Musicians Samuel James (left) and Michael Kebede. (Photo by Katie Day)
Portland-based musicians and advocates Samuel James and Michael Kebede are performing together in “Haint Blue,” a show described as “bringing forward their individual virtuosity, sounds and cultures to create a new sound within the dynamic landscape of Black American folk.”
THE PLAYERS
James, 47, a roots and blues musician who sings and plays guitar, is also a podcaster and the author of the Substack newsletter “Banned Histories of Race in America.”
A storyteller who has appeared on radio programs “This American Life” and “The Moth,” James was born in Biddeford and has family roots in the state dating back to the early 1700s.
Kebede, 37, plays banjo and serves as policy director of the ACLU of Maine, where he has worked since 2019. He has held his current role for the past year.
Born in Washington, D.C., Kebede moved with his mother to Ethiopia as a baby, and lived there for 17 years. He returned to the U.S. to attend the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and has lived in Maine since 2016.
The two said they’re happy to be performing together, and praised each other’s musicianship.
“He’s just really remarkable,” said James.
“Sam’s a virtuosic musician, and any chance to be on stage with him or to watch him is a blessing,” said Kebede.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
James said the show’s title, “Haint Blue,” is a color rooted in Black American history and believed to ward off evil spirits.
He connected that idea to what he sees as a broader loss of human connection, noting that live music in bars, cafés and restaurants is increasingly being replaced by Spotify playlists. “I don’t think it’s a coincidence that you can look at that and then also look at our current systemic lack of acknowledging humanity,” said James.
That absence, James said, has wider consequences. “If you’ve lost the ability to witness that kind of live expression, I don’t think it’s coincidental that you would look around and all of a sudden you and I live in an occupied city.”
James and Kebede hope their show will tip the scales — at least for 90 minutes — toward joy. “This is not going to be a lecture,” James said. “It’s going to be a night that celebrates humanity through the lens that Michael and I share. To my mind, music is the greatest form of expression, and the most expansive version of it.”
A DEEPER MEANING
James’ performance on the banjo is also culturally significant: It is an African instrument that carries deep historical meaning. “It represents what we brought with us when we were forced here — abducted to come here,” he said.
“But the Black experience isn’t just about what we carried across the ocean. It’s also about what we created once we arrived. What we’re trying to encapsulate is a Black experience that is collective and historical.”
Kebede said performing live carries meaning for him. “The immediacy of the experience is immeasurable,” he said. “There’s no recording that can capture it.”
Most of Kebede’s music is instrumental, and when he isn’t playing, about 80% of what he listens to is banjo music by other musicians. Every Tuesday, he joins a group of players for a jam session focused on banjo and other old-time string instruments.
These sessions aren’t just about music, he said. “It’s transcendent and blissful,” Kebede said. “Space and time almost disappear, and an egolessness takes the place of my individuality.”
Kebede believes art does more than heal. It can transform.
“Healing suggests there’s an injury that needs to be fixed so you can return to who you were before,” he said. “This is different. It fills life with joy, meaning and wonder, and it transforms you into a new, more blissful state.”
7 p.m. Feb. 5. First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church, 425 Congress St., Portland, $30, $25 seniors and students. porttix.com.
