At the beginning of the calendar year, it is not
uncommon for music writers to share their predictions for who they think will
become breakout stars in the year to come. I have done this with my blog
in the past, but this year I am not going to walk down that path. Instead, as I
prepare to usher in 2017, I have been thinking a lot about a tradition
that is becoming more and more prominent in my life. So while some
families are still humming “Auld Lang Syne”, I am thinking of Nas’ 2006 album
“Hip Hop Is Dead” when he raps, “When they crown you - and you rise up to your position /
Carry On Tradition / When they knight you - then you go to fight, go to war,
don't petition / Carry On Tradition (x2) / Carry on (x2) / Carry On Tradition
(x2) / when you rep what we rep / Then Carry On Tradition”.
There are all types of traditions tied to music.
One tradition that I have adopted is oral tradition, a type of musical
communication wherein knowledge and culture are passed
on orally from one generation to another. The initial image in my head is
of Appalachian music, front porches and fire pits. In my home, music
is a focus as the boys sit at the counter-top in our kitchen and we listen to A
Tribe Called Quest’s “Can I Kick It?” or when we are playing a family game
in our living room with my wife’s Pandora station playing in the background and
we end up talking about the difference between the Counting Crows versus
the Black Crowes.
Music traditions can also be classified into some
combination of ethnic, racial, religious or geographic boundaries.
Although my paternal family hails from Belarus, we sadly did not inherit
an ability for neumatic chants known as znamenny. However, one thing we
are proud of is that our house has become a meeting spot for family and
friends, where music inevitably becomes the center of
conversation. We value the fact that we do not live in a traditional
household. We have 4 generations living at our house, my boys, my wife
and I, my wife’s parents, and her maternal grandfather. Although I am
still waiting for the first jam session with Zaidy on guitar, my boys get to
hear their maternal grandfather wax poetic on Bobby
Darin and my friends' heated discussions about the jam bands of our
college years. With the wide range of ages passing thru Pittsburgh, we
get an awesome cross-section of people, stories and music.
Through the tradition of music, I hope that my boys
can look back at their childhood and remember a house that was often full of
people, tales and music. Maybe not exactly along the lines of Hank
Williams, Jr.’s 1979 song, “Family Tradition”, but close: “So don't ask
me, Hank why do you drink? Hank, why do roll smoke? / Why must you live out the
songs that you wrote? / Stop and think it over, try and put yourself in my
unique position. / If I get stoned and sing all night long, it's a family
tradition.”
Thank you for reading.
