…as in, stringed instruments! Brace yourselves for a high-strung episode connecting your favorite pet to three distinct stringed instruments in this episode of 6 Degrees of Cats, the world’s #1 (and only) cat-themed culture, science and history podcast.

What is "cat gut" – and is it truly derived from feline materials, as rumored? Join Amanda “Captain Kitty” B. in this culturally informed and historically resonant investigation into the history of the banjo with Hannah Mayree, co-founder of the Black Banjo Reclamation Project, and gain a sense of appreciation for the past, present, and future of this very American instrument. And learn about another instrument it often accompanies, the violin, from Canadian-Romanian musical polymath and documentarian Joenne Dumitrascu, a lifelong violinist who helps clarify what is, and isn’t, making those strings sing. Then, we revisit Japan to speak to an expert on the shamisen, a three-stringed lute-like instrument that carries with it over 600 years of Japanese history and an ongoing message from the past. By the end of the episode, which of these instruments, if any, is embodied by cats? Listen and find out!

Please note: While vivid imagery of deceased animals is not - and will never - be included, listeners who are more sensitive to the topics of animal death may wish to check out other 6 Degrees of Cats episodes, as referenced below.

Join us on this historical trip through time across three continents to gain a deeper sense of appreciation, nuance, and context for the banjo, the violin, and the shamisen – and their connection to cats!

Support the podcast, sign up for The Captain’s Log, the companion podcast newsletter and learn about way$ to help keep this ship afloat for our next season here: linktr.ee/6degreesofcats.

Referenced episodes:

• Cool Cat: How Cats Are the Soul of Rock 'n' Roll
• The Purr-fect Life: Cats, Kantian Ethics and Karma!

Referenced materials:

• 6 Degrees of Cats: Banjos, Violins and Shamisens YouTube playlist

About the experts:

• Hannah Mayree is a California-born banjoist, singer, songwriter and music educator. They are the co-founder of the Black Banjo Reclamation Project (BBRP), which is a creative eco-system that curates musical, cultural and land-based opportunities for Black, Afro-Diasporic communities around the world to work with the banjo as a tool for reclaiming ancestral wisdom & creating Afro-futures. You can find Hannah at http://hannahmayree.com and BBRP at https://blackbanjoreclamationproject.org.
• Joenne Dumitrascu, M.M., is a Canadian-Romanian musician and filmmaker. She has composed and performed works on major feature films and tours internationally as a concert violinist and pianist. Joenne can be found at https://www.joennedumitrascu.com and followed on Instagram @joenne_dumitrascu
• Keisuke Yamada, Ph.D. is a postdoctoral fellow at the Center of Japanese Studies, University of Michigan. He is interested in sound studies. He has been working on a book entitled Ecologies of Sound. The book offers a sound-centered analysis of the logic and interplay of global capitalism, militarism, and industrialization that have shaped the soundscapes and sound-politics of twentieth- and twenty-first-century Japan.

Special thanks to the Willie Mae Rock Camp community, Mr. Tony Thomas and Camille Pajor and Rebecca Stein.

Producer, writer, editor, sound designer, host, basically everything*

• Amanda B. (Instagram @catsuitband)

* with co-executive producers Binky & Snuggles

Animal voices include:

• Binky & Snuggles _^..^_

Music

• Captain Kitty: all music supervision, mixes and arrangements unless otherwise noted
• Leathered: "Look Alive" © 2022
• Samples licensed via Loopcloud
• Additional sound effects from Pixabay.com

Logo design:

• Edward Anthony © 2024 (Instagram: @itsmyunzii)

Research used:

• Allen, G. (2011, August 23). The banjo’s roots, reconsidered. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2011/08/23/139880625/the-banjos-roots-reconsidered 
• Bogoian-Mullen, W. (2020, February 27). The history of the shamisen. Shamiko Guitars. https://shamikoguitars.com/blogs/news/the-history-of-the-shamisen 
• Bouquet, J. S. M. (2010, April). The lute: Essay: The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Heilbrunn timeline of art history. The Met’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/lute/hd_lute.htm 
• Bradley, A., & French, J. (2023, November 10). Black folk musicians are reclaiming the genre. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/10/t-magazine/black-folk-musicians.html 
• Bradley, C. (2021, December 2). Appalachia’s Native American history: How much do you know? OVERLOOKED. https://www.overlookedinappalachia.org/post/appalachia-s-native-american-history-how-much-do-you-know 
• Brouwer, Z. (2020, September 30). Oh no, kittens are killed for violin strings! - the truth about catgut. Violin Lounge. https://violinlounge.com/oh-no-kittens-are-killed-for-violin-strings-the-truth-about-catgut/ 
• Buchman, M. (2011, November 4). Folk instrument’s historical connection to racism in the U.S. Solid Ground. https://www.solid-ground.org/banjo-connection-to-racism/ 
• Buraku Liberation and Human Rights Research Institute Editors. (1997b). What is Buraku Discrimination ?. What is buraku discrimination ? https://blhrri.org/old/blhrri_e/blhrri/buraku.htm 
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• EIA US Editorial Staff. (2023, April 4). Japan’s Elephant Ivory Trade: Where Are We Now? https://us.eia.org/blog/japans-elephant-ivory-trade-where-are-we-now/ 
• Fischer, C. (2023, April 5). 10 TV shows that feature the banjo. Bailey and Banjo. https://baileyandbanjo.com/10-tv-shows-that-feature-the-banjo/ 
• Gaddy, K. R. (2019, February 28). Stedman’s creole bania. KRISTINA R. GADDY. https://www.kristinagaddy.com/blog/views-of-the-creole-bania 
• Gersten, J. (2017, July 17). Are catgut instrument strings really made from cat guts? the answer might surprise you. WQXR Editorial. https://www.wqxr.org/story/are-catgut-instrument-strings-ever-made-cat-guts-answer-might-surprise-you/ 
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• Keita, S. (n.d.). My culture: Griot Tradition. Seckou Keita. https://www.seckoukeita.com/my-culture 
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• Linford, S. V. (2014, July 27). Historical narratives of the akonting and banjo. Ethnomusicology Review. https://ethnomusicologyreview.ucla.edu/content/akonting-history 
• Meyer, S. (2020, October 15). Between a forgotten colony and an abandoned prefecture: Okinawa’s ... The Asia-Pacific Journal - Japan Focus. https://apjjf.org/2020/20/Meyer.html 
• Morris, W. (2019, August 14). Why is everyone always stealing black music?. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/music-black-culture-appropriation.html 
• National Museum of African American History and Culture Editorial staff. (2017, November 22). Blackface: The birth of an American stereotype. National Museum of African American History and Culture. https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/blackface-birth-american-stereotype 
• Okinawa Prefecture Board of Education. (n.d.). History of Okinawa. http://rca.open.ed.jp/web_e/history/index.html 
• Price, E. (2021, April 13). Hillbilly horror: Reckoning with a genre 15 years after “wrong turn.” 100 Days in Appalachia. https://www.100daysinappalachia.com/2018/05/hillbilly-horror-stereotypes/ 
• Public Broadcasting Service. (1996). Jim Crow laws. PBS. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/freedom-riders-jim-crow-laws/ 
• Senzoku Gakuen College of Music Editors. (2014). Shamisen. SHAMISEN | Traditional Music Degital Library. https://www.senzoku-online.jp/TMDL/e/02-shamisen.html#:~:text=Also%20known%20as%20sangen%2C%20the,and%20dog%20skin%20is%20used. 
• Shamisen Japan Editors. (2017, April 4). Shamisen body. Shamisen Japan. https://shamisenjapan.com/shamisen-body/ 
• Thomas, G. (2022). From Slaves to Hillbillies: A Racial History of the Banjo in the 18th and 19th Centuries (MIT 2023 Undergraduate Term Paper Awardee - Ed. Note: this is not primary source but we wish to attribute robust valid research). https://history.mit.edu/news/2023-history-undergraduate-writing-prize-winners/

• Thomas, T. (2011, June). About the banjo by Tony Thomas. About the Banjo [reprinted via Black Banjo Gathering]. https://usslave.blogspot.com/2011/06/blog-post.html

• Urban Native Collective. (n.d.). Turtle Island. https://urbannativecollective.org/turtle-island 

• Wacera, C. (2022, August 15). A short history of the Mali empire. Our Ancestories. https://our-ancestories.com/blogs/news/a-short-history-of-the-mali-empire 
• Whipple, M. (2023, October 10). The history of Appalachia & its people. The Collector. https://www.thecollector.com/history-of-appalachia-and-its-people/ 
• Yamada, K. (n.d.-b). The Political Economy of Nonlife: Biopower, Ontosecurity, and the Shamisen Skin Trade in Japan. In The Oxford Handbook of Economic Ethnomusicology (Ser. Oxford Handbook). essay, Oxford University Press.