Rayna Gellert -- Glory In The Meetinghouse

This is a live recording of Rayna Gellert performing the old time fiddle tune, Glory In The Meetinghouse, as part of an all acoustic Deep End Sessions concert before a full house. Luther Strong’s version of the tune was recorded by Alan Lomax for the Library of Congress in 1937. Despite what might be inferred from the title, the tune apparently has no connections with hymnody, although Jeff Titon says “the C and B’ parts suggest the excitement of ‘shouting’ (getting happy, feeling the Spirit) in a church.” According to musicologist Jeff Titon, Hiram Stamper told Bruce Greene that "Glory in the Meetinghouse" was a contest tune that he originally learned from Bev Baker, a notorious figure but an influential fiddler. Stamper also indicated the tune was known to other fiddlers at the time and that Baker had played it in the 1919 Berea fiddle contest. Luther Strong says, “I won $500 on this tune” at the end of his LC AFS field recording. The tune has similarities to the bluegrass composition “Jerusalem Ridge.” See The Traditional Tune Archive. Live film audio by Stephen Schauer. Directed by David Bunn. c2017 Deep End Sessions.