appalachian music Archives - Page 3 of 8

This strange music of the dulcimore appeals to the heart of the Mountaineer

Kentucky mountaineer Josiah Henry Combs assesses the development of Appalachian mountain ballads in this 1913 book excerpt.

Urbin Cornett had to hide his banjo playing from his grandmother, who disapproved. Local boys tricked him into revealing his secret.

In addition to her grandmother, Dora Mae reluctantly admitted that her other banjo muse came to her in the form of her “haunted banjo.”

There were only four kinds of country music: gospel songs, heart songs, event songs, and jigs & reels, said Columbia’s A&R scout Frank Walker

Henry Reed ‘s tunes are now in wide circulation among younger American fiddlers. Perhaps the most widely circulated is “Over the Waterfall.”