From Ring Shout to Easter Rock

Monica Rose Kelly painted this depiction of a live performance of the Gullah Geechee Ring Shouters & the Winnsboro Easter Rock Ensemble at the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park.

Monica Rose Kelly

Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve, New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park, along with partners throughout the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor, The Historic New Orleans Collection, and the National Council for Traditional Arts, welcomed the Gullah Geechee Ring Shouters & the Winnsboro Easter Rock Ensemble to south Louisiana to foster the passing of cultural knowledge from one generation to the next. Gullah Geechee youth connected with elders to learn about their culture rooted in the African traditions of enslaved people who toiled along the lower Atlantic coast. Youth participants, mostly from Winnsboro, LA traveled with the Winnsboro Easter Rock Ensemble (the Rockers) to perform together with the Gullah Geechee Ring Shouters (the Shouters) from Darien, GA. This cultural exchange was designed to ensure that the Ring Shout and the Easter Rock will continue for future generations. The youth participants used the insights they gained in a series of concerts, including performances by the Shouters & the Rockers at the New Orleans Jazz Museum, Whitney Plantation, Central St. Matthews Community Center, and New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park. The joint performances allowed performers and audiences alike to appreciate the similarities and differences between the Gullah Geechee Ring Shout and the Louisiana Easter Rock, two African traditions that connect communities separated by hundreds of miles. Highlights of this project also included the filming of Afro-Descendants Southern Roots Road Tour featuring the Gullah Geechee Ring Shouters & Winnsboro Easter Rock Ensemble, a short documentary taken from performances in South Louisiana during the summer of 2024 and a taping of American Routes Live which premiered on Juneteenth (Juneteenth with the Gullah Geechee Ring Shouters — AMERICAN ROUTES) and Easter weekend (Easter & Passover: Let Hope & Freedom Prevail — AMERICAN ROUTES). Both groups also recorded an album together at Esplanade Studios for a eventual release on Smithsonian Folkways to document the historic meeting of these two groups.

This project cast a wide net of subject matter experts and partners to accomplish things that they would not have been able to do otherwise. This included Heather Hodges, The Historic New Orleans Collection; Dr Susan Roach, folklorist at Louisiana Tech University; Griffin Lotson, manager of Gullah Geechee Ring Shouters; Nick Spitzer, host of American Routes; Blaine Waide, National Council for Traditional Arts, Author Trelani Michelle, and artists Heather Heckel and Monica Rose Kelly.

Duration:

2 minutes, 38 seconds

The Afro-Descendants Southern Roots Road Tour featured the Gullah Geechee Ring Shouters & Winnsboro Easter Rock Ensemble in South Louisiana for a series of performances during the summer of 2024. Two American Routes Live radio programs that aired on Juneteenth and Easter weekend were recorded as well. Both groups also recorded an album together at Esplanade Studios for an eventual release on Smithsonian Folkways to document the historic meeting of these two groups.

Duration:

21 minutes, 56 seconds

Early on the morning of June 21, 2024, a coach bus drove down a rural, two-lane along the levees of the Mississippi River as it winds through St. John the Baptist Parish. The bus slowed to a stop, then turned off LA Highway 18 and drove back into the parking lot of the old Whitney Plantation in Edgard, Louisiana. The coach had left New Orleans about an hour earlier carrying the Gullah Geechee Ring Shouters & the Winnsboro Easter Rock Ensemble. This is the story of the historic meeting of these two groups.

Duration:

11 minutes, 17 seconds

Witness the historic meeting of the Gullah Geechee Ring Shouters and the Winnsboro Easter Rock Ensemble as they meet for the first time for a performance at the Whitney Plantation in Edgard, Louisiana. The Ring Shout meets the Easter Rock!

Duration:

21 minutes, 38 seconds

This performance in June of 2024 was held at Central St. Matthew UCC in New Orleans, LA. This community event also featured Bruce "Sunpie" Barnes and Leroy Etienne. The 12 beautifully decorated cakes used in the Easter Rock were provided Bywater Bakery.

Lesson Plan

• Who are the Gullah Geechee

Gullah Geechee & Easter Rock Learning Activities

Learn the origins of Gullah Geechee culture. Explore xplore how geographic location influences cultural practices and foodways by examining the Gullah Geechee people’s preservation of West African culinary traditions. Explore the cultural significance of traditional practices such as call and response, the ring shout, and Easter Rock, while comparing spiritual rituals including the Gullah Geechee and North Louisiana.