Stories, quotes and anecdotes from Appalachia. 1880s-1950s era.

Category: Bluegrass

“Plenty of people can read music, but can’t really make music”

“There’d be a group of men working together, and they’d ask if my dad could sing and if they could sing he’d learn it from them.”

Buell Kazee was a master of the high lonesome singing style of the Appalachian balladeer. He played in as many as eleven different tunings.

On May 2, 1929, the unusually violent storm slammed into the little community of Rye Cove, VA in the mountains of Scott County.

Two influential recordings were made of the ‘Liza Jane’ tune in the 1920’s which helped spread its popularity among early country musicians.

The “Breakin’ Up Christmas” tradition is credited with originating in Northwest North Carolina and Southwest Virginia during the 1920s.

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