PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Dr. Guthrie P. Ramsey goes by many titles. He’s an author, musician, composer, and retired professor of musicology.
“It really is a blessing to be able to wake up every morning, and to put your hands on what you're thinking about and what your heart is telling you to do,” said Ramsey.
“I've been writing books and making music and making films and collaborating with different artists in the Philadelphia area, and just trying to get a scene happening up here in Germantown where I live.”
Through his many talents, he’s helping put Philadelphia — and more specifically, Germantown — on the map.
“You've heard about the Avenue of the Arts downtown. We're trying to bring some of that energy up here,” said Ramsey.
“I call it the Cobblestone Avenue of the Arts or something like that, because Germantown Avenue happens to be the longest and oldest business corridor in the United States. It has this very long history and right now, there's a lot of artistic activity going on.”
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Ramsey’s most recent project is a book of essays that trace the history of Black music called “Who Hears Here?” The work, just released this year, has picked up a lot of steam. It has taken him from the Philadelphia Free Library to a book signing at Columbia University in New York.
“One of the things that I'm obviously obsessed with as a music historian is [how] our history is wanting people to understand that the past is always in the present,” he said.
Ramsey, 65, is striving to leave his mark by way of using music as what he calls the perfect vehicle for time travel.
“I'm often recontextualizing a spiritual or something from the 19th century, and I'm putting it in a present dress, meaning I'm putting it in a genre that people today can relate to,” said Ramsey.
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“With the idea that this music that I create and share, it's going to be a time capsule for people in the future to look back and ask, ‘Why was that musician making that music at that time and that place?’”
He also hopes to help fuel the Germantown renaissance, through collaboration and connection.
“There's this idea that all that happens here is the negative things, the violence, and the theft and all, but I really believe that being exposed to the arts and participating, participating in arts, it's really what's going to heal our society,” Ramsey said.
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“Through the arts, you get to see the humanity and others, and appreciate the humanity … and maybe if we would raise children with that mindset, we would have a more peaceful society.”
Ramsey formed the Musicology Media Group. They have begun an initiative called the Singles Project.
“We are attracting various artists from around the Philadelphia area and producing a single for them,” he said.
Ramsey, also known as Dr. Musiqology, said he hopes other up-and-coming Philadelphia artists will take advantage of the opportunities he’s creating for them.