Page 4 University Daily Kansan, August 20, 1988 Kansas couple strums bluegrass-gospel for fun By LINDA LANG Staff Reporter Staff Reporter Leo Hagerman played mandolin at the country gathering, as usual, and his wife, Fern, played the guitar. He then heard a new sound when friends of his began to play an upright bass and a five-string guitar. "That's the sound I had wanted to hear all my听," Ragerman, a Eudora farmer and bluegoss-gospel musician said. "That's when I realized the music I liked was blueguss. All that time I had just called it music." Leo and Fern Hagerman play bluegrass and gospel music whenever they have the opportunity. Hagerman, 65, said that they played at family reunions, schools, churches and even nursing homes. They have also performed at fairs and festivals. The Hagermans were just two of the many attractions in the Kansas Folk Festival last fall. "We've played every place from Kansas City to Colorado." Hageman said. "When somebody wants to suffer, they must come to us." The Kansas Folkie Festival, in mid- September, the Vlnand Fail, August 20-22, and the Baldwin Maple Leaf Festival, October 17-18, are showcases for local residents with ability in area folk art. Last fall the Kansas Folklife Festival had exhibitions of quilts, tatting, whittting and hair weaving. Country, bluegrass, blues and Polish musicians performed their particular styles of music. None of the musicians who perform at these fairs are highly paid. Hagerman explained that he and his wife do it for fun. "If it's not going to be fun, I don't want to play." Hagerman said. The Hagermans explained that when they performed at the Kansas Folkie Festival, the only payment they accepted was food coupons worth $24. They were offered a $50 fee, as were all the other musicians and craftsmen, but they refused to take it. They also refused free room and board at a Topeka motel. Instead, they drove back to their farm to sleep. "Bluegrass is not a money field," Hagerman said. Hagerman said he got his guitar when he was 17 or 18 years old. It only had three strings on it, so he had to take them three from Montgomery Ward & Co. "I banged on that thing for a year," Hagerman said. Then his father bought him a guitar of $5, and Hagerman said he "decided to eat it." Hagerman said his wife played a little bit before they were married. The two of them began to play together at home after they married. They heard musicians playing bluegrass and gospel on the dots and decided they wanted them. One of the radio programs they listened to was the John Lair Show, an old-time music show broadcast from Renfrove Valley, Ky. They still listen to to Topeka radio station WIBW at 5 a.m. every Sunday. "He's really done a lot for old-time music." Hagerman said. Mrs. Hagerman said the two of them wrote to Mr. Leroy's Lair program ever since they had met. They also used to attend live shows put on by WIBW in the 1940s. They saw old-time groups like Roy and Earl, the Oklahoma Outlaws and Roy Faunker, who was known as the "Lonesome Cowboy." Mrs. Hagerman brought an old paperback songbook from the living room cabinet, yellowed with age, titled "Roy and Earl's Sacred and Sentimental Folk Songs." The book is a household treasure. She also brought out clippings of articles written about her and her husband, including an excerpt from the program of last year's Kansas Folkie Festival and a feature clipped from the Lawrence Daily Journal-World. Despite the attention they have received for their music, Hagerman was born and again there were many people who sang bluegrass-pollens musicians than they. Country Club week provides KU students opportunity to explore area entertainment A body can take only so many Country Club can week parties. If you find yourself tiring of scheduled residence hall activities or impromptu pool parties, the area surrounding Lawrence off-air variety of entertainment attractions. By LISA PROCTOR Staff Reporter Many of these area attractions are free. *Black Archives of Mid-America, 2033* Vine St., specializes in documents and exhibits in the archives in black history. Exhibits include artifacts from Kansas, Missouri and Iowa. Kansas City also boasts theatre and opera productions. The Kansas City area, 45 miles east on Kansas 10 or the Kansas Turnpike, offers many museums and parks. Located in Kansas City, Mo. are: Dinner theatre offerings include: - Kansas City Museum of History and Science, 2118 Gladstone Boulevard, has a planetarium as well as exhibits St., will present "Fiddler on the Roof" and "Under the Yum Yum Tree" during August and September. - The Lyric Opera season will open Sept. 19 with "Regina". It will be the second season of Girl in Algeria"; will play Sept. 23, 28 and 28 at the Lyric, 1029 Central St. featuring turn-of-the-century furniture. · Harry S. Truman Library and Museum, Highway and Delaware St., documenting the life of Truman's life and presidential years. Dinner theatre offerings include: * The Waldo Astoria, 7428 Washington - Tiffany's Attic, 5028 Main St., will feature "Mama" throughout September. - Nelson-Atkins Galleries, 45th and Oak Streets, have a large selection of Oriental art. The galleries also feature special exhibits, a cafeteria serving international cuisine and a large gift shop. - Loose Park, 5200 Pennsylvania St., and Swope Park offer picnic and play areas. Swope Park, Park Wakey Gregory Boulevard, also feature a zoo. - Combat Air Museum at Forbes Field planes and other flying machinery. - Topeka, the state capital, 30 miles off to U.S. 40 and the Kansas Turpike offe - Kansas State Historical Museum, 10th and Jackson Streets, specializes in Kansas artifacts and historical documents. "It's not how good you are." Hagerman said. "It's your style and how you go about it. They see you having fun and it kind of rubs off." He also said that in the 1940s, one rarely heard a five-string banjo, the kind often used in bluegrass music today. - Gage Park, Sixth Street and Gage Boulevard, offers large picnic areas and a zoo. Also in the area, Baldwin City, 20 miles south of Lawrence on Kansas 59, offers the Old Castle Museum. This attraction features antique furniture, home arts and the Santa Fe Post Office and Grocery. Bluegrass and gospel are not two entirely different kinds of music, according to Mrs. Hagerman. "I think one thing that really revived bradges was Earl Scruggs and Lester Flatbread." "Bluesgrass is a style," she said. "Gospel is sacred music. Now if you play gospel music in a blaugrass style, that's good music." Gloria Throne, a local bluegrass buff and folkorist the Hagermans sometimes play with, told them they played old-time music, not bluegrass. difference between his own style and that of a lot of younger bluegrass artists. Hagerman said he had noticed a Hagerman said he had played with accomplished musicians all his life. His grandfather organized a band in Vinland and taught the other band members how to play their instruments. He said he met Dale McIntosh, a Basehor musician, through a friend in Missouri. They later performed to the cultural Hall of Fame in Bison Inner Springs. Some of Hagerman's earlier childhood memories were of house dances. 'It's kind of a case of 'birds of a feather flock together,' he said. "If people like the same kind of music, they'll get together someone." "They'd take a couple rooms and clean them out and throw the kids upstairs," he said. "They'd square dance, sometimes until dawn." Hagerman also has met musicians at the local festivals. He heard Greg Allen, an area musician he called one of the best, at the Kansas Folk Festival "A lot of the younger folk don't stick to the melody as well as I do." he said. and attended a mandolin workshop that Allen conducted. That is the way they prefer to play today, either by themselves when they have time or with a group of friends who have decided to set together. Hagerman said there was a loose network of people in the Lawrence area who were actively involved with bluegrass. "That's the most fun there is." Hagerman said. "If we never play again, we've had a lot of fun at it. We met a lot of good people." MARTI FRUMHOFF/Kansan Staff Lee Hagerman plays the mandolin, and his wife, Fern, plays the guitar on the front step of their home southeast of Lawrence. The duo plays bluegrass-gospel music in this area. Your Outdoorsman's Catalogue Our new Products Catalogue shows the broad spectrum of quality outdoor supplies for the adventurer in you. - Backpacking - Camping - Ski Touring - Inflatables and River Gear - Canoeing - Bicycle Touring - G.I. Surplus Clothing - Rugged & Comfortable Boots & Outdoor Clothing - Misc. 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