Happy Musical NonEvent To You
It was the celebration of sort that we don't celebrate in this household anymore. She doesn't celebrate hers about three weeks before we conveniently forget about mine. Nevertheless, some gifts were given last night on the occasion of the annual nonevent, and one gift from me was the latest offering from our favorite Old Time-Blue Grass band and good friends, the Wolfe Brothers. (Their latest, Old Roads-New Journeys isn't listed at CooperCreek yet.) We put the music on and became lost in the rhythms, the lyrics, and particularly for me, the thread of music history of which this is a living part.
If you have the least interest in the history and culture of the Appalachians, you must appreciate the role that its unique music has played in the making of our character. I don't expect that one in a hundred will actually read it, but this is an excellent synopsis (with sound clips) of how the music of fiddle and "banjar" became associated with the Appalachians over the past two hundred years.
Music is a common ground that ties the southern Appalachians together, and recent efforts assocated with the Blue Ridge Music Trails are making it easier for fans and travelers to sample it in all its variety. This map shows the different sections into which the Music Trail is now divided. Floyd County is in section 6. If you're planning a trip this way, include at least one live music venue. You'll be glad you did.
Comments
Well, here's to you, Bubba.
Posted by: Denny | March 24, 2004 11:14 PM
That WAS a good synopsis, Fred - thanks. I grew up with this music myself, since my older brother played clawhammer banjo (I never got farther than the autoharp and harmonica). Despite the ugliness of the caricatures used by commercial promoters over the last two centuries, fans of mountain music no less than jazz fans must remain eternally grateful that musicians themselves have always cared more about the music than the color of each other's skin. One historical circumstance that the article failed to mention was the large number of intermarriages between African-Americans and Irish immigrants in the immediate post-Civil War period. I cannot but imagine that the blending of Celtic and Sahelian musical traditions lay behind the emergence of both the blues and the "high lonesome" sound of Doc Hogg and company. Songs like John Henry, Jim String and Staggerlee seem to stand right about at the mouth of that confluence, at least the way I imagine it.
Posted by: Dave | March 25, 2004 3:21 PM
I couldn't agree more re taking in live music. I have not been to Appalachia, but have spent time in rural Louisiana at Deepgrass and cajun music events...amazing. I always come away with a suitcase full of CDs of great music that I'd never get to hear otherwise.
Plus I get to eat boiled peanuts and other delicacies...what could be better!
Posted by: Jane | March 25, 2004 9:27 PM