AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
Hundreds of singers from all over the world gathered in Georgia recently to debut a new music book called "The Sacred Harp." As Laura Atkinson, with the Appalachia Mid-South Newsroom reports, it's central to shape-note singing, one of the oldest American musical traditions.
LAURA ATKINSON, BYLINE: In a church near Atlanta, singers are eagerly cracking open their brand new "Sacred Harp" song books, which they got just minutes ago. Then David Ivey, with The Sacred Harp Publishing Company, steps up to a podium.
DAVID IVEY: Welcome to this celebration weekend for the debut of "The Sacred Harp" 2025 edition.
(CHEERING)
ATKINSON: The music inside the book looks unusual. The notes are shapes that correspond with syllables like fa, sol and la. It was popular with Christians in the south during the 1800s because it taught untrained singers to read music. Today, the songs are still sung with no rehearsal, no audience and no instruments.
UNIDENTIFIED MUSICAL ARTISTS #1: (Vocalizing).
IVEY: This is our long history of groups of singers collaborating to produce our songbook, 176 years.
ATKINSON: The last time this songbook was revised was before the internet. The shape-note community has changed and grown quite a bit since then. A revision committee added 113 new songs out of nearly 1,200 submissions from all over the world.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Enjoy the party.
JOSE CAMACHO-CERNA: Awesome.
ATKINSON: During a lunch break, singers are so eager to try the new tunes out, a few dozen form an impromptu group outside.
CAMACHO-CERNA: You can kind of feel how electric the air is. Everybody's just so excited.
ATKINSON: That's Jose Camacho-Cerna. He wrote one of the new tunes in the book. He asked the group if they want to try out his song, named "Lowndes," after the county in Georgia where he lives.
UNIDENTIFIED MUSICAL ARTIST #1: Yeah, yeah.
UNIDENTIFIED MUSICAL ARTIST #2: Let's do it.
CAMACHO-CERNA: Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh.
UNIDENTIFIED MUSICAL ARTISTS #2: (Vocalizing).
ATKINSON: This will be his first time hearing it in the wild.
UNIDENTIFIED MUSICAL ARTISTS #2: (Singing) The morning walks upon the earth. And man awakes to toil and mirth. All living things and lands are gay...
ATKINSON: Camacho-Cerna is part of a younger crowd that's found shape-note singing in recent years. He says the melodramatic lyrics about mortality and sin and the simple yet powerful chords made an easy transition from the music he was used to.
CAMACHO-CERNA: I was in a punk band (laughter). I know. It's kind of crazy. And that's something that really attracted me to it. I just thought it was very metal, the 1800s metal.
ATKINSON: He came for the music but stayed for the community. It's surprisingly diverse. Here, women with short purple hair sing next to men with long white beards in four-part harmony.
CAMACHO-CERNA: I love the singing. I love the community, and now I get to be part of a, you know, historic legacy, you know? So yeah, I'm quite happy.
ATKINSON: The first official singing from the new "Sacred Harp" is about to start. Around 700 people showed up, and they sing together for the first time.
UNIDENTIFIED MUSICAL ARTISTS #1: (Singing) Jesus and shall it ever be, a mortal man ashamed of thee.
ATKINSON: David Ivey stands In the back, wiping tears from his eyes. He says "The Sacred Harp" is more than a collection of songs. It's a symbol of unity.
IVEY: This book is precious to people. The book is what binds our community, the diaspora of singers everywhere.
ATKINSON: Ivey says 50 years ago, people thought that shape-note singing was on its way out, but the update of "The Sacred Harp" keeps the book a living document.
For NPR News, I'm Laura Atkinson in Atlanta.
UNIDENTIFIED MUSICAL ARTISTS #1: (Singing) On whom my hopes of Heaven depend... Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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