Mountain Mama
A Short Look into Appalachian Culture Told through History, Photography, Poetry, and Song
By: Channing Bragg
Mountain Mama By: Sarah Loudin Thomas
dear God let me win
There is truth in the trailer park
A one in a million chance is better
and honesty in the car on blocks. ancestors
Than watching the land of your
Starvin’ Marvin and “as seen on TV”
cleared wash away . . . no wish away
live cheek by jowl with the likes
on the promises of strip mines
of handmade quilts and apple butter;
and a future you can’t afford to wait
old-time music and the oral tradition.
At night, the lights from Wal-Mart glow
Some folks say it isn’t True,
like the promise of a better tomorrow.
isn’t the way things used to be. But lose a grandfather to the mines, an uncle to the war, your mother to a cancer that gnaws at her soul— lose a child for no reason you can see. Then you’ll find the fragile beauty in the never-ending yard sale. You’ll learn to love the tourists who buy corncob pipes, coonskin caps, and lumps of coal carved like bears. When the giant timber companies run the local sawmill out of money and Aunt Eunice can’t remember your name— when your best friend moves to California and minimum wage is doing alright, man. Then you’ll find the potent wisdom in workers’ compensation, food stamps and tonight’s lotto number— 2
Appalachia lives on.
INTRODUCTION
EYES TO THE MOUNTAINS REMEMBERING THE BEGINNINGS
Introduction Appalachia has long been an area of regional interest to the outside world. The distinct culture is no exception. Beginning with the first settlers hailing from England, Ireland, and Scotland (Scots-Irish as well) mixing together to create the customs and things preserved today and that characterize Appalachia in modern times, still preserved. There have been significant African influences as well found through the music, food, and language. Links are also found to the Cherokee and other tribes of the area. Appalachian culture is a mix 3
of all the peoples the mountains brought together and a source of knowledge as well as an important aspect of heritage to protect whether it be the history, stories, music, or ways of religion. An Appalachian History of the Family By: Channing Bragg Black walnut is the family tree A patchwork quilt is our stories From a coal miner’s hat to the dialect These are the things that make us.
The mountains are my mother Old dirt paths are my father Always one with the other Through them I make my way.
L&N’s striped cap is my Pappy The butter churn is my Granny
- The Bragg Homestead -
Old things like these make up the tapestry Serving as my map.
Irish red hair is the aunt I never knew Cherokee brown eyes is my grandmother who left too soon Digging deep are the roots Reminding me of those past.
Hard working spirit of my poppy Never ending determination of my Nanny 4
Serving as bits and pieces of my personality Making me who I am.
The family tartan is my Daddy Phil Old timey recipes are my Mamaw Mary Traditions we always carry Teaching me all I need to know.
Cabins in the cove are my first family The running rails of West Virginia are my ancestry This is where everything started Showing me where I’m from.
5
CHAPTER ONE
NO GREATER GIFT EDUCATION IN THE APPALACHIANS
One Room Schoolhouse Schoolhouses like these lived through the early history all the way up to the 1960’s when they were consolidated. Typical to these schools, students all joined together since they were not seperated by age or grade and all that was taught was mostly basic reading and math skills. The three R’s as you hear- reading, ‘riting, and ‘rithmetic. The schools were partially funded by the state, but not much could be said about the conditions. Teachers had some training, but taught to the best of their abilities with what they had at the time.
6
Student attendance was sporadic as well, most only coming in when not working for their parent s or elsewhere. Limited resoureces for the region up until improved education moves made by Lyndon B Johnson in the 1960’s. Schoolhouse Helen Middleton Do you have a little red schoolhouse safe in your memory, With an iron stove and an outside pump and a shady apple tree? There were well-carved desks and water pail and many shaggy books, A round world globe, a few rough shelves‌ at the back, a row of hooks. A long black stovepipe ran the length of the rudely finished room And a coal-oil lamp on a swinging chain helped dispel the gloom. A blackboard graced the whole front wall; there was always lots of chalk. You used a slate and your pencil squeaked and no one dared to talk. The modern schools are large and grand and beautiful to see, But how many love the country school treasured in memory?
7
Berea Berea College was founded in 1855 by James G Fee on land provided by Cassius Clay. Berea served to be a place of importance to Appalachian history. It started off as the first biracial college in Kentucky prior to the Civil War before closing its doors to African American students in 1859. Through time the funds for the school grew as did its reach, but it maintains around 80% of their students being from the Appalachian region. Today, the college lives on as an important marker and unique opportunity in that the students work off their debt while attending. The college also serves as a key player in preserving Appalachian history and culture.
Settlement Schools Tied the the Progressive movement of post-Civil War America and originally from outside the region, settlement schools could be found throughout the North in places such as the Hull House in Chicago and the Henry Street Settlement in New York. They began to take to Appalachian during the 19th 8
century and continued growing. The first school in Appalachia is believed to be the Hindman Settlement School in Hindman, Kentucky. At these schools they taught the ways of a middle class lifestyle, but also maintained a focus on local traditions and the old ways. Also, they provided opportunities for women to teach and allow advancement from the home. With the public schools of the 1920’s and 1930’s, settlement schools found their end, but many went on to new purposes like Hindman which still continues to educate today. Overall, settlement schools were important to those they helped and those they enabled in history.
John C. Campbell Folk School The idea started with John and Olive Campbell who got their start traveling through Southern Appalachia and collecting different aspects of culture whether story or music. Before the school, John passed away, but Olive carried on and established the school in his name which was based on the Danish structure of a cultural education center. The school works to promote education and the preservation of important cultural practices and traditions even today where you can find anything from poetry
9
workshops to contra dance lessons. Another example of those keeping Appalachian heritage and history alive.
Foxfire Much like John C. Campbell Folk School, Foxfire seeks to preserve Appalachian culture and serves as a unique place of education. They began in Rabun, Georgia in the 1960’s conduction interviews of older generations and recording stories. Then came the magazine and books published in the 1980’s in which Foxfire continued to expand. The goal of the schools has been to promote education and a healthy interest in history and tradition of this region and Foxfire maintains this idea to today.
10
CHAPTER TWO
IN HORTON WE TRUST HIGHLANDER FOLK SCHOOL
“You can’t padlock an idea.” The Highlander Folk School is unlike any discussed previously. The school served as a device to help train leaders and othere, but also a way to help Appalachians. The idea came from Don West and Miles Horton in 1932 taking place in Monteagle, Tennessee. The school would help fight issues such as the labor struggle and rural segregation in Appalachia. Highlander has been responsible for helping organize strikes in the 1930’s
11
and providing training for miners along with helping during the Civil Rights Movement. Earlier howerver, their involvement in the promotion of labor unions would link them to communism in some’s eyes and woudl play later on when Martin Luther King would visit in the coming years. With the Civil Rights Movement though, Highlander was a place of illegal integration and workshops for leaders. Many plans were organized around Highlander and figures such as Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. would attend these trainings. The school taught non-violence and sit-in procedure. Later, Martin Luther King Jr. would be accused of being a communist for his attendance at the school. Many odd things happened throughout Highlander’s history such as having been shut down for minor things since the state didn’t like them and having their land confiscated. Such was when Horton famously claimed one can’t “padlock an idea.” Other functions of the school included providing a place for union workers in which the songs “We Shall Overcome” and others were written. Famous faces such as Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie attended as well. HIghlander is a mark of incredible Appalachian
12
history and a place important to be remembered. Today, the school is located in New Market, Tennessee and is called “Highlander Research and Education Center” where they still provide jobs in promoting justice, environmentalism, and equality through research, education, and action. Mr. J. Edgar Hoover, Director Federal Bureau of Investigation Washington, D. C. De=r Mr. Hoover: ^ I have been told the Highlander Folk School, in Monteagle, Tennessee, at one time was ooprated by certain communifet elements, and for that reason the school was closed down by act of the state of Tennessee and its legislature. Will you please tell me whether or not this school was actually closed down because of the school’s subversive nature. Please also tell ne if this is the same school where the song, "We Shall Overcome" was written or spawned. /}/ Thank you very much. / Jf Dear Mr. Hoover: Before I get to my questions, let me take this opportunity to thank you and your personal for the service you render to this nation. I an enclosing a copy of a picture and a statement concerning Dr. Martin Luther King. As a concerned citizen I feel that this type of information should be verified as true — or refuted if false. I hope
13
you can help me do one or the other. May I have the answers to the following questions: j 1. Did a person by the name of Karl Prussion operate as a counter ' spy for the FBI from 191*7 to i960? 12. Was the Highland er Folk School abolished by the State of Ten * nessee because It was a subversive organization? | 3. Is the following statement by Karl Prussion accurate? "I hereby also state that Martin Luther King has either been a member of, or wittingly has accepted support frcra, over 60 Communist fronts, individuals, and/or organisations which give aid to or espouse Communist causes.** May I request any other information concerning Communist subversion that you are free to give to the public.
The above are both letters taken from the FBI folder on Highlander Folk School. They display the public’s concern over the School staying in their area and rumors made surrounding the teachings and beliefs of the school.
14
CHAPTER THREE
WELL MY MAMAW TOLD ME . . . FOLKLORE AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN
Folklore and Supernatural Long has there been various legends and myths floating about within the Appalachians. There has been a belief in personal contact with the divine and tellings of miraculous events unfolding. Popular, would be “charming” or spiritual healing in which “Charmers” possessed the ability to lay hands on individuals to heal. This has its roots in old English folk magic as do other practices and superstitions. Many aspects of folk culture can be
15
found in other cultures. The key influence however, has been the isolation of the region and the pursuit of ways of healing and entertainment, unlike any other.
Brown Mountain Lights An example of a unique Appalachian story would be the Brown Mountain Lights. The Brown Mountain Lights have been observed for centuries, and multiple legends have arisen around the phenomenon. The Cherokee were aware of the lights, and according to some accounts claimed that the lights were the souls of Cherokee women searching for their men who had died in a great battle between the Cherokee and the Catawba that took place on Brown Mountain. Another legend says that the lights are the the ghostly echoes of lights that appeared during a search for a murdered woman in the 19th century.
Luck Lore Eating blackeyed peas on New Year's Day is good luck. Always lend salt; if you give it away, you will have bad luck. Tell a dream before breakfast and it won't come true. It's bad luck to sew on Saturday unless you finish the job. If you dream about muddy water, you will have bad luck. It's bad luck to look in a mirror at midnight.
16
If a cricket chirps in your fireplace, you will have good luck.
Death Lore If your ears are ringing, you are hearing the death bell and a friend will pass away. If you cut your hair in March, you'll die that year. It's bad luck for a new bride to meet a funeral procession. A bird flying out of a house of sickness means the patient will die. If a broken clock suddenly strikes, it's a sure sign of death.
Practices Many specific actions are part of a traditional funeral. They begin with death watches and wakes. At wakes there is food and laughter. It isn’t always a grim affair. “Cooling boards” were also part of the tradition in that they are a door taken off its hinges to hold the dead. Funerals were quite a time as well, some even lasting hours or more than a day. Much also went behind the superstition surrounding graveyards and processions such as these.
Spirits To ward off spells, wear a rabbit's foot around your neck. To make a death charm, shape a little wax figure and put the victim's hair in it, then put the figure in the fire. To break a spell, carry drinking water across a running stream. A horseshoe hung over the door keeps witches and evil spirits away.
17
If you want to keep a witch out of your house, lay a broom across the doorstep.
Folk Medicine There were not many trained doctors in the region, so alternative ways to treat ailments came about. Very few people had school knowledge of the topic and most of what was learned was passed down from generation to generation. Animals and plants played central roles in the way of healing. Stop a nosebleed by letting the blood drip on a knife blade. Brown paper strips soaked in vinegar for sprains. If you have warts, place the same number of rocks in a bag and leave it by the road, so someone else will take your warts. Cramps of any kind can also be banished over night by placing your oldest pair of shoes upside down under your bed. Many other herbal remedies exist as well. Horehound tea sooths the throat. Heartburn is treated with a mixture of black cherry bark, wintergreen, and yellow dock, and 2 quarts of water, to be reduced over heat to 3 pints. Chewing mint helps with stomachaches.
Other Beliefs Another very common thing to hear is the idea of different “winters” through spring in which different plants bloom including Dogwood, Blackberry, Locust, and Redbud. These all mark different cold snaps through the Spring. They proved useful for telling the time and telling when
18
certain plants would be out. For example, farmers knew not to start crops before Dogwood Winter. Another example is “Linsey-Woolsey Britches” that comes at the end of spring and is considered the last cold snap.
Storytelling This may be my favorite section to talk about. Storytelling has been something I’ve enjoyed since I was young from my Granny and Papaw. My favorite was of a girl named Rosemary who lived back in Ireland where my Granny’s family were from. In these stories, the girl got into all kinds of trouble becasue she didn’t listen to her Grany and the leprachauns got her or the fairies did. My papaw told stories that it seemed they never could have happened, but they were still special. Much like this, storytelling has long been an important tradition of the Appalachian region and has found its roots in various cultures of the region all the way back to the Cherokee and other tribes of the area. Most popular types feature a hero and an adventure. Also popular are Jack Tales, stories containing self-deprecating humor, hero tales, and ghost stories. An interesting culutral trait picked up along the line of storytelling would be the replacement of great warriors with poor farmers and other region-specific distinctions that make them more relatable. Today, the National Storytelling Festival takes place in Jonesborough, Tennessee in which various cultures come together and share their tales. Below are two examples of stories that have been passed down and would fall into this category. This one specifically is a Jack Tale I’ve heard variations told before. Fool Jack and the Talking Crow Damascus, Virginia One time thar was three boys, Will and Tom and Jack. Ever'body called Jack, "Fool Jack," 'cause he was considered sorty dull. All the boys had 'em a cow apiece. And one day somebody come along with some cow hides and Fool Jack happened to be out at the gate so he asked 'em whar' they 'us goin. They said they 'us goin' to the tanyard to sell their cow hides. Said hides was bringin' a good price thar. So Fool Jack went right out and killed his cow and skun her and rolled her hide up and h'isted it up on his shoulder and lit out for the tanyard. Hit was a long ways, twentyfive or thirty miles. Fool Jack
19
went stoppin right down the road. He 'uld stop along and rest and talk with anybody he met, and directly he met up with a feller carryin' a crow under his arm. "Howdy, Fool Jack," the feller says, "Whar' ye goin' with your cow hide?" "Goin' down to the tan yard to sell it and get me a heap of money," says Jack. "What sort of a bird have ye got thar'? "Why that's a talkin' crow," says the feller, "You can make a whole lot more money with a talkin' crow than ye can sellin' cow hides, Fool Jack. How about swappin' your cow hide fer this talkin' crow?" Says, "If you'll trade, I won't ask ye for no boot, bein' as it's you." So Fool Jack swapped with him and stuck the crow under his arm and started on back home. Dark overtuk Jack 'fore he got ver fur and so he stopped and hollered at a house, and a woman come out and axed him who he was and whut did he want. He tol' her he was Fool Jack and that he wanted to stay all night. She said she reckoned she could keep him, so Jack went on in. "Now" she says, "I'll have to lock ye in the closet thar', 'cause my man ain't home and if he was to come and find you here he 'uld be jealous and he might kill us both. He's an awful jealoushearted man." So Fool Jack said, All right, he didn't care about that, and she tuk him and locked him in the closet. 'Twasn't long, till Fool Jack heard somebody come in. He 'lowed hit wus her ol' man, but then he got to listenin and he 'lowed hit wasn't. He heard the ol' woman tellin' that feller she'd kill a shote and they 'uld have 'em a good old time eatin' and drinkin'. So she killed a shote and they roasted it and she brought out her bottle of rum and they wus just about to pour 'em out some drinks when she heard somebody ride up in the yard and she knowed hit wus her ol' man. That feller jumped in a barr'l of wool rolls she had carded up there by the door and she grabbed the roasted shote and the rum and hid 'em in the safe. Jack had his eye up against the keyhole tryin' to see all he could see, and he saw that feller jump in that barr'l of wool. Her ol' man come on in and sort of sniffed the airs, says, "What's that I smell, ol' woman?" She told him she didn't know, and she tried to change the subject, says,
20
"Fool Jack come along and wanted to stay all night. I tuk him in, but I wouldn't let him stay out in the house with jest me here, so I locked him in the closet yonder." "Fetch him on out," says the ol' man, "No use to keep him locked up now." So she unlocked the closet and Fool Jack come out with his crow under his arm. "What in the world ye doin' with that crow, Fool Jack?" axed the ol' man. Jack tol' him how he got hold of it and that hit was a talkin' crow. "What does it say?, ax d the ol' man. And Jack squz its neck and it went, "Quawk!" "Why," says Jack, "Hit says there's a roasted shote over there in the safe." The ol' man went over and looked and shore 'nough thar was the roasted shote. He got it out and put it on the table and told Fool Fool Jack to set down, and about that time Jack squz the crow's neck again "Quawk! Quaw awk!" "What does it say now, Fool Jack?" "Hit says thar's a bottle o' rum in the safe," says Jack. And the ol' man went and looked and got out the rum bottle. So him and Fool Jack set down and eat off the roasted shote and drunk out of the rum bottle and Jack got to feelin' pretty good. "Tell ye what," he says to the ol' man, "This crow can raise the Devil." The Ol' man said, he'd shore like to see it do that. Tol' Fool Jack that if hit could actually raise the devil he 'uld be willin' to give a thousand dollars fer it. So Jack tol' him to stand in the door with an axe in his hands so he could kill the Devil as he run out.
21
So when the ol' man went to get his axe, Fool Jack got a splinter and lit it, then he got over behin' that woolbarr'l, and made his crow squawk over it a few times and stooped down and stuck that lighted splinter in the bung hole. Hit ketched the wool afire and blazed up in a hurry. That feller jumped out of thar' with the burnin' wool rolls stickin' all over him. He was just one big ball of fire and he made for the door. The ol' man was so excited he forgot to hit him with the axe and that feller run right over him and knocked him down and out at the door he went and down the road in a light flame. So the ol' man give Fool Jack a thousand dollars and next morning Jack went on back home. Will and Tom wanted to know whar' he got all that money. Fool Jack told 'em he tuk his cow hide down to the tanyard and had it cut up into greenbacks. So Will and Tom run out and shot their cows and skun' 'em and lit out for the tanyard. When they got thar' they told the men at the tanyard how they wanted their cowhides cut up into money, and twenty dollar bills 'uld be all right, and the men tuk 'em to be crazy. Laughed at 'em and wouldn't buy their cow hides at all. 'Lowed they'd stole 'em. So Will and Tom had to wag their cow hides on back home. They 'uz nearly give out by the time they got back and both of 'em good and mad at Fool Jack. And they made it up to kill Jack and git rid of him and git his money. So they set on him and tied him up good and tight and tuk him down to the river bank and got him up against a rock while they went up to the ford to git 'em a drink o' likker. While they 'uz gone a man come along drivin' a drove of fine sheep. He axed Fool Jack what he was settin' tied up that way for and Jack tol' him the robbers was goin' to throw him in the river. So the man untied him and got to feelin' sorry for him and he give Jack part of his sheep 'fore he left. So Fool Jack he went up the river drivin' his sheep. Met Will and Tom comin' back, both of 'em about half drunk. "How did ye get loose, "they axed him, "And whar'n the world did ye git all them sheep?"
22
Jack tol' 'em he was scramblin' around tryin' to get loose and he rolled in the river and drownded and went to heaven and found the sheep thar' and brought 'em back with him. Tom and Will said they wanted some of them heavenly sheep too, so they axed Fool Jack would he tie them up hard and tight and set them on the river bank. And Jack did. So they scrambled around til they rolled in the river and Fool Jack walked on back home.
The next, and last, story is a favorite of mine that my family will tell every now and again. Greenbrier Ghost Greenbrier, West Virginia In 1886, Edward Shue and his first wife lived in a cabin on Rock Camp Run, in Pocahontas County, West Virginia. Shue was a young man with a strong, wellbuilt body. He was also a bully who beat his wife. Shue's first wife finally divorced him while he was in the penitentiary for stealing a horse. After Shue got out of prison, it wasn't long before he married again and set up housekeeping on the top of Droop Mountain. His second wife died under peculiar and suspicious circumstances. In November 1896, in Greenbrier County, Edward Shue married a third time, to a fifteenyearold girl named Zona Heaster. Some people said Zona had fallen madly in love with Shue because of his striking appearance. Others said that Shue persuaded Zona to visit her uncle on Droop Mountain, and once he got her away from her parents convinced her to marry him. Edward and Zona set up house in a twostory frame building in Livesay's Mill where Shue worked as a blacksmith. In January 1897, two months after the wedding, Shue asked young Anderson Jones to go to his house and do some chores for Mrs. Shue. When Anderson got to the house, all the doors were closed. On the steps, he saw a trail of blood. That scared him, but he knocked, and when no one answered, he opened the door and went in. The trail of blood continued across the kitchen floor to the dining room. That door, too, was closed. Anderson knocked, then he opened the door and went
23
in. He stumbled over Zona Shue's body. She was lying on the floor looking up with wideopen eyes. Anderson reached down and shook her and found her stiff and cold. Anderson ran to the blacksmith shop to tell Edward Shue. Shue let out a yell and started for his house, while Anderson went on to get Dr. Knapp. When Anderson and Dr. Knapp reached the house, Shue had placed his wife on the bed and was holding her head in his arms, crying for her to come back. And strangely enough, he had dressed Zona, placing a high, stiff collar around her neck and tying it in place with a large veil, folded several times and tied in a bow under her chin. During Dr. Knapp's examination of the body, Shue continued to hold his wife's head in his arms. Dr. Knapp pronounced Mrs. Shue dead of heart failure. During the visits of friends and relatives to view the body, Shue never left the head of his wife's casket. Zona was buried in the cemetery of Soule Chapel Church in Greenbrier County. That was not the end of the story, however. Zona's mother was not satisfied with the account of Zona's death. She lay in bed praying that God would relieve her doubts. When she turned over, there stood her daughter Zona! Zona seemed hesitant to talk to her, however, and did not stay. The next night, Mrs. Heaster again prayed that she might know the truth about Zona's death. Again Zona appeared, and this night she talked to her mother, saying that she would tell her the true story. On the third and fourth nights, Zona told her mother how she had been murdered by her husband, Edward Shue! "He came that night from the shop and seemed angry. I told him supper was ready and he then began to chide me because I had prepared no meat. I replied there was plenty, bread and butter, apple sauce, preserves and other things that made a good supper. He flew into a rage, got up and came toward me. When I raised up, he seized each side of my head with his hands and by a sudden wrench dislocated my neck." When Mrs. Heaster told her neighbors of Zona's visits, some believed that she had been visited by a ghost. Others insisted that she had only been dreaming. Mrs. Heaster insisted that these were not dreams, that she had been wide awake. Furthermore, Zona had described her home and other spots
24
around Livesay's Mill, places Mrs. Heaster had never seen. When she traveled to Livesay's Mill, the places were just as Zona had described them. Mrs. Heaster and her brotherinlaw were able to convice John A. Preston, the prosecuting attorney in Lewisburg, of the possibility of foul play in Zona's death. Mr. Preston and Dr. Knapp decided to exhume Zona's body for an autoposy. After a lengthy examination, Dr. Knapp discovered the true cause of Zona Heaster's death—she had died of a broken neck. Edward Shue was arrested and charged with murder. The case came to court in Lewisburg on June 30, 1897. The defense attorneys allowed Mrs. Heaster to testify because they believed they could easily demolish her testimony by making her admit that the visitations from her daughter's ghost were only dreams. Mrs. Heaster was adamant, however, in insisting that she was wide awake and that the visits were quite real. The jury found Edward Shue guilty of murder, and he was sentenced to life in prison. After a failed lynching attempt by local residents who felt Shue should die as his wife had, of a broken neck, Shue was sent to Moundsville Penitentiary. He died there eight years later. You can read about the case of Edward Shue in old newspapers in Lewisburg. According to Case's Comment, a national lawyer's magazine, this is the only case in the United States where a man has been convicted of murder on the testimony of a ghost.
25
CHAPTER FOUR
PLAY ME SOME MOUNTAIN MUSIC THE SOUND OF APPALACHIA
Ballads History These songs were traditionally sang unaccompanied and come from all over the British Isles. They were brought by the settlers from their homes most prominently in England, Scotland, and Ireland. They mainly tell stories whether of violence, sadness, and struggle or virtues being awarded and the triumph of lovers. Songcatchers as well have been important to the history in which they became popular during the late nineteenth
26
century and early twentienth. Their goal was to record the old ballads that had been passed down through family lines. Two of the most popular were Cecil Sharp and Olive Dame Campbell, who would later go on to create the John C. Campbell Folk School.
Popular Artists ● Bascom Lamar Lunsford ● Doc Watson ● Ray Hicks ● Shelia Kay Adams
Today A few festivals still feature specifically Ballad singers like the Bluff Mountain Festival in Hot Springs, North Carolina and the Bascom Lamar Lunsford Festival in Mars Hill, North Carolina.
Old Time Old time came about when the ballads having been passed down, met music. Many of what is played as Old Time today were the original songs brought over to Appalachia as well as those created here at an earlier time. Old time is also a type of folk music and serves as the foundation for bluegrass music. Many similarities are shared between the two in regards to instrumentation and style. Bands typically consist of a fiddle, banjo guitar, and possibly a mandolin, harmonica, or upright bass, but there are also many who play alone.
27
Artists ● Fiddlin John Carson ● Bascom Lamar Lunsford ● Roscoe Holcomb ● Stanley Brothers
Revival After a period of decline in popularity, folk music like Old Time along with bluegrass experienced a revival in the 1960’s. Popular figures were Mike and Pete Seeger.
Today Several events still feature Old Time artists such as Old Fiddler’s Convention in Galax, Virginia, West Virginia Folk Festival in Glenville, West Virginia, and Mount Airy holds several events along with others. Old Time continues today to be a significant genre to the region and elsewhere.
Blues Most popular in the region would be the Piedmont Blues originating in Georgia. Piedmont is more melodic than say Mississippi Blues and has been influenced by African and European styles. Popular artists include Pink Anderson, Lesley Riddle, Betty Smith, and Etta Baker.
Bluegrass Bluegrass finds its roots in earlier styles such as old time and even styles first carried over as well as afro-american influences. There are debatably two types that can be seen
28
today such as more traditional stylings and more progressive music. Bluegrass, like Old Time, also focuses on main instruments like the banjo, guitar, mandolin, and upright bass.
Popular Artists ● Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs ● Ralph Stanley ● Doc Watson ● Bill Monroe ● Rhonda Vincent
Today Bluegrass remains a very popular genre and events are held nationwide.
Bluegrass vs. Old Time The two genres are similar in approach, but Old Time came first and consists of some stylistic differences. Such would be banjo playing style. Old Time is typically played Clawhammer style or with 2 Finger Thumb/Finger Lead. Bluegrass is played Scruggs style. In performance cases, Old Time contains a long standing soloist tradition compared to typically band style Bluegrass. Old Time is also dance-centered and has a simpler structure.
Country Country is a widely popular genre today and all of the above serve as influences for the music. This style rose in the 1950’s and never really stopped. It has transformed through the generations quite a bit, but remains popular around the world. Performances take place across the country and is very common even having two channels on TV with CMT and GAC.
Artists ● Johnny Cash
29
● Waylon Jennings ● Hank Williams ● Dolly Parton ● George Strait ● Reba ● Luke Bryan
30
CHAPTER FIVE
SMOKE ON THE MOUNTAIN RELIGION IN APPALACHIA
Introduction With the Second Great Awakening, many changes came to how people worshipped.There was a new emphasis on perfectionism and more personal relationships with God and in
31
worship. This led to the development of new churches and widespread revivals. The most significant of these being the Cane Ridge Revival. New acts such AS “Falling” and “Barks” were described in accounts. Also happening, was the reaffirmation of traditional Appalachian values such as independence, humility, familism, and hospitality which are rooted in belief. In hand, are traditional spiritual practices such as living water baptism, speaking in tongues, and foot washings.
Snake Handling Also present, would become snake handling. Very few churches actually practice this form of worship seeing as it is illegal in most places, but it is an image that has become attatched to Appalachia. The belief is that the Holy Spirit will protect from injury and that it is a testament of faith. Scripture quoted is “they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well." (Mark 16:18 NIV). Also present, is fire handling commonly practiced with serpent handling.
32