Memphis Gerald: Identical Twins Separated At Birth

Photo by Rob Marrison, courtesy of Memphis Gerald

Memphis Gerald fell in love with Appalachian music a decade ago and has indulged that passion ever since.

“It was actually through diving into old swing from the 30s and 40s and Ragtime, and then moving into country music, and then eventually working my way backwards into kind of the seventies and eighties country music that I was familiar with where that came from, and how that came to be,” Memphis said. “So it got me into western swing and then bluegrass, and then eventually into roots.” 

“I kind of went backwards into it. Part of me wishes I discovered the roots first, because it would have made much more sense, but that was the way the cookie crumbled,” Memphis laughed. “My obsession started the wrong way around, but I'm really happy with where I ended up, and there's always so much more to discover. There's always these little pockets or parts of the genre, which I feel really surprised to have never discovered before. So it's kind of the gift that keeps on giving, you know?”

In October, Memphis released his album “Field Recordings From Pangea” in the style of Appalachian music. 

“The reason I called the album ‘Field Recordings From Pangea’ is because when the continents were all one massive supercontinent called Pangea, and they split, the Blue Ridge Appalachian Mountains and the Scottish Highlands were part of the same mountain range on Pangea. That was why I kind of came to that album name,” he explained. 

Now, he is working on writing an album of his own. 

“Instead of arranging roots music, or folk music of any kind, I'm going to completely write an album top to bottom. So that's what I'm working on now. I don't know how far away that is. Hopefully, by the summer, that's what I'm hoping for, but we know how quickly these things come around,” Memphis said. 

In the midst of putting together his own original album, he has started a songwriter’s circle at a local pub, among other projects. 

“We all get together and share songs that we've written,” he said. “I've got a couple of other projects that aren't songwriting related on the go at the moment. I'm doing a workshop with refugees and folk music, helping them learn English through folk songs. I'm doing a lot of teaching at the moment.” 

“So I'm just looking for the time and space to really get stuck into that album, and get it done and get it finished,” he said. 

His teaching allows him to connect with his community, but also with people around the world. He teaches kids and adults in his local school and community center, but he also teaches international students on Zoom. 

“I've had a few American students in my time, mostly through the internet. They've seen me online and said ‘I want to learn that kind of dadgad, Celtic guitar style. So they've contacted me, and we've done lessons over zoom,” Memphis said. “It's really fun. It's really interesting. I love speaking to people from all over the world.”

Courtesy of Memphis Gerald

“I like the Zoom lessons because I get to teach my curriculum. I'm not teaching, you know, a set curriculum or anything, and I can really tailor the lessons to what it is people really like and what they want to do,” he explained. 

There are many similarities between Appalachian and Celtic genres and music styles. 

“So I guess the most obvious one would be the content of the songs themselves. Whether that's murder ballads, more social commentary stories…there is the actual content of the songs and what people choose to sing about,” Memphis said. “There's a Red Rocking Chair version that I put on that last album, and that originally comes from an old Scottish song, but instead of it being about you know, ordinary people from Appalachia, it was originally about a kind of royalty.” 

He explained the song evolved over time from an elitist royalty story into a more relatable down to earth version. 

“So we have the actual content of the songs, the character of the songs, but musically there's loads of similarities, the cadences, the melodic structure, the tune structure, the AABB tune structure, you know, 16 bars, there's even the whistle, accordion,” Memphis said. “There's so many connections. Then, often, even accents and pronunciation of certain things. You can hear how it is connected, there might be, you know, 300 years between the connection, but the connection is there, and it's really fun exploring it.”

Consequently, Appalachian music is sought after and looked up to by Irish and Scottish musicians. 

“I would say more so in Ireland. Ireland, in my experience, has a huge affinity with America, in a way that Scotland doesn't necessarily have,” Memphis said. “Culturally, there are a lot of historic links between Scotland and America and Scotch-Irish and Appalachian, as there's a huge connection there, but Ireland seems to have this real love, like deep, deep love for country music and roots music that I haven't really found elsewhere.” 

“You do find it in Scotland. If you look at the transatlantic sessions, or even festivals like the Shetland Folk Festival, which is filled with American artists. So there is that connection but I definitely feel the strongest in Ireland,” he said. 

Where he lives now Appalachia is highly revered by the local musicians. 

“I live in the North of England now, about an hour south of the Scottish border. There's tons of Scottish musicians here. We have this small city, we have Bluegrass bands, we have Chicago Blues bands, we have Cajun Zydeco bands, we have roots bands,” he said. 

Appalachia and Scotland/Ireland are “identical twins separated at birth, and they grow into different people, but they end up enjoying and loving the same things because they're kind of wired the same way,” he said. 

To keep up with Memphis, click here.