appalachian music Archives - Appalachian History

Oh brother I am dying now

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

A prolific composer, South Carolinian Lily Strickland published 395 musical works for popular, church, and children’s performances.

William Murphy was regarded as a half-vagabond, but he was tolerated for the pleasure his enchanted violin gave.

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

Some of America’s most famous entertainers of the 1930s, because they were African-Americans, were barred from staying in Cumberland’s hotels.