VOA标准英语2012--Women Raise Profile in American Folk Music

Women Raise Profile in American Folk Music

When people think of musicians in the American roots genre¹, Allison Krauss is one of the few female stars who comes to mind. For the most part, history remembers the men in old-time country, blues² and folk music - like Lead Belly³, Muddy Waters or Doc Watson.
Now, a Seattle-area woman who studies American folk music and culture has made it her mission to change that and the Library of Congress has taken notice.
Dyann and Rick Arthur are in their element. They're at the Old-Time Music Gathering⁴ in Portland, Oregon. Impromptu⁵ jam sessions and multiple concerts are under way on three floors of this performance hall.
As Dyann prowls the halls, she calcuates the ratio of male to female instrumentalists. "This one's pretty well integrated, and then there are some of them that are primarily the guys."
The couple discussed at length what they would do in retirement⁶. They wanted something meaningful that combined music and travel.
Dyann and Rick Arthur record a performance at the Portland Old-Time Music Gathering.
The result was a trek⁷ through Oregon, Washington and 28 other states to collect oral histories and tape live performances of women making traditional music.
"They don't have mentors," Rick says. "They don't have an image to see themselves in that position. Early on we took that as kind of a philosophical⁸ goal to produce those types of images that women could identify with."
The endeavor quickly morphed into a nonprofit named the MusicBox Project. It currently has profiles of 81 American roots musicians.
"All forms of music," Dyann says. "We like to say A to Z, Appalachian to Zydeco."
The Arthurs donated a copy of their collection to the Library of Congress. One featured artist is vocalist and guitarist Lauren Sheehan of Portland. Sheehan trained as a classical musician in the late 1970s. Then one day, she borrowed a folk music anthology from her college library. It was a turning point.
"When I heard that breadth, I sought out folk festivals even more," Sheehan says. "That was because there was an archived piece of real music that spoke⁹ to me."
That series on vinyl included selections of 1930s-era recordings¹⁰ collected by the Library of Congress.
Now, through the MusicBox Project, an incredulous Sheehan finds herself in the American Folklife collection at the Library of Congress.
"I am only a little drop in the bucket of oral tradition, but I am a drop in the bucket. All this being in the Library of Congress is so cool because other people can hear that."
Dyann says part of her mission is to present role models for up-and-coming women players.
"With the educational piece that we hope to do as this thing goes forward, I would say three to five years out - is going to be allowed to go into the schools in a format¹¹ that says, 'Look at that saxophone player. There's another one. I can do that too.'"
The Arthurs have also created a YouTube channel featuring more than 300 musical performances and Dyann is working on a documentary on the subject.

1 genre   

n.(文学、艺术等的)类型，体裁，风格

参考例句：

• My favorite music genre is blues.我最喜欢的音乐种类是布鲁斯音乐。
• Superficially,this Shakespeare's work seems to fit into the same genre.从表面上看， 莎士比亚的这个剧本似乎属于同一类型。

2 blues   

n.抑郁，沮丧；布鲁斯音乐

参考例句：

• She was in the back of a smoky bar singing the blues.她在烟雾弥漫的酒吧深处唱着布鲁斯歌曲。
• He was in the blues on account of his failure in business.他因事业失败而意志消沉。

3 belly   

n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛

参考例句：

• The boss has a large belly.老板大腹便便。
• His eyes are bigger than his belly.他眼馋肚饱。

4 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

5 impromptu   

adj.即席的，即兴的；adv.即兴的(地)，无准备的(地)

参考例句：

• The announcement was made in an impromptu press conference at the airport.这一宣布是在机场举行的临时新闻发布会上作出的。
• The children put on an impromptu concert for the visitors.孩子们为来访者即兴献上了一场音乐会。

6 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

7 trek   

vi.作长途艰辛的旅行；n.长途艰苦的旅行

参考例句：

• We often go pony-trek in the summer.夏季我们经常骑马旅行。
• It took us the whole day to trek across the rocky terrain.我们花了一整天的时间艰难地穿过那片遍布岩石的地带。

8 philosophical   

adj.哲学家的，哲学上的，达观的

参考例句：

• The teacher couldn't answer the philosophical problem.老师不能解答这个哲学问题。
• She is very philosophical about her bad luck.她对自己的不幸看得很开。

9 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

10 recordings   

n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片

参考例句：

• a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
• old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐

11 format   

n.设计，版式；[计算机]格式，DOS命令:格式化(磁盘)，用于空盘或使用过的磁盘建立新空盘来存储数据；v.使格式化，设计，安排

参考例句：

• Please format this floppy disc.请将这张软盘格式化。
• The format of the figure is very tasteful.该图表的格式很雅致。