Annotated Table of Contents
1. Hand-drawn map of Cowhill
2. Thoughts on Cowhill – talks about what I want out of my project.
3. My first collection of data on random pieces of paper – names, email addresses, phone numbers…
4. First set of fieldnotes
5. Expanded fieldnotes
6. Collage of all the clocks at Cowhill, plus a picture of a funny mouse trap joke on the wall. “They have all the time in the world!”
7. Second set of field notes.
8. Expanded fieldnotes
9. 3rd set – VERY extensive.
10. Another page of information for future interviews
11. Expanded field notes
12. First interview: Jerald Thomas – permission sheet and fieldnotes
13. Later field notes from listening to the interview again.
14. Second interview: Brad Davis – permission sheet and fieldnotes
15. Later field notes from listening to the interview again.
CODES
I – inspiration
C – confidence
T – timeless
O – object worth
P – publicity
C – connections
E – experience
S – skill/talent
A – small town atmosphere
Sponsor (of literacy, or apprenticeships)
ONE PAGE ANALYISIS
As you pointed out in your comments in my last writing assignment, the focal point of my project seems to be either too broad or too fuzzy. I agree – I’m having a little trouble focusing in on what I ultimately want my project to be about. Hopefully with further interviews my doubts will be cleared up and my project will be as great as I’m hoping it will be.
Somehow I need to tie in the importance of the history of Cowhill into the lives of the songwriters that perform there. My plan so far is to have the introduction to my project be about Cowhill’s history, its timelessness, and its role in the lives of people in the community. Cowhill really does have an interesting background, rich with history especially since Jerald Thomas, the owner, loves antiques and history and shows that by displaying all his things all over Cowhill. I think that the small town atmosphere of this shop plays a vital role in the songwriter’s night and I need to find a way to express that. That’s one thing I noticed from both of my interviews so far – both Jerald Thomas and Brad Davis mentioned something about loving Commerce and the square, loving the atmosphere, the quiet, and wanting to bring out the talent hidden in its corners.
I also want to focus a large portion of my project on how the songwriter’s life stories have brought them to be where he is, and what Cowhill means to him. I haven’t interviewed any other performers yet, but I do have interviews set up for this week. I want to know their reactions to their experiences at Cowhill, what they want to do with their talents, skills, dreams, and how their performances are affecting others. I think it’s a circle of affects… Someone in these songwriter’s lives had to affect them and lead them on towards where they are, where they are going. And they in turn, either by performing or by teaching or by forming friendships, also affect what happens in the future with songwriting. Jerald Thomas made a comment that I found important – he said that once someone has started performing, he gets better every time he does. He thinks Cowhill songwriter’s night is a great opportunity, which he called “poor boy’s copyright,” to get a writer’s stuff out there and work towards becoming better at what he’s doing.
Another thing I’d like to touch on, but not extensively, is the importance of connections. A key role that people played in Brad Davis’s life were helping him move on towards stardom… he played with well known people and spent a long time on the road, playing all over the country and making connections that way. Are these considered sponsors?
I think I have a good start so far… I just need to go through and organize the main points, collect more information with my interviews, and sit down and start writing. I think it would also be fun to put random blurbs throughout my project of just funny archives on the wall… there are little jokes and stories scattered throughout the shop, and I think it would be cool to make my own comments on those. They add character to Cowhill and its timelessness.
Another idea I’ve been toying with is one of sparkle vs. talent – which I think is important in this context because a lot of talented people perform at Cowhill but they would not succeed in the larger society’s view of the media because they don’t have the right look or vibe. However I need to be careful in this, not to mention names or anything as to not offend the readers.
I’m planning on making use of Rachel Bailey’s blogging about Cowhill because it gives me more outside perspective and I found her opinions about the interaction between crowd and performer very insightful. It definitely ties into my views on the small town atmosphere, and how Cowhill is so great because everyone in the audience is there because they WANT to be there, not for an assignment or because they were forced to come. Once I saw her blog, I started to wonder if maybe other people who took field notes on songwriter’s night would have useful insights for me as well. This is something I’m definitely going to look into. These are a few points that all tie into my project, and as I said, I just think I need to tighten up and decide how to use them. I think that this is going to be an awesome project, and I can’t wait to start writing it! I think it will turn out well!
