ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
People who perform a traditional style of American music called shape-note singing are publishing a new edition of music and planning a gathering to celebrate and, of course, sing. AMSN's Justin Hicks reports singers are hotly anticipating this once-in-a-generation event.
UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: (Singing) Fa, so, la. Fa, so, la, la, la.
JUSTIN HICKS, BYLINE: In the small town of Benton, Kentucky, a few dozen people recently gathered to participate in the 142nd annual Big Singing. The town claims it's the oldest Indigenous musical tradition in the U.S., and it preserves a uniquely American style of a cappella music called shape-note singing.
UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: (Singing) So, la, so. So, la, mi, fa.
HICKS: They're singing from a book called "The Sacred Harp." Notes are printed with odd shapes like diamonds and triangles on the musical staff, and when it's sung, there's usually no audience. Everyone faces each other in a giant square and takes turns leading songs from the middle. It was popular in the early 1800s, especially in rural areas, where music education was rare.
TIM REYNOLDS: It is a method to teach people how to sing when you don't have an instrument.
HICKS: That's Tim Reynolds, a longtime shape-note singer who traveled to the singing from Nashville, Tennessee. He says, even though the text of the songs are based on old Christian themes, these days, shape-note groups aren't really religious. They're more about building community. Case in point, Reynolds says some longtime singers aren't even very good.
REYNOLDS: And they could not hold a tune in a bucket, but they're accepted, they're valued, and that's just part of it.
HICKS: And now shape-note singers have something big to look forward to. "The Sacred Harp" is getting an update. John Plunkett is the chair of the Sacred Harp Publishing Company. It's a small nonprofit that's printed the music for nearly a century.
JOHN PLUNKETT: The book was originally published in 1844, and it's been revised every 25 to 35 years since that time. The current book that we're using came out in the early '90s. So it's just time.
HICKS: Plunkett says each time "The Sacred Harp" is revised, less popular tunes get removed and new compositions are added. Those edits keep the small but passionate shape-note community alive, not frozen in history like a reenactment.
DAVID IVEY: I think all of us feel sort of a weighty responsibility.
HICKS: That's David Ivey. He's in charge of a nine-member committee that sorted through nearly 1,200 compositions from shape-note singers with new tunes and new lyrics. Ivey says a big criteria for him is that the songs have a traditional sound, not just a Taylor Swift song in shape-note form.
IVEY: You'll think, was that written 20 years ago, or was it written 120 years ago or 220 years ago?
UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: (Singing) Jerusalem, my happy home.
HICKS: So which tunes will make it into the new book? Ivey says that's top secret. Everyone will find out at the same time in September, when the new "Sacred Harp" is released. They're expecting hundreds for a special singing in Atlanta with the new book. It's expected to be the largest shape-note gathering in a generation.
For NPR News, I'm Justin Hicks in Benton, Kentucky.
UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: (Singing) I see. Home, sweet home. My long-sought home. My home. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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