Georgetown University’s Department of Performing Arts hosted Jake Blount, a musician and scholar of Black American music, Sept. 20 in an intimate masterclass on Georgetown’s Gonda Theater stage.

Blount is known for his interpretations of Black folk music that he calls “Afrofuturist folklore,” which features the banjo, electric guitar, synthesizers and fiddle, the last of which he performed for the masterclass. Blount devolved into the inspiration behind his music which came as he learned new instruments and jammed with other musicians.

Following Blount’s introduction and insights into his musical journey, the masterclass began. Three musicians played for Blount: Peter Sloniewsky (CAS ‘27), a student cellist; Sarah Stiles, a sociology professor who performed banjo; and Anna Holk (CAS ‘27), a student who played her recorder.

Blount said he was surrounded by folk music growing up in Washington, D.C., attending the Smithsonian Folklife Festival where a family friend showed him the banjo when he was a child. Blount, though, never thought that he would be making music one day.

“There was a lot of old-time music being made in close proximity to me,” Blount said at the event. “I didn’t know what it was called, and I didn’t see anybody like me playing it. And it never occurred to me it was something that I could really do, but it was always something that I was interested in.”

Blount’s 2020 album, “Spider Tales” received critical acclaim and was named one of the year’s best albums by The New Yorker, in addition to earning a five-star review from The Guardian. Blount’s performances have graced prestigious venues such as the Kennedy Center, Newport Folk Festival, the Library of Congress and NPR’s Tiny Desk.

Blount said he started to learn the electric guitar at the East Coast Music Production Camp at the age of 12 from teen rock bands. Those unconventional lessons from teens who were barely older than him shaped his playing style as he began incorporating rock and roll into folk.

“I didn’t learn a scale for like five years, it was not organized,” Blount said. “But I learned a lot about listening, about playing in ensembles. I got a type of instruction in performing well and performing in a band setting that I have often felt other folks in my current genre do not receive.”

Blount took up the banjo while at Hamilton College, feeling inspired after watching the banjo player of Megan Jean’s Secret Family.

“He played banjo in a way I had never seen before, what I now know to be called claw hammer, and he explained to me, just like walking out of the venue carrying their stuff, that this was an African way of playing the instrument that had been passed down since it first appeared in this country,” Blount said.

Blount grew to love playing with others in a relaxed setting after taking banjo lessons from a professor and playing with other musicians. Blount released his first album after working on it for three years, catching the attention of Smithsonian Folkways, who wanted another album from him.

“That’s where my more experimental Afrofuturist kick began,” Blount said. “I gave them a couple of different proposals to choose from, and they selected one that was this Afrofuturist exploration of climate change, human migration, technology and ecology in relation to music.”

Blount helped with improvisation techniques and stressed the importance of taking one’s time to learn an instrument. Blount also connected with Holk, who had composed the score for her high school’s play during her senior year. Together, they explored the intricacies of playing and composing music that tells someone else’s story.

“I liked the way he articulated how you can approach music that has such a devastating history and trying to present it in a solemn enough fashion, that really had an impact on me,” Holk told The Hoya.

According to Holk, Blount’s masterclass left a lasting impression, offering both a musical and educational experience through the interaction between Blount and the participants, as well as the live performances.

“There’s a certain quality about it when it’s performed live that you don’t necessarily get with recorded music, and I think from a political figure, you could learn things from a podcast or from an article, but with music there’s just something so special about being in a live atmosphere,” Holk said.