A 180-year-old singing tradition is getting a new edition of its beloved hymnal
Trees encircle Holly Springs Primitive Baptist Church, which has been a historical meeting site for Sacred Harp singers for generations, in Bremen, Ga., on Sunday, March 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
Chris Wilhelm of Black Mountain, N.C., participates in a Sacred Harp singing at Holly Springs Primitive Baptist Church in Bremen, Ga., on Saturday, March 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
Bridge Hill Kennedy of Alabama stands in the hollow square and leads a song from "The Sacred Harp," at Holly Springs Primitive Baptist Church in Bremen, Ga., on Saturday, March 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
Isaac Green, 34, covers his eyes while praying before a Sacred Harp singing event at Holly Springs Primitive Baptist Church in Bremen, Ga., on Sunday, March 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
Isaac Green, 34, sings in the tenor section during a Sacred Harp singing event at Holly Springs Primitive Baptist Church in Bremen, Ga., on Sunday, March 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
From left, Lisa Bennett, Wade Kotter, and David Smead, Bennett's husband, sing in the alto section during a Sacred Harp singing event at Holly Springs Primitive Baptist Church in Bremen, Ga., on Saturday, March 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
Sheri Taylor, left, sits with her daughter, Laura Wood, and granddaughter, Riley McKibbin, 11, while singing from "The Sacred Harp" in the tenor section at Holly Springs Primitive Baptist Church in Bremen, Ga., on Saturday, March 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
Rodney Ivey keeps time while singing from the tenor section at a Sacred Harp singing event at Holly Springs Primitive Baptist Church in Bremen, Ga., on Sunday, March 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
Winfred Kerr, left, Jesse Roberts, and Oscar McGuire stand outside during a break at a Sacred Harp singing event at Holly Springs Primitive Baptist Church in Bremen, Ga., on Saturday, March 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
Sacred Harp singers lead from the hollow square, a special formation in which singers, organize into four voice parts and face each other to create an open center, at Holly Springs Primitive Baptist Church in Bremen, Ga., on Saturday, March 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
Sacred Harp singers pray at the end of a session at Holly Springs Primitive Baptist Church in Bremen, Ga., on Sunday, March 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
Bridge Hill Kennedy, left, and Jesse Roberts, right, laugh between songs from the bass section at a Sacred Harp singing event at Holly Springs Primitive Baptist Church in Bremen, Ga., on Saturday, March 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
Matt Hinton, a shape-note singer, leads a song at a Sacred Harp singing event held at Holly Springs Primitive Baptist Church in Bremen, Ga., on Saturday, March 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
Matt Hinton, left, bows his head as Shane Brown, right, leads a group of Sacred Harp singers in prayer at Holly Springs Primitive Baptist Church in Bremen, Ga., on Sunday, March 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
Sacred Harp singers sit among the headstones at Holly Springs Primitive Baptist Church for a midday potluck in Bremen, Ga., on Saturday, March 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
A 1911 edition of "The Sacred Harp," a shape-note hymnal from the 1800s, opened to song No. 43, "Primrose Hill," at the Sacred Harp Publishing Company and Museum in Carrollton, Ga., on Friday, March 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
A historical image of a group of Sacred Harp singers is seen at the Sacred Harp Publishing Company and Museum in Carrollton, Ga., on Friday, March 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
Nathan Rees, a committee member and Sacred Harp museum curator, at The Sacred Harp Publishing Company and Museum in Carrolton, Ga., on Friday, March 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
The more than 180-year-old compilation of sacred songs uses music notes shaped like triangles, ovals, squares and diamonds.
