Program Highlight

MANY SOUNDS, ONE VOICE

STORY BY Abrianna Belvedere

Afront porch is more than just an entrance to one’s home. It’s often a gathering place where elders share stories, young people court, and neighbors join together as a community. In Appalachian history, the front porch also served as a musical workshop. Musicians and families would gather on the front porch of their homes, transforming it into a stage, just as our stage has transformed for music on the front porches of a cabin and public stoops outside of the general store. Through these makeshift performances, communities shared music, techniques, and traditions. Appalachian music was a product of the constant collaboration and change from these gatherings, each musician mining whatever styles and forms were suitable for new adaptations of raw material.

Appalachian music and culture developed through the act of sharing and synthesis, becoming a musical scrapbook of the styles and genres of the many ethnic and cultural traditions of the Appalachian region. Over time, Appalachian music has borrowed and adapted elements from a variety of musical traditions, including jazz, blues, bluegrass, honky-tonk, country, gospel, and pop. Even the instruments common in Appalachia came from a variety of places. The fiddle was brought by Anglo-Celtic colonists, and

Frank Proffitt sings and plays for Anne Warner in 1941. Pick Britches Valley, North Carolina. Anne and Frank Warner Collection. Photo by Frank Warner.

German immigrants brought instruments like the harmonica, Appalachian dulcimer, and autoharp. The banjo, one of the oldest instruments used in traditional Appalachian music, was derived from African instruments as a result of the Transatlantic Slave Trade, and Black musicians in Appalachia can be credited for much of the source and style of traditional folk songs from the region. Still today, Appalachian musicians experiment with a variety of sounds, making an effort to preserve the mountain music and grow on the tradition of collaboration and communal music-making.

The collaborative nature of Appalachian music is a direct reflection of the importance of community in Appalachian towns. Though Appalachian culture is one that respects self-sufficiency and independence, it also is one that understands the importance of showing up for our neighbors when they need a helping hand. Through music, people were able to build strong relationships and understand their responsibility to learn

Valerie June and Gil Landry at the Filmore in 2019 by Alessio Neri.

from one another. This resulted in a rich, diverse culture guided by a variety of artistic traditions — and more importantly, a culture that didn’t allow anyone to stand alone against their struggles. Appalachian music tells the stories of grief, faith, hardship, and resilience that run through the veins of Appalachian culture, built from the traditions of generations of people who were willing to listen, adapt, and lend a hand to a neighbor in need. From the strings of the banjo to the vibration of the harmonica, Appalachian music is a cultural harmony written by the people who made their way up the mountains, and created by feet planted firmly in tradition, yet with minds willing to change.