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>> Karen Lloyd: Good evening. I'm Karen Lloyd, a retired Army aviation colonel and director of the Veterans History Project. On behalf of the Librarian of Congress and all of our colleagues, I would like to welcome you and thank you for joining us for the musical portion of the Veterans Art Showcase. The week-long Art Showcase kicks off our year-long anniversary celebration commemorating 20 years since Congress passed legislation -- I like to think of it as our birth certificate -- to launch the Veterans History Project under the American Folk Life Center here at the Library of Congress. The mission of the Veterans History Project is to collect, preserve and make accessible the stories of United States military veterans who served from World War II through the most current conflicts so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand their selfless service. Their stories are our stories. The stories of our nation told by those who were witness to history, whether in the foxhole, the cockpit, the ship deck, the mess hall or even flying a desk. To date we have over 110,000 collections in our archive from volunteers who sit down with the veterans and gold star families in their lives in their communities to ask them about their experiences and then listen, really listen. Our collections include oral history interviews, original photographs, letters, diaries, journals, two-dimensional artwork. As you may note, there are many different formats from which somebody can choose to tell their story to the Veterans History Project. Anyone who's poured their heart into songwriting or belted our lyrics to a ballad understands the catharsis that comes from artistic expression. For veterans participating in creative pursuits can have a particularly therapeutic benefit. This evening, we have the opportunity to hear from two incredible artists, Bob Regan and Jamie Fox. First up is a personal friend and incredible individual Bob Regan. Bob is a professional songwriter and founder of Operation Song, his nonprofit based in Nashville with the mission to empower veterans, active-duty military and their families to tell their stories through the process of songwriting. He has been nominated for a Grammy Award, a Dove Award and the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. He has over 200 songs recorded by such contemporary artists as Keith Urban, Luke Bryan, Jake Owen and by legendary artists ranging from George Strait to Don Williams, to Hank Williams, Jr. From Kenny Rogers to the cowboy legend Roy Rogers. Wow. In 2009, Bobs song Dig Two Graves by Randy Travis was nominated for a Grammy Award for best country song. His song Pray About Everything was nominated for the best contemporary Christian Country song in 2011. His hits include Your Everything by Keith Urban, Thinking About You by Trisha Yearwood, Till Love Comes Again by Reba McIntyre, Soon by Tanya Tucker and others. Garnering him 11 ASCAP most-performed awards. If that's not enough, in addition to his songwriting career, Bob has been a recording artist with Curb Records, a studio guitarist, a guitarist on the Grand Ole Opry and adjunct professor of songwriting at Belmont University and a three-term president of the board and five-term legislative chair of the Nashville Songwriters Association International. Whew. Makes me tired. Ladies and gentlemen, please help me in welcoming Mr. Bob Regan.
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[ Applause ]
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>> Bob Regan: Thank you. Thank you, Karen, for the kind introduction.
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I didn't realize I'd done all that stuff. I'm tired. I'm going to call it a night. No, not quite yet.
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Well first off, I'd just like to say I'm incredibly honored to be here at the Kobitz Hall Library of Congress. This is one of my favorite buildings in Washington DC and it's beyond an honor to play here as I said. And I would very much like to thank Director Karen Lloyd and Carey Ward who is -- we've communicated through about 50,000 emails. I think we'll be ready to stop emailing each other after this weekend. I'm going to bring out -- I was very fortunate to find out that Mr. Ian Wagner -- Ian, are you close by? Come on up, Ian.
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[ Applause ]
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Ladies and gentlemen, this is retired Sergeant Ian Wagner, Purple Heart recipient and veteran of Afghanistan and two tours in Iraq. And we were very fortunate to meet in Nashville. And anytime Operation Song does something, we try to get him to come and sing, and it turns out he was just about an hour away. And I asked him to come and help me sing a few songs. And I think you're going to hear why in a minute. Just a little bit about Operation Song, very briefly, it's a Nashville-based nonprofit. We founded in 2012 and it came about when I had the opportunity to play armed forces entertainment tours around the world.
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And on those tours, I've had the opportunities to meet servicemen and women and I did not serve myself. But it was an honor to be able to play a small part. But when the guitars would come out, people were always drawn to it and they come and start telling us stories. And I thought, "Well, what would it be like if we paired Nashville songwriters with these veterans to help them tell their stories in song?" And fortunately the VA thought it was a pretty good idea, and that was about 700-plus songs ago with veterans of World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Desert Storm, Afghanistan, with their spouses, their children. And it's been very effective. Anyway, I'm going to start the night with a song -- this was written in a group. We do retreats where we do one-on-one songs and then we'll also do groups of like 8-10 weeks where 4-5 or in this case probably six veterans sit down and we start talking and write a song. And it was coming up on Memorial Day and I didn't think there'd ever been a song written about Memorial Day, at least one that I'd heard. And I have this title called The Last Monday in May. And so we started talking with veterans. That day they were veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan and Vietnam. And every conflict is different and every one's the same. So we wrote this from the perspective of the fallen veterans of different conflicts, called The Last Monday in May.
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[ Music ]
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I took a musket ball in Chancellorsville.
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I went down and I lie here still.
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Underneath a block of stone.
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The world is turned and times moved on.
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There are seasons when it seems that everyone's forgotten me.
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Until, the Last Monday in May.
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When all the springtime flowers bloom.
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They come and decorate my grave but only bones lie here entombed.
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My spirit flies as high as Old Glory waves, on the Last Monday in May.
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I fought on a distant shore.
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In the war to end all wars.
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World War I turned into II.
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The Argonne into Pelieu.
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Its hard to rest so far from home.
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One day a year I'm not alone.
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On the Last Monday in May.
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When all the springtime flowers bloom
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They come and decorate my grave but only bones lie here entombed.
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My spirit flies as high as Old Glory waves, on the Last Monday in May.
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From the jungles of Vietnam to the mountains of Afghanistan and whatever wars are yet to be, we'll fight to keep our country free.
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A chopper went down in Iraq.
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One more week and I have made it back
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Now my war and battle's done.
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I rest in peace in Arlington.
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My wife is here most days with me, won't you come and keep us company?
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The Last Monday in May.
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When all the springtime flowers bloom.
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Please help her decorate my grave but only bones lie here entombed.
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My spirit flies as high as Old Glory waves.
Remember those who died and the sacrifice they made on the Last Monday in May.
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The Last Monday in May.
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On the Last Monday in May.
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[ Applause ]
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Thank you.
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[ Applause ]
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All right. And that video, we encouraged the veterans who worked on the songs to send us photographs and come up with a slideshow video. And that was made by Vietnam veteran Michael Cabber.
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When people ask Operation Song to come and do a presentation, I say, "Well, sometimes it's kind of effective if we can have a veteran come to the program maybe the day before or the day of and we'll write a song."
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And we ended up doing that. In fact, yesterday I wrote two songs and I kind of scared myself. I said, "What have I gotten myself into?" But I ended up having a wonderful day. And one of the veterans I wrote with has an extremely compelling story and is very, very accomplished. With your permission, I'd like to bring up Trey Carson. Yes, please.
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[ Applause ]
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Trey.
>> Trey Carson: I can't sing now.
>> Bob Regan: That's all right. Spoken word.
>> Trey Carson: Yeah. I'm trey. I'm the budget officer here at the Library of Congress. And it wouldn't have been possible for me to ever have this job here had I not had my military career. It was a great thing for me. It was the perfect thing for me, a confidence builder. And now I've had two occasions when I've got to kind of cleanse my soul and review my military career. And one of them was with Karen, and I did my interview. And when you sit down and carry, when you sit down and think about what you did in your military career, it's a real cleansing experience. And yesterday was an unbelievable surprise. Karen called me and I met Bob and I mean, I had nothing to do with the song. It was just incredible to see him go through the creative process, not me. And then when I kind of heard the song today, I was like, "Wow, you did that in 24 hours? Did you go to sleep last night?"
>> Bob Regan: Yes, I did. I got a good night's sleep and I needed it.
>> Trey Carson: Yeah, okay.
>> Bob Regan: Anyway, this is one of the great rewards of doing this for me, is to just meet and talk to people who served in all different branches of the military and the different things they've done. And then the many, many songs I've written, I have never written a song with a tail hook aviator.
>> Trey Carson: Yeah. My career was -- I was a naval aviator. I flew an aircraft called the S3 Viking for about 14 years. And then I became a bean counter. I went to school because they were going to decommission the aircraft, and so I shifted in the middle of my career. And now I'm here a bean counter at the Library of Congress I guess. Anyway.
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[ Applause ]
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>> Bob Regan: So anyway, this is how the process unfolds. I just -- you know, Trey came over and we just talked a little bit and he told me his story and then I tried to take his words and his story and make them rhyme. And then at the end I said, "Well, what kind of music do you like?" And he said, "I like John Prine." I went, "Whew. I was thinking it might be -- being a fighter pilot I thought it might be Pantera or Five Finger Death Punch or something." But no. So this is called Tail Hook Aviator.
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[ Music ]
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As a kid I only had one dream.
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To play like Nicklaus in the PGA.
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I realized that dream would never be.
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And for a while there I kind of lost my way.
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But the Naval Air Recruiter was the difference-maker. He said I could be a tail hook aviator.
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So I said, "Let's go." And I signed my name.
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13-week wonder, AOSE.
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They tried to break me, but I would not break.
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I made conehead and they pinned on my wings.
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San Diego, I got better. I got smarter, I got braver until I got to be a tail hook navigator. Aviator, sorry.
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There's a whole lot more of the story I could tell. But these brown shoes and flack jacket speak for themselves. I'll tell the world that there's no honor greater than to be a tail hook aviator.
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In dreams I still hear that LSO.
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Yeah, they call the ball, look the green lines.
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Right for line of power, power, slightly lower. Oh, throttle, try to catch that tree wire.
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That adrenaline rush, I still feel it decades later. Guess I'll always be a tail hook aviator.
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And there's a whole lot more of the story I could tell. But these brown shoes and flack jacket speak for themselves. And I'll tell the world that there's no honor greater than to be a tail hook aviator.
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That PGA dream I never got to live it. But I kind of, sort of did because my call sign was Divot. There's a whole lot more of the story I could tell. But these brown shoes and flack jacket, they speak for themselves. And I'll tell the world that there's no honor greater than to be a tail hook aviator.
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And when I fold my wings and go to see my maker, I bet he'll know I was a tail hook aviator.
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[ Applause ]
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Trey.
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When people tell me these stories, I go, "I think we have more than a song here. I believe we have an entire CD, if not a box set." That's one tiny sliver of his life. All right, I'm going to pick up the tempo a little bit.
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This next song was written with a Vietnam veteran named Bob Pierce. And I met Bob at a program at the Nashville Vet Center. And Bob had come in and was kind of hanging around in the back of the room. Needless to say, he had the boony cap and a gray beard and coveralls. And I thought, "Well, this guy's probably had it pretty rough over the years." And we met and got to talking. Bob was a PhD economist for the state of Tennessee for his entire career. He told me he'd worn a suit and a tie his whole life and cut his hair. And after he retired, like a lot of Vietnam veterans, the background noise in their life kind of goes down and a lot of the memories come back. So he wanted to talk about a phrase that he learned in Vietnam. And I bet most Vietnam veterans are familiar with it. It's a combination of French and Vietnamese street slang. It's called Boocoo Dinky Dau which means very crazy. So this is Bob Pierce's song Boocoo Dinky Dau.
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[ Music ]
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In Vietnam they had slang for crazy.
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They called it Boocoo Dinky Dau.
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That's what I was back then, no if's or maybe's.
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That's how I feel sometimes even now.
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It's what they said if you did something stupid.
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It's what you were if you did something brave.
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I did both and somehow I lived through it.
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I'm just proud to be standing here today.
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We were young and dumb, just boys when they gave us deadly toys. And that's Boocoo Dinky Dau, Boocoo Dinky Dau. And it's all just games and fun till you gotta use that gun, then it's Boocoo Dinky Dau. Booboo Dinky Day. GI, good guys and VC villains.
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But in the end it's all just senseless killin'.
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And I bet God was looking down thinking they're all Boocoo Dinky Dau.
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We had M14's, M16's and M60's.
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Everything that they could fire 600 rounds.
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We had to get that body count a little higher.
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To make those contractors in the Pentagon proud.
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Oh but finally he had AK-47's.
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And cops and World War II car thieves.
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50 years since I dodged those bullets.
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But at night the tracers still light up my dreams.
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We were young and dumb, just boys but they gave us deadly toys, and that's Boocoo Dinky Dau, crazy Dinky Dau. And it's all just games and fun until you gotta use that gun, then it's Boocoo Dinky Dau. Man, flat out Dinky Dau. GI, good guys and VC villains.
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But in the end it's all just senseless killin'.
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And I bet God was looking down thinking they're all Boocoo Dinky Dau.
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[ Applause ]
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All right, I'm going to call Ian Wagner back up here. He's going to play some guitar on the next couple songs. And I'm going to sit off to the side. I'll tell a little bit about this song. This is called The Forgotten Victory.
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And we had written about four years ago a song with a Korean veteran named Carl Murphy, a song called The Forgotten War, which is kind of the standard phrase for the Korean conflict. And we were invited to come and perform the song at the Korean War Memorial. And I brought Carl Murphy and his wife up from Tennessee and they heard the song and everybody was very pleased. But immediately after the song, the president of the Korean War Veterans Association, Mr. Larry Canard, got up there and said, "I love that song, but I hate that it's called The Forgotten War. It should be called The Forgotten Victory."
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So he was adamant about it. So I said, "Mr. Canard, if you would send me everything you can think of about why this conflict should be called The Forgotten Victory and send me some pictures also if you would, and we'll write a song called The Forgotten Victory." So now when we play at the Korean War Memorial, we play this song. Ian Wagner.
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[ Music ]
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>> Ian Wagner: We came home from Korea in 1953. Heartbreak Ridge and Ninchan burned in our memory. But we got along with living, back to jobs and families.
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What we won and lost is faded in the mists of history.
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It's been called the forgotten war. And there are those who don't know what we were fighting for. But on any given night you could look down from a satellite. The north is dead and dark, the south shines bright and free.
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And it's clear to see that we should call it the forgotten victory.
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37,000 lost in that frozen hell. But we stopped communism cold at the 38th Parallel. Ask any South Korean if those battles were in vain. They'll tell you they're still thankful for the way of live we saved.
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It's been called the forgotten war. And there are those who don't know what we were fighting for.
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But on any given night, you can look down from a satellite. The north is dead and dark, the south shines bright and free. And it's clear to see that we should call it the forgotten victory.
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May the memory of our band of brothers always live on. May these statues tell our stories after we are gone.
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So it won't be the forgotten war. And everyone will all know what we were fighting for.
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And maybe on some distant night, we could look down from a satellite at the north and south both shining bright and free.
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For all the world to see. And we could call it the forgotten victory.
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[ Applause ]
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>> Bob Regan: Ian Wagner.
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[ Applause ]
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>> Ian Wagner: You know, it's always a big honor to get to come perform these songs. And I've actually gotten to participate in some songwrites with Operation Song. And there's something really special I believe about music and with art in general, you know. But music, anybody can listen to a song and it brings them back to a certain time and place. You know, certain songs do that for you. And I believe when you write a song, you put that same energy out there. And it can be transformative for a lot of veterans. And I've had the honor of meeting so many veterans that Bob has worked with. I've known quite a few of them who have said that Operation Song saved their life. And well, he gave me a few songs to look at this week to perform up here. One of them -- so I chose this one.
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[ Music ]
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On patrol on [inaudible] on the south side of Baghdad, looking for another IED. That's when he found the blast. He wound up on the dirt floor, shook it all off. His bell was wrung. He struggled quick to get back on his gun.
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It knocked the track off of that Bradley, left a big hole in the dirt.
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LT's report said nobody got hurt.
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No one got a scratch, everybody walked away. They can't count the wounds inside his mind that don't show on X-ray. And every battle he survives, the pain gets a little worse.
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LT's report said nobody got hurt.
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All alone in his apartment, back home in the States, lying on a hardwood floor with tears rolling down his face.
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Jack Daniel's in his left hand, Smith and Wesson in his right.
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Whiskey on his breath and give up on his mind.
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His battle buddy kicked the door in, could have been a whole lot worse.
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LT's report said nobody got hurt.
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No one got a scratch. Everybody walked away. But they can't count the wounds inside his mind that don't show up on X-ray. And every battle he survives, the pain gets a little worse.
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LT's report said nobody got hurt.
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He's got a woman now who loves him more than anything on earth. And he's finally getting better. He got the help that he deserves. So if you see him on the street some day, run in to him at work.
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I guess you'd say he's doing all right.
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Nobody got hurt.
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Nobody got hurt.
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[ Applause ]
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>> Bob Regan: Ian Wagner.
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And Ian is going to jump in his car tomorrow and drive to Nashville and be with us at the Country Music Hall of Fame on Veterans Day. So we're very, very grateful to Ian for his service and his support of Operation Song.
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[ Applause ]
^F00:33:36
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And just a little bit about the process for Operation Song. Now when Operation Song was begun, I don't think myself or any of the other writers really kind of knew exactly what we would be doing or how it would work. But it seems like if you can just get people to start talking -- and we songwriters are pretty skilled at just starting a conversation. Because we're always trying to probe our cowriters for a good song title. Because I'm sick of my own stories, so I want to hear yours. So if you start a conversation with, "Tell me about yourself," people usually do. And songwriters seem to have these antennae and they're good at finding a thread in the story even if the person that tells it might have a little difficult time doing it. But we always try to use the veteran's words as much as possible and make sure it's their song. We're not here to write a song for them. Together we're going to help you tell your story in a new way.
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So I wrote two songs yesterday, as I said. The first woman I worked with, she was in what's called the Telling Project. If any of you happened to see that on Thursday night, it was incredibly moving and it was really -- I strongly encourage you if you get an opportunity to see that production. Four female veterans each telling their story in a unique way. I was privileged to write with Rachel Robinson and I don't think she knew what to expect. She may have been conscripted into the process, if I'm guessing.
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Anyway, she showed up yesterday morning and she said, you know, "Well, how long is this going to take? I've got about an hour." And I kind of went, "Okay. An hour is plenty of time." But once she got talking, I kind of -- she sort of told me a little bit of her story and I started singing some lines back to her. And then all of a sudden she wasn't in such a hurry. So about three hours later we pretty much finished up the song. And she again, as I said, she had to fly back home. But she said as far as this song -- this song is called So Much More. And she said, "Would you please say that this song is dedicated to my sister Nancy who died by suicide in 2017? And all my service members, fellow service members who may be struggling with PTSD and suicidal thoughts."
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And I was very kind of worried when I sent her the song this morning because we didn't quite finish it. And her text this morning at 2:00 was, "I love it. I'm crying. I love it." So whew.
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And one more thing I will say. There's been probably 100 different songwriters who have done this, and several songwriters in the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame -- highly, highly accomplished songwriters. But to a man and a woman they almost all say this is one of the best days I've had as a songwriter just to use my skillset for something that really matters, that might actually help somebody process something they've been to. So it's a win-win for everybody.
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And again, like I asked Trey what kind of music he liked, and I asked Rachel. And she was talking about, "I like anything but country." And I'm from Nashville so I kind of went, "Okay, not a problem." And then she named a few artists. She said, "Bob Marley." So I started going --
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[ Strumming guitar ]
^M00:37:22
She said, "Yeah, I love that." I went, "Whew, okay. I think we can write a song."
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[ Music ]
^M00:37:35
15 years old, I had a revelation.
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I had to have food and a roof over my head.
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I needed a goal, maybe higher education.
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^M00:37:54
Mostly had to have a little spending bread.
^M00:37:59
^M00:38:01
The recruiter came to my front door and I got all of that and more. I got strength, I got battle buddies.
^M00:38:12
^M00:38:14
I got to fight for something bigger than myself.
^M00:38:18
^M00:38:20
And I got a combat patch, I got my boots muddy.
^M00:38:25
^M00:38:27
I got tails I'll need a lifetime to tell.
^M00:38:32
^M00:38:34
Yeah, I knew what I signed up for, but I got all of that and so much more.
^M00:38:42
^M00:38:44
So much more.
^M00:38:45
^M00:38:47
Day one I reco-loaded was a moment.
^M00:38:52
^M00:38:54
Mortar and chag and it got real.
^M00:38:59
^M00:39:01
I dropped and ran and ran, got locked and loaded.
^M00:39:05
^M00:39:07
I was scared and unprepared. It was all so surreal.
^M00:39:12
^M00:39:14
Those mortars rained for 18 months. That's what my new normal was. I got strength, I got battle buddies.
^M00:39:25
^M00:39:27
I got to fight for something bigger than myself.
^M00:39:31
^M00:39:33
I got a combat patch, I got my boots muddy.
^M00:39:38
^M00:39:40
I got tails that'll take me a lifetime to tell.
^M00:39:45
^M00:39:47
Oh, I knew what I signed up for. But I got all of that and so much more. So much more.
^M00:39:58
^M00:40:00
When I came home, I brought that war back with me.
^M00:40:05
^M00:40:06
I had to fight to save my self and save my baby's.
^M00:40:12
^M00:40:13
Now I look back and cry and smile. This too shall pass in style. I got strength, I got battle buddies.
^M00:40:25
^M00:40:27
I got to fight for something bigger than myself. I got a combat patch, I got my boots muddy.
^M00:40:38
^M00:40:40
And I got tails I'll need a whole lifetime to tell.
^M00:40:46
^M00:40:47
Yeah, I knew what I signed up for. But I got all of that and more.
^M00:40:55
^M00:40:57
So much more.
^M00:40:59
^M00:41:00
So much more.
^M00:41:02
^M00:41:03
So much more.
^M00:41:05
^M00:41:07
This too shall pass in style is something her sister used to say to her. And Rachel has it tattooed on her arm.
^M00:41:15
^M00:41:22
[ Applause ]
^M00:41:30
Well thank you so much. Mostly thank you so much to all the veterans here, everywhere, who served our country and allow people like me to do what we do. And thank you again so much to the Library of Congress, to Karen and Carey and everybody else who made tonight possible. Stick around, we have Jamie Fox coming up. It's going to be great. I'm going to sit down and enjoy it.
^M00:41:53
[ Applause ]
^M00:42:03
>> Karen Lloyd: Bob, before you go -- wow, didn't I promise incredible? Yeah?
^M00:42:09
[ Applause ]
^M00:42:10
All right. Ian, would you come up here too, Ian?
^M00:42:14
^M00:42:16
On behalf of the Veterans History Project --
^M00:42:19
^M00:42:25
For Ian this will feel like really military. He'll get it. For Bob, I'm not quite sure.
^M00:42:30
^M00:42:32
But we give out certificates of appreciation.
>> Bob Regan: That's worth five points.
>> Karen Lloyd: Yeah.
>> Bob Regan: Thank you.
>> Karen Lloyd: Great.
^M00:42:39
^M00:42:42
But what's really special, I've been in the job just over three years and we give out Veterans History Project coins. And this is number 33.
>> Bob Regan: Wow. Thank you.
>> Karen Lloyd: Thanks so much. Great. And Ian, thank you so much for being here. Again, a grip and grin. You know how to do it.
>> Ian Wagner: Absolutely. Thank you.
>> Karen Lloyd: Thank you so very much.
^M00:43:05
[ Applause ]
^M00:43:13
So thank you both.
^M00:43:15
^M00:43:28
Wow. Wow, wow, wow. What an evening for me. And I hope that you're feeling the same way. Next, I had the great privilege of seeing Jamie Fox perform last January at the Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada. I was astounded by her performance and I couldn't believe my luck when I bumped into her the next day at the airport and we got to talking. And then I learned that she became the 2018 recipient of the American Folk Life Center Henry Reed Fund Award for her project Preserving the Metis Fiddling on Fort Belknap Indian Reservation, Montana. And I'm thinking, "Wow, small world." We immediately extended an invitation for Jamie to visit us at the Library and had the great fortune of interviewing her about her 11 years in the Air Force. Jamie is one of the most coveted and well-known young players of Metis fiddle music which grew out of a mixture of Celtic, French and Native American cultures. When Jamie was five, she used to go around and pretend she was a fiddle player. And a fiddler came to her that Christmas, and we're lucky. The Mitchif tradition of fiddle playing on the Fort Belknap Reservation was on its last legs just as Jamie fell in love with it. And through her love of the Mitchif tunes, she brought new healing to old discord between the cultural sectors of her tribal society. As word got out, others on the reservation along with the Montana High Line were incredibly enthused to see youngsters taking on a new music that was in jeopardy of vanishing. As a 17-year-old, Jamie chose to pursue her childhood fascination with airplanes and the venerated tradition of military service with in the Native American culture. She joined the Air Force in 2007 and was deployed twice to the Middle East. First to Khader and then to Kandar, Afghanistan. As she describes in her oral history, although she adjusted quickly to her military, her eventual transition to civilian life was not as easy. Her lifelong passion for music gave her a sense of direction and helped her bridge the gap between the two worlds. Since then, Jamie has played with master tradition Metis fiddlers Jimmy Laroque and Mike Page of the Turtle Mountain Reservation, Jim Yarkan of Sesquonton, and Fatty Morton in Montana. Additionally, she has been mentored by the Metis elder Alice Wideman of Chocto and archivist of the Metis fiddle tunes. Jamie was brought into the fold of contemporary fiddle performance through family relationships with the nationally renowned pianist Philip Adberg and fiddler Darol Anger. Although having expanded musical interests and learning numerous tunes and styles from many traditions, her experience with elder Metis fiddlers is exceptional and singular. She represents the continuance of this generation, maintaining a style and repertoire that dates back to the fur trade era of the 17th century. Please join me in welcoming Jamie Fox.
^M00:46:42
[ Applause ]
^F00:46:53
^M00:47:06
[ Music ]
^M00:50:13
[ Applause ]
^M00:50:25
>> Jamie Fox: Is this the mic? You can hear me? All right. I think she gave an introduction. I didn't hear her backstage. But first I want to introduce my backup player and my really good friend Scotty Leech.
^M00:50:38
[ Applause ]
^M00:50:44
And then when they asked me to come play here for the Veterans Showcase, it was kind of hard to tie the music into the background of being a veteran. And I just thought of it today hanging out with Scotty, is, you know, when you transition out of the military, it's hard to communicate with civilians about your experiences or your work. It's the cliché to say the camaraderie, but it's true. When I speak with my civilian friends it's much different and it's hard to connect what we really experienced or how you go from day-to-day from boot camp training and you're with someone 24/7 when you're in a deployment zone. But then you go into the civilian world and you just see them maybe eight hours a day. So you don't have that same connection. So the couple years that I've been out of the military, I found that the only thing that really gives me that if I don't -- that friendship, that camaraderie, is actually through my music with some people, like Scotty Leech my good friend. Because we do have a connection through the arts and music, and we understand each other. And he is one of my very good friends in life that I can play music with and talk about and have a camaraderie just like I did in the military. So that's just kind of my honest connection that I've put together.
^M00:52:26
[ Applause ]
^M00:52:33
And it's great that he's one of those backup players that can play anything and make you sound good. So we're just going to play some tunes that I grew up with. We'll play a set of jigs. We'll play some reals. And a lot of these tunes are for dancing.
^M00:52:55
^M00:52:57
There's a dance floor right here if you guys want to. So it's not really set up for like a big concert thing. This is just kind of the real life what you would hear on a dance floor back home in Montana. So here's -- hope you enjoy the tunes. And also I'm going to bring up Scotty for the fiddle soon. So we'll get a little bit of that.
^M00:53:19
^M00:53:29
[ Music ]
^M00:56:55
[ Applause ]
^M00:57:05
^M00:57:06
So while he gets tuned up, I'll just talk a little bit about him and how we met. We met at a music festival in Fort Townsend, Washington when we were teenagers. I must have been 15, so that would make him 13. And 15 years later -- I'm 30, he's 28 -- we still off and on played music. And when I was stationed at Fort Lewis-McChord in Washington State, he was gone to college in Olympia, Washington. And that's when we really started playing together and becoming good friends. And so when I think of a military background and history, he's kind of always been there beside me. And to be out of the military now and he's still beside me feels -- that's a real friendship right there. And so he's going to come up and play a fiddle tune with me. One of my tunes -- well, it's not one of mine, but it's from the Metis genre. And it's called Settle Old Paint. And it comes from the Oklahoma Area. And there's a Choctaw native fiddler who played a lot of weird tunes, and this is one of them. And it gets to showcase how he's a great fiddler as well.
^M00:58:32
^M00:58:39
[ Music ]
^M01:00:41
[ Applause ]
^F01:00:51
^M01:00:58
Has anyone ever come to a concert here before at the American Folk Life Center? Okay. I mean, Library of Congress. It's always been a dream to come here. I came here as a teenager once. And we were friends and we both looked up to the fiddler Alan Jabbour who was the director of the Folk Life Center. And so it's an honor to be here, and I'm thinking of him now. He was an old-time fiddle player.
^M01:01:28
^M01:01:30
So I just had to say that. I don't know what else to say.
^M01:01:33
[ Applause ]
^M01:01:40
Okay, and we're going to play a waltz now. Does anyone know how to waltz? Because it's really a shame that no one dances to a waltz. No? I know there's a waltzer right there, because I waltzed with you before.
^M01:01:54
^M01:01:59
But I got this tune from a fiddler up in Canada named John Arcand. And he's still alive. He's known as like the master Metis fiddle player and he knows just thousands of tunes. And he's written a lot of tunes and so he taught me this one. And a lot of -- it's one of those tunes that's not just a Metis genre. It's popular now everywhere, so that's kind of a nice thing. And it's a beautiful one to play with Scotty. It's called the Teardrop Waltz.
^M01:02:32
^M01:02:37
[ Music ]
^M01:05:41
[ Applause ]
^M01:05:51
We're going to play one more set, but while I was playing the waltz, I thought of this little story related to being in the military. I was in the Air Force and I was a flight mechanic. They call it a crew chief, on B1's and C17's. And when we would fly on the C17's and go on TDY's or work trips, I would always bring a fiddle with me with my fiddle case. And in the C17's we always haul the Marines or the Army to go do their training. And then I go back to the hotel room and play fiddle. But they would always see me with this long black fiddle case, but I don't think anyone knew what was really in there. So I would always get these Marines asking me what's on my back. And I'd always lie to them. I'd say, "It's my sniper rifle." And then I was treated so well. But I was so scared, I had never told them it was actually a fiddle. Because that wouldn't be -- that would put the Air Force on -- we're already at a nerd level. That would put it way up on the nerd level.
^M01:07:05
^M01:07:07
So it's fun that I got to carry it while I traveled. But we'll play you a set of reals. And thank you for allowing us to come and play for you. And thanks, Carey and Karen, for inviting and --
^M01:07:22
[ Applause ]
^M01:07:28
And one last thing is you're only as good as your backup. A classic fiddle player named Jerry Hollins said that, and it's true. So please give one big hand to Scotty Leech for backing me up.
^M01:07:44
[ Applause ]
^F01:07:51
^M01:08:05
[ Music ]
^M01:11:07
[ Applause ]
^M01:11:20
>> Karen Lloyd: And we promised you incredible. What do you think? Nice? Wow.
^M01:11:25
[ Applause ]
^M01:11:27
Before you go, and Jamie, you'll recognize this. I don't think Scotty will. It's what we do.
>> Jamie Fox: Oh my gosh.
^M01:11:35
^M01:11:37
>> Karen Lloyd: So Jamie, again, grip and grin.
>> Jamie Fox: All right.
>> Karen Lloyd: Thank you so much for being here today. But what I really want to give you is this Veterans History Project coin.
>> Jamie Fox: Oh, thank you so much.
>> Karen Lloyd: I've been here three years and this is coin number 35.
>> Jamie Fox: All right, thank you.
>> Karen Lloyd: And you're getting coin number 36.
^M01:11:58
[ Inaudible ]
^M01:12:03
Thank you.
>> Jamie Fox: Thank you. Thank you so much.
>> Karen Lloyd: My pleasure. Thank you all for being here with us.
>> Jamie Fox: Thank you so much.
>> Karen Lloyd: Wow.
^M01:12:12
[ Applause ]
^M01:12:29
Wow. I don't know about you all, but I had a wonderful evening. And we're probably not supposed to say that, right?
^M01:12:36
[ Applause ]
^M01:12:38
Before we depart, I want to publicly recognize a lot of folks behind the scenes who make this week possible. The library special events team, especially Mary Eno, Yamil Forbes, Michelle Winfield, Kimberly McCullough, Clay Pensick and Laura Curcy. The American Folk Life Center, especially Betsy Peterson, Jennifer Cutting, John Fenn and Ebony Sherlock. The Library's Office of Communication, especially Cheryl Kennedy, Briana Head and Shawn Miller. The Prints and Photographs Division, Catherine Blood. The Music Division, especially Sue Vita and Michelle Glimp. The Visitor Services Office, especially Susan Morton and Diana Gibbs. The Multimedia Group, especially Jim Kennedy. The Network Development Especially Betsy Fulford. But last but certainly not least, the whole Veterans History Project Team, especially Monica Mohindra and Carey Ward. Please join me in a big round of applause for them and for yourselves for choosing to come here tonight.
^M01:13:39
[ Applause ]
^M01:13:47
And I really do appreciate everyone that came tonight. And please, if you get a moment this weekend, tell a veteran you appreciate their service. Thank you.
^M01:13:57
[ Applause ]
^E01:13:59