A Best Made life: Othar “Otha” Turner (1907-2003)
In June we posted a short film about César Newashish, a 67-year-old Attikamek of the Manawan Reserve north of Montreal who builds a birch bark canoe from scratch. Here’s a nice follow-up: a short film about Othar Turner, a Mississippi farmer and fife player who fashions his instrument from river cane, and puts it to the test at a local picnic with his buddies in the Rising Star Fife and Drum Band.
For the most part Othar and his band played for locals and family in small gatherings and picnics. In the 1950s Othar began hosting a Labor Day picnic that eventually grew to attract fans from all over the world. The menu at these gatherings consisted of one of Othar’s goats which he himself butchered and cooked. In 1998 Othar and his Rising Star Fife and Drum Band released their album “Everybody Hollerin’ Goat”, one of our favorite albums. Martin Scorsese featured a song from this album on the soundtrack of Gangs of New York. Othar died in Gravel Springs Mississippi, and the same day his daughter died of breast cancer. His granddaughter lead the Rising Star Fife band on the fife in the procession to the cemetery of their joint funeral.
When planning you’re Labor Day celebrations you might want to consider some of Othar’s tunes in the mix (and some goat on the BBQ!).
