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Hillbilly Thomists: St. Thomas Aquinas meets bluegrass

Kelly Sankowski | Catholic News Service

The Hillbilly Thomists’ album cover is seen prior to the start of their show at the Catholic Information Center in Washington April 11. TYLER ORSBURN | CNS

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The Hillbilly Thomists perform at the Catholic Information Center in Washington April 11. The bluegrass band consists of 10 Dominican friars from the Dominican House of Studies in Washington. JACLYN LIPPELMANN | CNS

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WASHINGTON — Bluegrass music may not be the first thing that
comes to mind when people think of Dominicans, but for the 10 Dominican
brothers and priests at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington who
recently released their debut album, “The Hillbilly Thomists,” the
two have a lot in common.

“The life of holiness is the happiest life. It is the good
life,” said Brother Jonah Teller, who plays guitar on the album. “I
was drawn, and I think a lot of men are drawn, by the joy the brothers exhibit
… to be living this life, to be saving our souls, to be drawing closer to
Jesus, and to do it with brothers.”

Likewise, while listening to bluegrass music, “there is a
real happiness that is just drawn out of you,” he said. “So I think
that we’re geared to be happy, and bluegrass lets you be happy in a really
expressive way.”

That happiness was tangible as six of the Hillbilly Thomists
played to a standing-room-only crowd recently at the Catholic Information
Center in Washington. Middle-age men tapped their feet and babies clapped their
hands to the tunes. The musicians laughed with each other as they created the
proper setting for bluegrass music, which they said is usually played
informally around a kitchen table.

Brother Simon Teller, who plays the fiddle in the new album, is
Brother Jonah’s brother. They grew up in Cincinnati, attending St. Gertrude
Parish, where Dominicans in the religious order’s Eastern province go for their
novitiate year.

Looking through old family photos, Brother Simon found one of
himself as a 13-year-old, playing the fiddle alongside now-Father Thomas Joseph
White, who had begun playing the bluegrass mandolin after his novice master
told all novices to take up a hobby.

Little did the 13-year-old know that he would later wear a
similar white habit and again play the fiddle alongside Father White, who is
now an associate professor of systematic theology at the Dominican House of
Studies.

Father White and Father Austin Litke founded the Hillbilly
Thomists in the early 2000s. They chose the name from a quote by Catholic
author Flannery O’Connor, who said: “Everybody who has read ‘Wise Blood’
thinks I’m a hillbilly nihilist, whereas … I’m a hillbilly Thomist.”

Brother Justin Bolger was a professional touring musician and a
sound engineer before entering the Dominican order. Brother Joseph Hagan and
others had studied music in college. Brother Simon had spent summers as a
street musician in Asheville, N.C.

“The different skills we brought fit well together,”
said Brother Joseph, who plays the drums. “Obviously, we came together
primarily for God. … We aren’t just people who have skills and (who) use each
other to make an album.”

Unless they are practicing for a specific gig, the Hillbilly
Thomists’ schedule of playing together is pretty fluid.

“It is a true extension of our fraternal life,” Brother
Jonah said.

The product of the brothers’ fun pastime has received a response
that none anticipated. It was in the top 10 of the bluegrass Billboard charts
for about 10 weeks, at one point reaching the No. 3 spot, and it also reached
the top 20 of all albums on Amazon. People from around the world are listening
to it, reviewing it and often learning about St. Thomas Aquinas in the process,
as they Google, “What is a Thomist?”

Country and bluegrass legend Ricky Skaggs stopped by the
Dominican House of Studies to visit the Hillbilly Thomists and, before playing
bluegrass with them, joined them for prayer and lunch.

The impetus for the album was as a fundraiser, since the album’s
proceeds go to the Dominican House of Studies, but the album also is a form of
preaching, said Brother Simon. The Dominicans also are known as the Order of
Preachers.

The songs are “about Christ and grace and about very human
things like death,” he said. The themes are found in tracks such as
“What Would You Give in Exchange for Your Soul?” inviting the
listener to contemplate dying and meeting God; “Poor Wayfaring
Stranger,” reflecting the experience of pilgrimage; and “Leaning on
the Everlasting Arms,” invoking an image of relying on God.

People have told the brothers that they see the album as
something that they can send to their children who have fallen away from the
Church or share with their non-Catholic friends, said Brother Simon. It is
considered “cultural, but at the core of it is Christianity,” he
said.

While the songs have deep and complex theological themes, part of
the beauty of the bluegrass is its simplicity, said Brother Joseph.

“The lyrics are very prayerful, if not just simply
prayers,” he said.

Since they take vows of obedience, Brother Simon said it is
difficult to talk about the future of the band, but added, “We’re all
excited to see where the Lord takes it.”

Sankowski is on the staff of the Catholic Standard,
newspaper of the Archdiocese of Washington.

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