Rake-and-scrape - Revision history

Edb: Expand the comprehensive music catalogue with reviewed distinct performances; prioritize recent discovery, retain good older music and preserve existing prose, recordings and fields.

2026-10-22T12:12:12Z

Expand the comprehensive music catalogue with reviewed distinct performances; prioritize recent discovery, retain good older music and preserve existing prose, recordings and fields.

Show changes

Edb: Add canonical MuGlobe favorite, current-hit and authentic fields to all recording links; preserve existing music and article content

2026-10-22T02:33:34Z

Add canonical MuGlobe favorite, current-hit and authentic fields to all recording links; preserve existing music and article content

← Older revision		Revision as of 02:33, 22 October 2026
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	{\| class="wikitable muglobe-performances"		{\| class="wikitable muglobe-performances"
	\|+ MuGlobe representative performances		\|+ MuGlobe representative performances
	! Artist !! Performance / song / title !! Embedded player URL !! Notes		! Artist !! Performance / song / title !! Embedded player URL !! Notes !! Repertoire kind !! Repertoire date !! Recording date !! Format !! Opening !! Places !! Fit !! Evidence !! Review note !! MuGlobe favorite !! Current hit !! Authentic
	\|-		\|-
	\| Ophie & the Websites \|\| Rake & Scrape Festival — Arthur’s Town, 2013 \|\| https://www.youtube.com/embed/TMb1fvcGsj0 \|\| An audience-uploaded live festival performance from Arthur’s Town, Cat Island, identified by uploader Jay Webb. It provides direct dance-music listening alongside the Smithsonian interview explaining the tradition.<ref name="performance-rake-and-scrape-1">[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMb1fvcGsj0 Ophie & the Websites — Rake & Scrape Festival — Arthur’s Town, 2013]. YouTube recording; metadata checked 2026-10-18.</ref>		\| Ophie & the Websites \|\| Rake & Scrape Festival — Arthur’s Town, 2013 \|\| https://www.youtube.com/embed/TMb1fvcGsj0 \|\| An audience-uploaded live festival performance from Arthur’s Town, Cat Island, identified by uploader Jay Webb. It provides direct dance-music listening alongside the Smithsonian interview explaining the tradition.<ref name="performance-rake-and-scrape-1">[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMb1fvcGsj0 Ophie & the Websites — Rake & Scrape Festival — Arthur’s Town, 2013]. YouTube recording; metadata checked 2026-10-18.</ref> \|\| unknown \|\| unknown \|\| unknown \|\| unknown \|\| unknown \|\| unknown \|\| pending \|\| [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMb1fvcGsj0 Existing recording] \|\| Legacy accepted recording retained during curation-field migration; no new age or geographic claims. \|\| <muglobe-flag video="TMb1fvcGsj0" field="muglobeFavorite" /> \|\| <muglobe-flag video="TMb1fvcGsj0" field="currentHit" /> \|\| <muglobe-flag video="TMb1fvcGsj0" field="authentic" />
	\|-		\|-
	\| Ophie Webb and Ophie & Da Websites \|\| Ophie Webb explains Bahamian rake-n-scrape \|\| https://www.youtube.com/embed/mHWWHScr7Ok \|\| Smithsonian Folkways combines Webb’s explanation with musical demonstration. This is an interview and performance feature about the Cat Island tradition, clearly distinguished from an uninterrupted concert.<ref name="performance-rake-and-scrape-2">[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHWWHScr7Ok Ophie Webb and Ophie & Da Websites — Ophie Webb explains Bahamian rake-n-scrape]. YouTube recording; metadata checked 2026-10-18. Context: [https://folkways.si.edu/video/ophie-webb-explains-bahamian-rake-n-scrape-music-interview-video supporting source].</ref>		\| Ophie Webb and Ophie & Da Websites \|\| Ophie Webb explains Bahamian rake-n-scrape \|\| https://www.youtube.com/embed/mHWWHScr7Ok \|\| Smithsonian Folkways combines Webb’s explanation with musical demonstration. This is an interview and performance feature about the Cat Island tradition, clearly distinguished from an uninterrupted concert.<ref name="performance-rake-and-scrape-2">[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHWWHScr7Ok Ophie Webb and Ophie & Da Websites — Ophie Webb explains Bahamian rake-n-scrape]. YouTube recording; metadata checked 2026-10-18. Context: [https://folkways.si.edu/video/ophie-webb-explains-bahamian-rake-n-scrape-music-interview-video supporting source].</ref> \|\| unknown \|\| unknown \|\| unknown \|\| unknown \|\| unknown \|\| unknown \|\| pending \|\| [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHWWHScr7Ok Existing recording] \|\| Legacy accepted recording retained during curation-field migration; no new age or geographic claims. \|\| <muglobe-flag video="mHWWHScr7Ok" field="muglobeFavorite" /> \|\| <muglobe-flag video="mHWWHScr7Ok" field="currentHit" /> \|\| <muglobe-flag video="mHWWHScr7Ok" field="authentic" />
	\|}		\|}

Edb: Add sourced representative performance playlist; preserve article prose and hotspot mushrooms

2026-10-18T18:13:30Z

Add sourced representative performance playlist; preserve article prose and hotspot mushrooms

muglobe-article
← Older revision		Revision as of 18:13, 18 October 2026
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	== Artists ==		== Artists ==
	Ophie and Da Websites, Bo Hog and Da Rooters and Ed Moxey's Rake 'n Scrape provide documented listening routes. The Fresh Creek Dance Band and other community musicians broaden the archive beyond a contemporary festival lineup. Folkways' release account identifies the saw, accordion and goatskin drum, while its Bahamian overview connects the sound to social dancing. Comparing ensembles reveals how phrasing and percussion balance can vary within a recognizable tradition. No claim is made here to having heard the complete albums or observed a dance event. <ref name="new-rake" />		Ophie and Da Websites, Bo Hog and Da Rooters and Ed Moxey's Rake 'n Scrape provide documented listening routes. The Fresh Creek Dance Band and other community musicians broaden the archive beyond a contemporary festival lineup. Folkways' release account identifies the saw, accordion and goatskin drum, while its Bahamian overview connects the sound to social dancing. Comparing ensembles reveals how phrasing and percussion balance can vary within a recognizable tradition. No claim is made here to having heard the complete albums or observed a dance event. <ref name="new-rake" />

			== Representative performances ==
			These recordings offer listening examples of the genre. Notes identify the performance setting and any adaptation or mixed repertoire.

			{\| class="wikitable muglobe-performances"
			\|+ MuGlobe representative performances
			! Artist !! Performance / song / title !! Embedded player URL !! Notes
			\|-
			\| Ophie & the Websites \|\| Rake & Scrape Festival — Arthur’s Town, 2013 \|\| https://www.youtube.com/embed/TMb1fvcGsj0 \|\| An audience-uploaded live festival performance from Arthur’s Town, Cat Island, identified by uploader Jay Webb. It provides direct dance-music listening alongside the Smithsonian interview explaining the tradition.<ref name="performance-rake-and-scrape-1">[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMb1fvcGsj0 Ophie & the Websites — Rake & Scrape Festival — Arthur’s Town, 2013]. YouTube recording; metadata checked 2026-10-18.</ref>
			\|-
			\| Ophie Webb and Ophie & Da Websites \|\| Ophie Webb explains Bahamian rake-n-scrape \|\| https://www.youtube.com/embed/mHWWHScr7Ok \|\| Smithsonian Folkways combines Webb’s explanation with musical demonstration. This is an interview and performance feature about the Cat Island tradition, clearly distinguished from an uninterrupted concert.<ref name="performance-rake-and-scrape-2">[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHWWHScr7Ok Ophie Webb and Ophie & Da Websites — Ophie Webb explains Bahamian rake-n-scrape]. YouTube recording; metadata checked 2026-10-18. Context: [https://folkways.si.edu/video/ophie-webb-explains-bahamian-rake-n-scrape-music-interview-video supporting source].</ref>
			\|}

	== Related genres ==		== Related genres ==
Line 2:		Line 2:
	"category": "genre",		"category": "genre",
	"templatePageId": 17,		"templatePageId": 17,
	"templateRevisionId": 86,		"templateRevisionId": 1065,
	"templateVersion": 8		"templateVersion": 9
	}		}

Edb: Create researched genre article and inferred regional musical landscapes; Ed’s approved authoring method

2026-10-18T01:03:53Z

Create researched genre article and inferred regional musical landscapes; Ed’s approved authoring method

New page

== Summary ==
Rake-and-scrape is a Bahamian dance-band tradition whose characteristic texture includes the scrape, strike and bend of a handsaw played as percussion. Accordion and a goatskin drum are central to many ensembles, with strings and other instruments appearing in different settings. The inventive use of everyday materials is part of a carefully developed musical language, not evidence of a lack of proper instruments. The music supports social dancing, celebration and a specifically Bahamian cultural identity. <ref name="new-rake">[https://folkways.si.edu/news-and-press/now-available-bahamian-rake-n-scrape Now Available: Bahamian Rake-n-Scrape — Smithsonian Folkways].</ref>

== Contemporary and trending ==
The tradition continues through working bands, local events, festivals, teaching and recordings. Heritage presentation can introduce the sound to new audiences, while community dancing preserves knowledge that is not fully visible in a short concert excerpt. Contemporary musicians may amplify or expand the ensemble without abandoning the saw's rhythmic role. Its commercial visibility is more concentrated than that of international pop, but active local practice is a different measure of presence. A recorded revival and a neighborhood celebration can sustain the same repertory for different purposes.

== History ==
The style developed through Bahamian African-descended life and encounters with European-derived social dances, including quadrille and polka-related forms. Island movement and community exchange helped shape repertories and ensemble habits. Cat Island and Andros are especially visible in documentation, while Nassau provides another setting for performance and recording. The history is not only a story of ingenious objects: dancers, family musicians and local occasions gave the instruments their roles. Later national and international cultural programs made selected ensembles more widely audible. <ref name="ga-bahamas">[https://folkways.si.edu/islands-song-bahamas/world-sacred/music/article/smithsonian Islands of Song: Music of the Bahamas — Smithsonian Folkways].</ref>

== Musical characteristics ==
Listen to the saw as a rhythmic voice rather than a sustained novelty effect. Scraping, striking and bending create changes of attack and color that interact with the drum and melody. The accordion can carry a tune whose phrase structure guides dancers, while percussion supplies lift and punctuation. A small group can make a rich texture because the instruments occupy different sonic spaces. The relationship between melody and step matters; a recording heard as background atmosphere can conceal how precisely the ensemble supports a social dance.

== Geography and communities ==
The map uses a broad central Bahamian landscape linking Cat Island, Andros, New Providence and neighboring island communities. A second lighter northern island field reflects wider circulation without pretending that a single circle can represent an elongated archipelago perfectly. The intervening sea is part of a travel network, not a claim of continuous land-based population. A few isolated Nassau and Cat Island pins would miss the shared repertory and movement among islands. The fields are cultural approximations rather than administrative boundaries.

== Artists ==
Ophie and Da Websites, Bo Hog and Da Rooters and Ed Moxey's Rake 'n Scrape provide documented listening routes. The Fresh Creek Dance Band and other community musicians broaden the archive beyond a contemporary festival lineup. Folkways' release account identifies the saw, accordion and goatskin drum, while its Bahamian overview connects the sound to social dancing. Comparing ensembles reveals how phrasing and percussion balance can vary within a recognizable tradition. No claim is made here to having heard the complete albums or observed a dance event. <ref name="new-rake" />

== Related genres ==
[[Mento]] offers a Jamaican comparison in acoustic social song and inventive bass or percussion texture, while [[Calypso]] belongs to a wider Caribbean circulation of song. These relationships should not erase Bahamian specificity. Goombay can name a drum and broader secular music contexts, so its use needs local explanation. Junkanoo is another major Bahamian cultural practice with a different event and ensemble organization. Sharing a national setting does not make every Bahamian percussion tradition rake-and-scrape.

=== References and further reading ===
<references />

== Hotspot mushrooms ==
Rake-and-scrape follows an archipelagic Bahamian social-dance network, especially central islands, not just recording towns. Two broad fields handle the elongated island geography while retaining regional variation.

These fields are editorial illustrations of musical affinity and cultural reach, not listener statistics. Radius marks the zero edge of the fade; overlapping fields of this genre combine by maximum.

{| class="wikitable muglobe-hotspots"
|+ MuGlobe hotspot mushrooms
! ID !! Location !! Latitude !! Longitude !! Radius (km) !! Strength !! Notes

|-
| rake-and-scrape-central-bahamas || Central Bahamian rake-and-scrape island landscape || 24.4 || -76.8 || 430 || 1 || Connects Cat Island, Andros, New Providence and neighboring dance communities.

|-
| rake-and-scrape-northern-islands || Northern Bahamian rake-and-scrape circulation || 26.1 || -78 || 300 || 0.55 || Lighter regional transmission beyond the strongest central landscape.

|}