cooked pulled pork barbeque to Dollar Store cornbread dressing to red velvet cake, these recipes tell a story of nourishing the body, the soul, and the voice. The Sacred Harp’s deeply moving sound and spirit resonate through these pages, captured at conventions in Alabama, Kentucky, Texas, Colorado, and Washington, conveyed in portraits of singers, and celebrated in the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes of all-day singing and dinner on the ground echoing through generations and centuries.

Genres: Music

212 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2008

Reviews

[Stephanie Pieck]

The author discovers a welcoming community and a vibrant form of American singing after she writes an article about Sacred Harp for a Texas magazine in 2003. This book tells the story of Sacred Harp as it is practiced today. It includes resources for new or curious singers and recipes from singings across the country.

[Dakota]

A lovely, accidental discovery by a local editor that is part history, part appreciation, part recipes; and all a love story for Sacred Harp.

[Dakota]

I love shape note singing and I loved every page of this delightful reflection (by a hometown editor, too!). Eastburn's fascination and wonder comes through on every page.

[Linda]

I stuck my toe into Sacred Harp singing once upon a time, and I loved it. But, circumstances and a slight feeling of inhospitality in the group I sang with, ran me off. (It was probably me!) Kathryn Eastburn's account of this marvelous "sacred harp" singing tradition, makes me long to join up again. The shape notes take some getting used to and I never quite did, but Eastburn's explanation of how to do it made me feel more secure. She travels widely to group sings and explores the tradition and the people who keep the art alive. I particularly loved the description of the shape note singers in Portland, OR who consist of many young people who dress outlandishly,sport tattoos and piercings, and sing their heads off. I favor Eastburn's writing style and her inclusion of her family history in this account. She also includes recipies of the yummy food that is shared, potluck fashion, at all day, all weekend sings all over the country. Weight Watcher's would probably drop dead at the amount of butter and cream in many of the offerings but they sure souond good to me. Eastburn includes list of films, websites, CD'and camps that promote sacred harp singing and a bibliography of her cited works. A joyful read!

[Joel]

A Sacred Feast takes the journey of Kathryn Eastburn's introduction to and unfolding love for Sacred Harp singing. As a journalist, she is commissioned to write a piece on a Texas Sacred Harp sing, and from that point forward, narrates the next several years of traveling to Sings in different regions of the country. Eastburn writes vividly about these local singers she gets to know - the things that make each singing locale unique, individuals that strike her and she gets to know better over time, the things that bind all the sings together, all the while as she becomes part of the national community. She particularly highlights the meaningfulness of the dinner on the ground, with recipes at the end of every chapter taken from the singers in that area.

A quick read, Eastburn is clearly a gifted writer. This is a good read if someone wants to understand a bit more about what can pull new singers into this living tradition.

[Linda]

I was prepared to be a bit skeptical about this, but it won me over. It's a lovely account of several Sacred Harp conventions and dinner on the grounds. Eastburn captures the flavors (sorry) of both the singing and the food of this tradition. She visits a few different singings and recounts her experiences there. At the end of the chapter there are the recipes for the dishes prepared by the people she's talked with. It's not a comprehensive book, but it's not trying to be. I just wished there were more pictures and that they were in color. All in all, a lovely addition to the literature about Sacred Harp.

[Inder]

This is a short and sweet little account of shape-note singing communities around the country, full of lovely descriptions of dinner on the ground (and recipes). However, at times, it reads like a somewhat impersonal journalistic "who's who" of the Sacred Harp world. I wish Ms. Eastburn had delved a bit deeper into the effect of Sacred Harp on her personal life.

[Ayne Ray]

As a Sacred Harp singer, let me point out first are foremost that there are no harps in Sacred Harp singing; the term refers to the human voice as an instrument, and all songs are sung with no instrumental accompaniment. Also known as shape note singing, it is one of the oldest musical traditions in the United States and has an extremely interesting history.

[Stephen]

Tales of shape note singing

Tales of shape note singing

Want to know what it's like to visit a singing? Want to know about dinner on the ground? This is the book for you. Why doesn't Amazon stock either the Denson or Cooper Sacred Harp? You will want one or both if you read this book.

[Joanna]

A cookbook & musicology/ethnomusicology book about Sacred Harp?!? Sounds like a dream book...

[Leah Coffin]

An excellent overview of the Sacred Harp tradition - and I intend to try making at least one of those recipes.