Finding traces of sunshine for EMP

From a coffee shop in the Wallingford neighborhood that 26-year-old Ryan Banagale calls home, the UW graduate student explained that the concept of writing about music has always seemed peculiar to him. In some ways, Banagale said, it seems to be missing the point of music altogether.

"I think it was Elvis Costello who said that writing about music is like dancing about architecture," said Banagale.

However inappropriate it might be, writing about music is really starting to take Banagale places.

When he attended the 2003 Experience Music Project (EMP) Pop Conference as a spectator last year, he had a few guilty thoughts about what it would be like to be a presenter. What he didn't know was how soon he would get his chance.

A scholar of music history, Banagale made the decision last January to go out on a limb and apply to speak at this year's conference. He submitted an abstract of a term paper he had written documenting the history of the well known song "You Are My Sunshine" and waited to hear back from the selection committee.

This April it was his turn to stand in front of music-world elites -- critics, journalists, scholars and hardcore fans -- and deliver a presentation from the paper he had written for a 400-level class on American popular music taught by professor Larry Starr.

The conference was the third-annual EMP Pop Conference, a three-day event where about 100 of popular music's best authorities and brightest analysts presented their research on various aspects of music entertainment.

"I never expected I would be selected," said Banagale. "It was a really big deal to me."

Starr, who employed Banagale as his research assistant last year, isn't quite as surprised at Banagale's success.

"[Banagale] has a fine and original mind," said Starr. "He's an extremely hardworking student."

Banagale assisted in researching Starr's latest book for publication, a work that analyzes the music of Gershwin in the context of cultures around the world. Starr said he was impressed with Banagale's research techniques and his ability to piece together chains of obscure details.

Banagale's presentation traced "You Are My Sunshine" backward from the well known Ray Charles version released in 1962 to its little-known roots in the spiritual music of a blues singer named Blind Willie Davis, who recorded what could be called the parent version of the song under the title "Rock of Ages" in 1928.

According to Banagale's paper, "Rock of Ages" gave birth to other folk music, finally breathing life into "You Are My Sunshine," a simple folk song made popular by two-time governor of Louisiana, Jimmie Davis, who was elected in 1944 and 1960.

Jimmie Davis, Banagale explained, is commonly credited as the writer of the song, which he would sing in front of crowds to distract from controversial issues while on the campaign trail.

In reality, Jimmie Davis paid $35 to musician Paul Rice for the right to sing the song. Rice composed the lyrics based on a song called "Little Darlin' Pal of Mine," originally sung by a folk group called the Carter Family.

The possibility of the complicated history behind "You Are My Sunshine" was suggested to Banagale by his father-in-law, a professor at the University of Houston and a fan of old-time music.

"I had been racking my brain for something that people would know," said Banagale. "My mom sang that song out of tune countless times when I was growing up. Everyone has encountered 'You Are My Sunshine.'"

Banagale is hoping that presenting at the EMP Pop Conference will be the first of many similar experiences for him. He graduated from the UW this monthy with a master's degree in music history and expects to go on to earn his Ph.D. during the next few years.

His long-term plans are to teach at the college level, something he discovered he had an interest in after receiving his undergraduate degree from Colorado College, a small liberal-arts college where he studied piano performance and composition.

After undergraduate graduation, the Oregon native headed to Iowa where his father lives. That summer, he discovered a local high school in need of a vocal music director.

He was hired one week before school began.

"I was teaching high-school students who were less than four years younger than I was," said Banagale.

Reflecting on the experience while sipping coffee in Wallingford several years later, Banagale said it was an advanced theory class he taught that made him want to teach at the college level. He feels that promoting a scholarly way of approaching music is essential to the development and progress of that field of study.

To Banagale, the study of music is more than analyzing one song or giving a presentation at a prestigious conference, and he sees his "You Are My Sunshine" project in a much broader context.

"This is just one branch of a much larger tree. In this case, that tree is American music," said Banagale. "Music is a part of everyone's lives, but I think that 90 percent of people just encounter music as noise. . . I'm trying to figure out why people like music."