After fifteen years of fieldwork with the sacred steel guitar musical community of the African American Holiness-Pentecostal churches, House of God and Church of the Living God, folklorist Robert L. Stone expertly presents his ethnography archive in immersive and captivating form. Stone’s book of photography, titled Can’t Nobody Do Me Like Jesus! Photographs from the Sacred Steel Community, published in 2020 by the University Press of Mississippi, includes a foreword by Dr. Eric Lewis Williams, acknowledgements, an introduction, and one hundred and forty black-and-white photographs with extended captions, organized in themed chapters. The first three parts organically explain the depth of the project conceptually and chronologically, as well as situate the reader into necessary background information to understand the sacred steel community tradition.
This review wouldn’t be complete without considering who is behind the camera, choosing which moments are worth capturing with which lens to best represent the community in these photos. Stone, as a white folklorist, remarks on the inclination of other white photographers to “sensationalize African Americans or portray them as mysterious and exotic” (4). In turn, Stone writes in lucid prose about his positionality and the extent to which he consulted Black photographers, historians, and members of the congregations to present an “honest and dignified portrayal of sacred steel community members,” giving due credit to others’ intellectual contributions and broad considerations about the project (4). Stone also mentions his gratitude toward the congregations in the first sentence of the acknowledgements section. Only then does he proceed to showcase the organization of the book and the historical context in the introduction section, then the pictures.
The photographs are compiled in eight chapters focusing on different aspects of the religious communities of the House of God and the Church of the Living God. Chapter 1, “Church Meetings,” shows the exterior architecture of churches, followed by pictures of worship scenes that took place inside these buildings. While pictures of the exterior of churches highlight the building in their stillness, the interior captures members mid-movement, mid-musicking, providing the reader an emotionally charged and candid portrait of what happens inside these buildings. Chapter 2, “Wakes, Funerals, and Tributes,” captures intimate moments of church members working as a community to grieve and celebrate. The sequence of photographs blends images of joy and sorrow, elation and introspection, giving an overall insider look at what devotion-in-and-for-the-community feels like for members. Chapter 3, “Celebrating God’s Glory Through Style and Adornment,” shows the expressive character of members’ outfits—from adorned hats to tiger-print vests, members’ Best Sunday clothes are just as much a part of the ritual—allowing members to stand out as individuals but connect as a community in their collective worship. Stone, with great humility, introduces chapter 4, “Portraits,” as an “attempt to communicate some measure of the personality of each subject” (90). Much like the rest of the book, this chapter is accompanied by extended captions at the end, which go into detail as to what these subjects were known for. The photographs give a glimpse of what they chose to show about themselves when the pictures were taken. Through photographs and captions, we learn about these subjects and the context in which they became known. Chapters 5, 6, and 7, “The Sacred Steel Conventions,” “Festivals and Concerts,” and “House of God Centennial,” highlight the musical culture outside of worship situations. It is worth noting that despite these musicians playing outside of a church meeting, their facial expressions and musical engagement is similar. As a reader, I am drawn to the idea that one’s musical learning experience is carried over, and I understand that sacred steel guitar players worship through their playing regardless of formal service. Lastly, chapter 8, “Generations,” portrays moments of passing on cultural values, showing moments where the position of elders and children in the community coalesce. From older members teaching steel guitar to younger ones, or younger ones playing the instrument in front of older members, this chapter portrays the organic flow of generational continuity.
Can’t Nobody Do Me Like Jesus is an exceptionally rich book in which Stone effectively clarifies the nuances of his fieldwork as he attempts to best represent his interlocutors. Most notably, the way the author credits his interlocutors, and critically and explicitly discusses his position capturing African American traditions, should serve as a model for ethnographers. An open discussion of the enthnographer’s subjectivity and positionality, combined with credited observations from inside and outside collaborators, draw the reader into what the book accomplishes as opposed to its limitations—which are inevitably present in any work. In the spirit of sharing one’s positionality, as an ethnomusicologist, I craved more textured descriptions of the musical sounds, which would have given yet another dimension to this portrayal of the musical traditions and forms of worship of these communities. Still, this is a remarkable book of photographs, and a strong presentation of the musical tradition of the sacred steel community.
--------
[Review length: 825 words • Review posted on November 11, 2021]