I am Josh Brew; I was privileged to be a Summer Immersive fellow last year. I successfully worked with the Legon Palmwine Band (LPB) and young musicians in Accra to explore music career sustainability strategies to help revitalize Ghanaian palmwine music (see more here). However, my time in Ghana exposed me to severe environmental degradation in Ghana, like river pollution, deforestation, and poor management of waste. My Immersive project last summer made me realize that music sustainability should not only be about preserving endangered musical cultures but also about preserving the natural environment from which the music is inspired and acquired. I returned to the US in the fall of 2022 with images of environmental degradation and the sustainability of palmwine music swirling in my head. Like the rest of the world, Ghana faces significant environmental problems, including flooding, poor waste management, water pollution, and illegal mining. I started thinking about the relationship between palmwine music and environmental sustainability in Ghana.

This summer, my Immersive project will build on my Summer Immersive project from last year. I dwell on my fostered and working relationship with the LPB to explore ways Ghanaian palmwine music can contribute to environmental sustainability. Ghanaian palmwine music is a music tradition that emerged along the coast of West Africa in the early 19th century due to the fusion of guitar traditions and indigenous music. The title for my project stems from the traditional gathering by elders of the society under a tree to drink palm wine (an alcoholic beverage made from the sap of fallen palm trees), discuss the critical societal issue and provide solutions to these problems. Ghanaian palmwine music grew from these important social gatherings. Although Ghanaian palmwine music was dying until a few years ago, today, the LPB is actively revitalizing the music tradition via documentation, public performances, and training of Ghanaian youth in the music tradition. The key component of Ghanaian palmwine music, for contemplation and discussion of societal issues, is still maintained in contemporary musical performances.

As Ghana faces environmental problems, I will partner with LPB to engage in community-based activist research on music and environmentalism using Ghanaian palmwine music. I have divided my Immersive into two phases. As a musician, phase one comprises me collaborating with the LPB to create a song. We have started composing and rehearsing the song. The next few weeks will focus on recording and editing the music; followed by promoting and marketing the song through media tours (radio and television). The song focuses on the rampant illegal mining in Ghana, also known as galamsey––"gathering and selling them" in pidgin English. Galamsey is rampantly destroying natural resources in Ghana, especially rivers. We aim to raise awareness about this environmentally degrading activity with the song.

Phase two is an environmentalism-themed event which will be a combination of a workshop and a music performance. Workshop is a productive avenue and methodology for researchers in the humanities to engage the community with whom they work. The musical performance component will be participatory and inclusive. Ghanaian palmwine music is usually performed in a circle structure, without a clear distinction between performers and audience. This structure presents communal and inclusive participatory music-making. Here, the songs will be focused on environmental sustainability.

The aim is to draw attention to the ecological problems and trigger a conversation on the issue.

I have noticed the usage of plastic cups and bottles to serve palm wine during performances. The use of plastics, however, is a contributing factor to Accra's waste disposal issues. So as part of my Immersive, I will initiate the usage of half calabash gourds during the musical performance. The calabash is environmentally friendly and reusable. The earlier palmwine musicians ingeniously utilized half calabash gourds to serve palm wine, a practice that is not only environmentally conscious but also signifies a profound connection between the musical tradition and nature. Its adaptation is a practical gesture towards environmentalism. My Summer Immersive will help to avoid the excessive use of non-recyclable plastics.  

My Summer Immersive Fellowship will contribute immensely to my overall doctoral dissertation: the opportunity to kick-start my ethnographic fieldwork. Specifically, I will be able to research one of the three case studies of my dissertation: how the revitalization of palmwine music contributes to protecting the natural environment. The other two case studies are music and illegal mining and the manufacturing and disposal of instruments. My dissertation draws on Ghanaian Indigenous Knowledge to examine the contemporary ways music (songs, instruments, and musicians) contributes to environmental sustainability in Ghana.

Josh Brew

June 2023