Sacred Nine Project

This is a look into my composer/lyricist process. Enjoy! Let me know how your process is the same or different!Looking forward to presenting this once it’s finished in Pittsburgh in June!

My guest is Bruce Dorsey, Professor of History, Swarthmore College. Please learn more about him and his work here! Check back for the American Martyr concert premiere video here.

Let me know if you have any other points to make about good or bad song lyrics. Email me at [email protected] support our Stephen Foster retrospective at University of Pittsburgh in June, please to here!

Join me as I discuss the insidious hold of Christian Nationalism on our country with guest, Paige Davis of the St. Charles Center for Faith + ActionYou can also SEE the Bogus Broadside in all it’s Faux Antique Glory at https://sacrednine.com/broadsides

Please help us write a new National Anthem by filling out this survey!!Also, donate to help my Stephen Foster Retrospective at University of Pittsburgh in June 2026!

The heroine of Hannah & Her Daughters used a saying “I am a good mind.” I reimagine this saying in this episode. It’s a short episode but full of heart.

To learn more about Hannah and Her Daughters, visit here.We really need financial support as you will hear at the top of this episode. Please consider giving by clicking here!

We talk about a lot of things…Charles Wesley, Isaac Watts, but especially William Billings and his “erroneously” telling his readers to pair a text with tunes THAT DON’T MATCH! Did we crack the mystery?You can read and link to Chris’ accomplishments here, and please check out his new book, “Hymns & Devotions for Daily Worship.”

This week, we sit down with Diane Lala, our director for Carousel. We talk about how we navigate the issues of domestic violence and suicide. We also talk about her history with Summer Lyric Theatre.

This is a joint episode with my new podcast, Summer Lyric & Lore. The overlap here is the issue of how to, in our modern day, produce a play with such a problematic depiction of domestic violence.

“The Romish Lady,” trad., arr. C. Leonard RaybonSacred Nine SingersEric Anderson, soloistJourney Schaubhut, soloist

This is Sacred Nine Project: Words of Welkin, offered with no introduction. This was offered on Sunday, May 4, 2025, at Rayne Memorial Methodist Church.It is essential that you follow along in the program because you will not be able to understand all the words if you don’t. You will see that early hymnody was, well….troubling.You can find that program HERE.Tomorrow is giveNOLA day. If you want to donate today or tomorrow, go HERE.

As a child I was traumatized by the Second Coming. At any given moment, Christ may pierce the skies. If so, you’d better be saved. But in my culture, you never really know if you’re saved; if you sin too much, you wonder if you were really saved to begin with. Now that I’ve evolved from that, I wonder if being left behind might be an opportunity to roll up my sleeves and really get to work.

We talk to the originator of these songs, Journey Schaubhut, a trans man, who gives us insights in his “journey” in transitioning gender as well as voice part. We are so grateful for this! I had chosen him because the logo for the concert was a Colonial boy and I thought his participation was just right.To fill out the survey for our “Altar Call” concert, please visit here!

Sorry but this is kind of a downer. It’s about the state of our country. But the music I provide is sensational, thanks to the Sacred Nine Singers!Also, you will hear in the episode about how I want you to share your “alter call phrases with me.” If you want to do that, visit here.

Here you will learn the different things I consider and the several things that challenge me when I am writing texts!

IMPORTANT: At the point in the episode where I start asking the audience to vote for the “fake song,” pause the episode, visit https://sacrednine.com/demon and tell us which one YOU think is the fake!Our wonderful performers are:Meredith Hotard, SopranoAshley Lemmler, AltoYours Truly, TenorJoseph Mace, Bass

I will share with you several artifacts associated with Watts, including three girls samplers, on which Watts' texts are embroidered. I also share with you my first published piece, sung by the Sacred Nine Singers!To view pics of the artifacts, visit https://sacrednine.com/podguestnews

Sacred Nine will be traveling to Swarthmore college on Good Friday, 2026 to "beatify" the brutally murdered Sarah Maria Cornell. Inspiration came from Murder in a Mill Town by Bruce Dorsey, Professor of History at Swarthmore. Ellen Blue helps us understand the kind of religious atmosphere Cornell would have experienced.https://sacrednine.com/givinghttps://sacrednine.com/martyr

our guest's website:www://karriegaspard.comhttps://sacrednine.comSacred Nine's satire of Christian Nationalism

In 2021, after having virtually eliminated the singing of Spirituals from my career, I decided to take a deep dive, asking African American scholars and performers their thoughts on whites singing Spirituals.Original presentation video

In 2021, after having virtually eliminated the singing of Spirituals from my career, I decided to take a deep dive, asking African American scholars and performers their thoughts on whites singing Spirituals.Original presentation video

Get to know Hannah Hadassah Hickok Smith with me. A fascinating woman and worthy of song! I will develop a Sacred Nine Project about her "if I live," as she would say!Check out Sacred Nine Project: The Mending Sampler, which is referenced in this episode.Check out the Connecticut Museum of Culture and History & the Historical Society of Glastonbury!

giveNOLA Day is Tuesday! Donate!Watch the video of Sacred Nine Project: The DMs

Please like and subscribe.Also, visit sacrednine.com and subscribe and consider giving! I want to try to apply for NEA grants, and for those you have to match funds!

Please visit our website and contribute to our endeavors!Giving!

Drew LopenzinaProfessor of Early American Literature and Native American Literature, Old Dominion UniversityThrough an Indian's Looking-Glass: A Cultural Biography of William Apess by Drew Lopenzinahttps://www.umasspress.com/9781625342591/through-an-indians-looking-glass/Introduction to Native American Literature by Drew Lopenzinahttps://www.routledge.com/The-Routledge-Introduction-to-Native-American-Literature-1st-Edition/Lopenzina/p/book/9781138630246Red Ink: Native Americans Picking up the Pen in the Colonial Period. by Drew Lopenzinahttps://sunypress.edu/Books/R/Red-Ink

Learn about us.Read about our upcoming musical satire on Christian nationalism.Learn more about The Jewel Prize for African American Spirituals.Chris’ links can be found below, and here.Chris Fenner is a premiere hymn scholar in the United States, creator and editor of HymnologyArchive.com, and contributor to the Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology, the Sounding Spirit Digital Library, and Hymnary.org. He is editor of The Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs of Isaac Watts (D&T, 2016), Spurgeon's Own Hymn Book (Christian Focus, 2018), Amazing Love! How Can It Be: Studies on Hymns by Charles Wesley (Resource, 2020), and the forthcoming Hymns & Devotions for Daily Worship (2024). Chris has also proof-edited other hymnal projects such as Sing the Wonders, 3rd ed. (Grace Music, 2021), Sing Unto the Lord (ACNA, 2023), and The Gospel Story Hymnal (Word & Wonder, 2023). 

Please help us with The Jewel Prize for African American SpiritualsWe need your help in promoting and funding it!Please visit and contribute to our Facebook group!

Please help us with The Jewel Prize for African American SpiritualsWe need your help in promoting and funding it!Please visit and contribute to our Facebook group!

Please help us with The Jewel Prize for African American SpiritualsAndrew L. WhiteheadAssociate Professor of Sociology and Director of the Association of Religion Data Archives (theARDA.com) at the Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture at IUPUISubstack: https://www.andrewwhitehead.substack.comBook: American Idolatry - https://www.amazon.com/American-Idolatry-Christian-Nationalism-Threatens/dp/1587435764Christian nationalism Podcast: https://www.axismundi.us/american-idols/LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/andrewwhitehead

Link to Liz’s bioPlease support The Jewel Prize for African American Spirituals by getting the word out to potential composers, or by donating!Consider becoming a Patron for Sacred Nine Project!Also, please take our quiz about American Patriotism! It’s not up but keep checking back here!

Link to Liz’s bioPlease support The Jewel Prize for African American Spirituals by getting the word out to potential composers, or by donating!Consider becoming a Patron for Sacred Nine Project!Also, please take our quiz about American Patriotism! It’s not up but keep checking back here!

Please support The Jewel Prize for African American Spirituals by getting the word out to potential composers, or by donating!Consider becoming a Patron for Sacred Nine Project!

Our guest is the wonderful Regina YC GarciaPurchase her transformative new book of poetry!Please support The Jewel Prize for African American Spirituals by getting the word out to potential composers, or by donating!Consider becoming a Patron for Sacred Nine Project!

We now have nonprofit status!Learn about Sacred Nine Project.Give to Sacred Nine Project!Read about The Jewel Prize for African American Spirituals.

Announcements from our guests: Fulton, Karlsberg, Marini, Norton, and Stowe, and sources for Sacred Harp listening examplesAbout Sacred Nine Project!Essay on the parallel between Southern Harmony and Confederate monuments.In this episode we talk about the singing style in shape-note practice. We also explore how shape-note singing began to flourish, not only in the Primitive Baptist Churches in the South, but also in liberal, urban centers. Finally, we discuss what modern day practitioners do about the offensive selections in Sacred Harp.original Regret, Repent, Rejoice concertKiri Miller’s perspectives come from her book, Traveling Home: Sacred Harp Singing and American Pluralism, 2010

Announcements from our guests: Fulton, Karlsberg, Marini, Norton, and Stowe, and sources for Sacred Harp listening examplesLetter from Dr. Harry EskewOriginal “Regret, Repent, Rejoice” works citedMarch 19, 2023 New Orleans concert (Sacred Nine Project: Beautiful Isle of Somewhere)About Sacred Nine Project!This episode is about William Walker's Southern Harmony, the singing schools that brought it about, and the delicious musical oddities therein!“Here we have the singing schools” (sung ‘heading’)The chain of events that birthed then singing schools“Then the shapes became the tools” (sung ‘heading’)A discussion of shape-note singing“Walker offers little jewels” (sung ‘heading’)Background on Southern Harmony“Music that defies the rules” (sung ‘heading’)A granular look at the musical quirksoriginal Regret, Repent, Rejoice concertbackground vocals: Sacred Nine Singersprominent solo by Brian Martinez on THE FRENCH BROAD

Announcements from our guests: Fulton, Karlsberg, Marini, Norton, and Stowe, and sources for Sacred Harp listening examplesOriginal “Regret, Repent, Rejoice” works citedMarch 19, 2023 New Orleans concert (Sacred Nine Project: Beautiful Isle of Somewhere)About Sacred Nine Project!This episode is about the hymn texts of the 18th and early 19c.“Hymns that touch my soul alway” (sung ‘heading’)Examples of some of the best hymns from this era“Hymns that travel on their way” (sung ‘heading’)Ways in which hymnody evolves“Hymns that keep some folks at bay” (sung ‘heading’)The attitude of “othering” in these hymns, including shame-based theology, anti-Catholicism, colonization, and slavery“Tell me, friends, what do you say?” (sung ‘heading’)Conclusions about this body of work moving forwardbackground vocals: Sacred Nine Singersprominent solo by Eric Anderson on “The Romish Lady”

In this trailer, we give you a glimpse into how Sacred Nine Project started, its mission, and its plans for the first two monthly episodes. We hope you join us for nuanced discussions about American Music History and what it can teach us about our country today.Our websiteGet to know usFull musical numbers excerpted in this trailerChoral Performers