University of Kentucky UKnowledge Theses and Dissertations--Anthropology Anthropology 2019 FINDING THE SINGING SPRUCE: CRAFT LABOR, GLOBAL FORESTS, AND MUSICAL INSTRUMENT MAKERS IN APPALACHIA Jasper Waugh-Quasebarth University of Kentucky, [email protected] Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2019.037 Right click to open a feedback form in a new tab to let us know how this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Waugh-Quasebarth, Jasper, "FINDING THE SINGING SPRUCE: CRAFT LABOR, GLOBAL FORESTS, AND MUSICAL INSTRUMENT MAKERS IN APPALACHIA" (2019). Theses and Dissertations--Anthropology. 38. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/anthro_etds/38 This Doctoral Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Anthropology at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations--Anthropology by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STUDENT AGREEMENT: I represent that my thesis or dissertation and abstract are my original work. Proper attribution has been given to all outside sources. I understand that I am solely responsible for obtaining any needed copyright permissions. I have obtained needed written permission statement(s) from the owner(s) of each third-party copyrighted matter to be included in my work, allowing electronic distribution (if such use is not permitted by the fair use doctrine) which will be submitted to UKnowledge as Additional File. I hereby grant to The University of Kentucky and its agents the irrevocable, non-exclusive, and royalty-free license to archive and make accessible my work in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I agree that the document mentioned above may be made available immediately for worldwide access unless an embargo applies. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of my work. I understand that I am free to register the copyright to my work. REVIEW, APPROVAL AND ACCEPTANCE The document mentioned above has been reviewed and accepted by the student’s advisor, on behalf of the advisory committee, and by the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS), on behalf of the program; we verify that this is the final, approved version of the student’s thesis including all changes required by the advisory committee. The undersigned agree to abide by the statements above. Jasper Waugh-Quasebarth, Student Dr. Ann E. Kingsolver, Major Professor Dr. Sarah Lyon, Director of Graduate Studies FINDING THE SINGING SPRUCE: CRAFT LABOR, GLOBAL FORESTS, AND MUSICAL INSTRUMENT MAKERS IN APPALACHIA __________________________ DISSERTATION ________________________________________ A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky By Jasper Waugh-Quasebarth Lexington, Kentucky Director: Dr. Ann Kingsolver, Professor of Anthropology Lexington, Kentucky 2019 Copyright © Jasper Waugh-Quasebarth 2019 ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION FINDING THE SINGING SPRUCE: CRAFT LABOR, GLOBAL FORESTS, AND MUSICAL INSTRUMENT MAKERS IN APPALACHIA Musical instrument makers in the state of West Virginia in the United States pursue “singing,” lively instruments that capture ideals of musical tone and “re-enchant” their work and lives through relationships with craft materials and the forest landscape. Suitable tonewoods that grow in the region, such as red spruce (Picea rubens), intersect with makers’ desires to craft instruments in the style of famed makers such as the C.F. Martin Company and the Gibson Company as well as provide instruments imbued with a sense of place. While the demand for and symbolic import of instruments made with local wood seems to grow, the availability of the requisite tree species is dominated by resource materialities and temporalities of large land-owners and timber producers that privilege timber harvest in short cycles that clash with the needs of musical instrument crafters. As a result, makers also look to other global forests, such as those of the Carpathian Mountains of Romania, as sources for tonewood capable of becoming a singing instrument. Employing a theoretical framework that emphasizes the relationality of human actors and nonhuman materials, I argue that the work of instrument makers is rendered meaningful in part by a co-constructive process of becoming both instrument and maker. I show how this relationship extends to the forest environment, spiritual and philosophical discourse, and transnational networks that continually re-enchant the work of musical instrument makers in a region questioning the future and sustainability of economic and environmental processes. I join efforts to explore and analyze the political ecology of musical instruments through the affective material relationships and global flows of craft materials placed in an environmental locus of local, regional, and national imaginaries and the futures and failures of capitalist modes of production. By presenting narratives collected through ethnographic apprenticeships, interviews, and archival research, I argue that these makers navigate unique approaches to the forest environment, the global exchange of sonic craft materials, and meaning of their work through the craft of musical instruments. KEYWORDS: Appalachia; Craft labor; Musical Instruments; Forests Jasper Waugh-Quasebarth March 13, 2019 Date FINDING THE SINGING SPRUCE: CRAFT LABOR, GLOBAL FORESTS, AND MUSICAL INSTRUMENT MAKERS IN APPALACHIA By Jasper Waugh-Quasebarth Dr. Ann E. Kingsolver Director of Dissertation Dr. Sarah Lyon Director of Graduate Studies March 13, 2019 Date ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I owe immense gratitude to the many people who supported this project by sharing their knowledge, stories, space, and support over the years. Christopher Zambelli, Paolo and Erica Marks and their family, John Preston, Travis Holley, Catalin Murgoci, Mihai and Ana Filip and their family, all opened their lives to me, warmly providing the insights, wisdom, and space needed for this research to happen. As teachers, companions, and friends, they made this project worth the journey. Thank you to Mary, Gil, and Thurston Willis who were a second family to me in Pocahontas County. I wish to thank all of the instrument makers, craftspeople who I interviewed, and the scholars who aided me in collections and archival searches at the C.F. Martin Guitar Company, the West Virginia Archives, the West Virginia State Museum, and the West Virginia State and Regional Archives. I wish to acknowledge the support of the Wenner-Gren Foundation, the University of Kentucky Appalachian Center, the University of Kentucky Department of Anthropology, and the Lambda Alpha National Anthropology Honor Society for their financial support. My dissertation advisor and chair, Ann Kingsolver, has been a source of unbounded inspiration, enthusiasm, and support throughout the dissertation project and beyond. Her insight, compassion, and generosity have made me a better scholar and a better person. My committee members, Monica Udvardy, Ron Pen, and Hsain Ilahiane all encouraged me to push my research in new directions and provided the energy and positivity that sustained my graduate career. I am also indebted to faculty and staff at the University of Kentucky for their enthusiasm and guidance. Dwight Billings, Scott Hutson, Shaunna Scott, Kathryn Newfont, Shane Barton, Erin Norton Miller, Wanda Brooks, Carol Cottrill, and Catherine Brereton have all made this project possible in various ways. I celebrate the camaraderie and contributions from my colleagues at University of Kentucky. The members of our writing group, Mary Beth Schmid, Takami Delisle, Mauri Systo, Lilian Milanes, Chhaya Kolavalli, Tammy Clemons, Sasikumar Balasundaram, Victoria LeBeaux, and Saakshi Joshi, have all given me crucial feedback and new ways of seeing the world. Thank you to Zada Komara, Kathryn Engle, Julie Shepherd-Powell, Henry Bundy, Lee Sutton, Chelsea Cutright, Ryan Anderson, and Justin Carlson for the support and inspiration over the years. My gratitude extends to those who have helped me though my journey in anthropology: George and Laura Mentore, Roy Wagner, Trevor Merrion, Jared Koller, Robert Pontsioen, and Paul Taylor whose comments and support have been invaluable. Abrazos a Sebastian Arze with whom I started this journey. For my family, I would need another work to begin to express my gratitude. My partner, Céline Lamb, has inspired me to do and be better through her brilliance, resolve, and tenacity. My siblings, Elexa and Dashiell, have shown their supportive and kind spirits, hosting me during lapses in fieldwork and during conferences and putting up with an anthropologist in the family. To my parents, Brenda and Chris, whose inexhaustible care, enthusiasm, and curiosity kept me motivated, your determination to view the world with creative, yet critical optimism has given me guidance in a complex, contradictory world. iii Thank you to Grandma Nancy who has supported me at various times in my life and is a shining beacon of positivity and goodwill. Thank you to my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, especially my Aunt Cathy Waugh and Aunt Ann Meeks, without whom I could not have returned to Pocahontas County. I cherish the memory of my Aunt Ann who kept me informed and connected during my fieldwork, my Grandpa Werner whose optimistic spirit inspires me, my great-grandparents