Stony Brook Roots Ensemble Concert Report

On May 10th, I had the opportunity to the “The Stony Brook Roots Ensemble. This was my first experience witnessing traditional American music played live. The venue and the ambiance were completely different from my time at the orchestra at the Staller Center. The performance took place in the Wang Center Chapel, which had surprisingly great acoustics than expected. At the orchestra there was very strict etiquette when in attendance, where one must be incredibly quiet in order to not disturb anyone else. However, for this performance there was an incredibly joyous vibe and a lax attitude due to the style of music being presented. The group was formed by Professor Taylor Ackley in 2015. The concert consisted of different types of traditional …show more content…
From the very first song, I was surprised how much I enjoyed the performance despite me not knowing the genre very well. The first song, “Darlin’ Corey”, instantly caught my attention especially from the ‘bright’ banjo picking. The next song, ‘Freight Train’, was a completely different which had a more somber tone. In the beginning, it started very eerie-like until the banjo came in to brighten up the overall tone of the song. One of the notable moments of the whole concert was during the “In the Pines” in the first set, where the ensemble highlights the unlikely instrument, the French Horn. The French horn is not normally used for traditional folk music but for this performance, the instrument works well to blend a new polyphonic sound and tone to the classic American genre. The two original pieces by Professor Ackley were also one of the many highlights to the concert. “Four Stoned Walls” has a more somber tone, detailing the journey to move to somewhere different and unknown in order to do bigger and better things. “That Don’t Bother Me” was a more uplifting, quick-tempo song which included blues influences and an impressive saxophone