ACL meets ASL

At this weekend's musical confluence, American Sign Language interpreters help audience members groove

By John T. Davis
SPECIAL TO THE AMERICAN-STATESMAN
Friday, September 14, 2007

When Barbie Parker takes her place before Bob Dylan's climactic set Sunday night at the Austin City Limits Music Festival, she will have the absolute worst seat in the house.

Oh, sure, she'll be as up-close as it gets, in a better vantage point than even the photographers jostling in the pit down front or the diehard fans who will queue up hours ahead of time for a prime vantage point. She will, in fact, be practically close enough to pick the headliner's pocket if she's so inclined.

But for the entirety of Dylan's highly anticipated set, Barbie Parker will have her back to the stage.

Parker is the coordinator of Alive Performance Interpreting, an Austin-based company that specializes in interpreting live performances for deaf audiences.

She and her corps of interpreters are taking turns signing at least 41 performances over the three days of the festival, which started today and ends Sunday.

"You have to have a really strong base in ASL (American Sign Language) to get up and perform," said Parker, who will also be signing for Muse Saturday and the Pete Yorn set today, among others. "You have to be able to do it lyrically, and that requires a lot of rhythm, and also the confidence to be up in front of that very large crowd. Prep work is vital — you have to be able to take those lyrics and listen to the music and really get a feel for what the artist is talking about."

Signers using ASL, Parker said, do not translate music lyrics word for word (an improbable task — imagine trying to literally sign the blizzard of language in a rap song). Rather, she said, interpreters deal in "meta-messages" — second and third meanings of what is actually being said. She and her cadre, "interpret conceptually."

"I interpreted for Lupe Fiasco at Lollapalooza this year, and he has a ton of lyrics in one song," she said. "It would be impossible to put a clear message out in sign language that quickly. So you really have to go for the meta-message — what's the meaning he's giving out?"

Though the interpreters — hands flashing, bodies swaying, heads nodding in counterpoint — might seem swept away in the passion of the musical moment, it is all deliberate and carefully considered. There is a ferocious amount of preparation involved for the gauntlet of shows an interpreter might be called upon to sign for during the festival.

Unlike signing for one artist at a concert, Parker said, an interpreter at ACL might have to hop from, say, Asleep At the Wheel to Paolo Nutini to Ghostland Observatory.

The interpreters' work begins far in advance — listening to an artists' albums, scrutinizing fan Web sites for set lists from other performances, gleaning all the information they can.

On occasion, there is a chance to confer with the artists' representatives or even the artist himself.

"Ideally, we'd love to have a lot more proactive coordination by dealing with their managers and other people in their camp before the festival," said Parker, a certain wistful tone in her voice. "We're not seeing that yet. What we're seeing is coordination day-of."

So, then, has she spoken to Dylan's people about his prospective set list? Nope, she says. Well, then, isn't there a certain amount of pressure in being responsible for translating the words of Mr. Voice of A Generation at the festival's most heralded performance?

"I'm definitely excited about it," Parker said. "But I'm not intimidated by it because I'm doing my homework. That takes some of the pressure off. It's kind of like going into a big test that you're prepared for."

Although it's uncertain who was the first to pioneer the use of ASL interpreters at live music events, the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival included the process a good number of years ago.

"I don't know if Jazzfest was the first, but they do a great job and have set the bar for many festivals. Their program preceded ours," said Shanda Sansing. "In fact, Jessica Slutsky, who has coordinated the overall Access program for ACL for years, also worked with Jazzfest."

Sansing is the manager of the Patron Services and Greening Initiative division at C3 Presents (ACL's producer), in charge of, among other things, handicapped services at ACL. As such, she is Parker's point of contact with the festival.

"We don't have a mechanism for counting" the number of people with disabilities who attend ACL each year, Sansing said. "I know we have more people using the services now than in the early years — because of word of mouth and our own promotion. Awareness of our services has resulted in increased numbers of users."

The Access Information Center, which greets festival-goers near the main entrance and provides Braille and large-print editions of the festival program, and a wheelchair loaner station, "has been a feature of the festival since the beginning," Sansing added.

"We had sign language interpreters in year two, but they helped with general information rather than music interpretation," she said. "In year three, we incorporated a music-signing component, which has grown every year since."

Alive Performance Interpreting came together out of a network of interpreters with whom Parker had worked in years past. The group also interprets for the deaf at conferences, business meetings, theater performances, at other group events and even over the phone via video linkups, but their bread and butter has proven to be signing at large music events, among them the three festivals (ACL, Lollapalooza in Chicago and the new Big State Festival in October in College Station) produced by C3 Presents.

At some point it seems relevant to ask ... just what, exactly, does a deaf person get out of going to a music festival?

"I get asked that quite a bit," said Parker, who has signed at ACL for the past three years and who estimates she has interpreted at more than 250 performances in 12 years. "I equate it to watching a foreign film. I go to the theater to watch movies that are in other languages, and I enjoy them with subtitles. It doesn't matter to me that it's in France, and it's set in a vineyard, and I don't speak the language — I like the movie."

Parker and the other interpreters can see the visceral pleasure that their patrons with impaired hearing take in being part of the scene.

"I think they have the same desire and enjoyment that we have," she said. "There's so much that happens visually. Half of going to ACL, for example, is people-watching. That's one of the best parts of it."

At least one deaf ACL fan agrees. "I love the diversity of people, and I love to wander the arts open air market and the food pavilions," said Thea Huschka, a Houston resident who has attended the festival for the past three years.

"I want hearing people to understand that the deaf people like to feel the beat and the rhythms close to the speakers, while the ASL interpreter gives the picture in deaf people's mind as to what the song is all about," said Huschka, who said she is particularly looking forward to seeing the Indigo Girls this year.

"One year there was a performance by (Hasidic rapper) Matisyahu. I loved his beat but did not know what he was saying. When I saw what he was saying through the interpreter, it was so inspiring to realize what his music was about. If there had been no interpreters, I wouldn't be able to be moved or inspired by the words like all of you hearing people."

Huschka said she plans to volunteer at this year's festival to assist other deaf fans in the audience.

The payoff from her perspective, said Parker, "is knowing that your clients, the consumers of your service, are receiving the same energy, the same message and the same experience — they're getting equal access. And the reward is being able to carry that energy of the performance through you. It's an uplifting and inspiring experience."