Sacred Harp Music is a unique form of American Folk music that was once very popular in Calhoun County.
Many of our community churches would host all day singings with dinner on the grounds. Singers from all over the county and even surrounding counties would come and take part.
In the 1970s, Sacred Harp shape notes were not what most elementary students were singing on Sunday afternoons with their parents and grandparents if they could find somewhere else to be. But, Calhoun County native Mark Davis became hooked on Sacred Harp music at this time.
Davis began attending singings at an early age with his paternal grandmother, Anna Davis and parents, Roy and Nellie Davis. After attending a singing at Bethel Primitive Baptist Church in April of 1972, he asked his parents to purchase him a Sacred Harp hymnal. This was when Davis experienced his Epiphany for this type music.
When he entered high school, Mr. Hugh Bill McGuire, who was well known for his leadership in the Sacred Harp Convention, allowed Davis to lead a Sunday singing at Sherman Baptist Church.
Davis would graduate from Bruce High School and complete a music degree from Ole Miss. He would then begin his professional career as a band director. When time allowed, he would attend Saturday and Sunday singings and conventions.
In 1984, the Mississippi Sacred Harp Convention was held at Concord Baptist Church in Calhoun County. Davis attended and was elected president. He has held this position for the last 31 years.
In the late 1990s, MS Public Broadcasting attended and filmed the state convention at Antioch Primitive Baptist Church near Sebastopol, MS. Davis was interviewed by Gene Edwards. The program was later aired on Mississippi Public Television.
The National Sacred Harp Convention has been held the third weekend of June in Birmingham, Alabama since 1980. Davis was elected chairman in 2010 and has continued to serve in this position as well.
He refers to the National Convention as his mecca, his big event of the summer. Singers from many of our 50 states and several countries meet and sing the Sacred Harp hymns for three enjoyable days.
Davis has had the opportunity to teach Sacred Harp Singing Schools in various parts of the country including Montclair, New Jersey and Seattle, Washington. He has made many contacts and close friends with this type music.
Davis gives credit not only to his family but other close friends in Calhoun County for influencing him to pursue his love of Sacred Harp Music. They include Mr. S.T. Hawkins, Mrs. Cleo Hawkins, Mr. Hugh Bill McGuire, and former Bruce librarian, Mrs. Bernice Embry.
He has spent a great deal of his life singing and teaching this a cappella style music that can only be passed down from generation to generation.
“The Good Lord has placed a love in my heart for music and I’m happy to share that,” Davis said. “Hopefully, others might discover this music and enjoy it as well.”
Next week Bruce Arts Council will share information about Mark Davis’s life as a band director.