Jeremy Shipp
From a Tennessee Arts Commission web page:
Jeremy Shipp, of Knoxville, first became interested in shape note singing after hearing Alan Lomax's field recordings of a singing in Alabama. While a student at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in the early 2000s, he began singing with the old harp singers of East Tennessee. He attended Kathleen Mavournin's Spring singing school held at the Blount County Library. After attending the annual Boogertown singing at Oldham's Creek Missionary Baptist Church, he became deeply immersed in the tradition and has been attending regular singings ever since. The Epworth old harp singers practice monthly at the Laurel Theater in Knoxville, and Jeremy sang bass next to Odis Abbott until his death in 2014. Jeremy learned to sing by imitating him. Odis grew up singing shape notes and lived in Cades Cove until his family was evicted upon the formation of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Odis gave Jeremy singing pointers and encourage him saying, “When you feel it, you just push it!”
The old harp is one of Tennessee's oldest traditions, it practitioners are few. Jeremy notes the endangered nature of the old harp tradition, counting the number of people who actively sing it in the low dozens. He writes, “My sense is that the wider East Tennessee community is unaware of the treasure that old harp is, sitting in the midst of them; and that this is due to the smallness of old harp's presence.”
Jeremy ... calls old harp “inherently a community art” due to its participatory nature and its culture of valuing heartiness of voice rather than skillfulness of voice. The best way to experience this tradition is to participate.
Special mentions at singings
- 2025: Old Harp New Year
Roles undertaken (and minuted)
- 2026: Old Harp New Year: host, prayer; Jubilee Festival: minutes; Statehood Day: chair, prayer
- 2025: Third Saturday Singing Remembering David Becker: prayer; Greene County: prayer; Wears Valley: prayer; Larry Olszewski Memorial: prayer
- 2024: Wears Valley: prayer; Larry Olszewski Memorial: host
- 2023: Heritage Center Townsend: prayer; Wears Valley: prayer
- 2022: Old Harp Singing: prayer; Old Harp New Year: prayer
- 2016: Jubilee Festival: prayer
- 2012: Larry Olszewski Memorial: prayer