Mount Pleasant Magazine July/August 2020

18 www.ReadMPM.com | www.MountPleasantMagazine.com | www.VOICEofMPpodcast.com CS: It really took Clay being from the outside to look in and hear the music a different way, [versus] someone like me, who had grown up with it my whole life. BD: Agreed. Sometimes when you grow up in the middle of something, you have to walk away to see it for what it really is. MPM: Do you consider your interpretation of your culture authentic? BD: To a certain extent, but it’s also an interpretation of foodways that have been lost — old-time recipes, word-of- mouth you can’t find in a cookbook or variations in those cookbooks. Talking with elders, looking at old documents and understanding that a lot of these cookbooks were written by Colonial housewives who got recipes from their cooks who might have left something out — because no one ever tells you the whole recipe. I am able to use those avenues as a jumping-off point and interpret from there. CS: We came up with this idea to present our music decidedly as not authentic. In its purest form, Gullah is singing and clapping your hands and feet. So, even before we play, just having a drum set or a plugged-in guitar means we’re introducing a contemporary version. The last song on our album “Good Time” is the purest form of Gullah music we represent. It’s called Shoo Lie Loo, and it is singing, clapping and a tambourine. That’s it. We incorporated what a lot of people know, like jazz, into these Gullah songs to make them different and universal. MPM: In a way, you are both historians. Do you look at it like that? BD: As you retrace old dishes, you retrace history and connect people to that heritage. I would say that food tells a true story of history. It’s not just fried chicken and mac ‘n cheese — it’s deeper than that. It relinks our culture with that of West Africa, Central Africa, etc. Food is the common denominator. Just think about how rice made Charleston one of the most powerful cities in the Colonial period. I research the ingredients right alongside the dishes. CS: We take what we are representing very seriously. It’s one thing to play here, where people understand what Gullah is, but the moment you set out of town, you are officially representing your community. It’s true that unless you are a scholar or have family from here, the audience we run into doesn’t know a lot about the Gullah culture 843.936.6979 Fracturedprune.com 1247 Ben Sawyer Blvd. Mt. Pleasant Doughnuts- Not just for Breakfast Anymore! Doughnut Worry, Be Happy! Summer is Here! feature Service You Can Trust