Big Blog No. 1: Appalachian Folk

 

Hello all! In today's blog post I’m going to be talking about Appalachian folk music. As the name suggests, this style of music originates from the Appalachian mountains, which runs all along the east coast. This genre is actually quite syncretic due to its origins, despite it being so isolated to the region.

Much similar to the origin of the blues, the roots of Appalachian folk music originated from the immigrants of the British Isles and from African-Americans. Specifically, contributing factors into this style include “fiddle music derived from the Scottish and Irish and African-American blues and religious hymns.” While there are other groups that have immigrated to this area, such as French Huguenots, Germans, and Eastern Europeans, these are the major influences. Common instruments include the fiddle and banjo, as we know, but also mandolin, guitar, and of course, there is singing. When it comes to music of this area of the country, the Appalachian mountains, you find a lot of overlap with other genres, and for this folk music, the closest you can find is bluegrass, the biggest distinction here being that bluegrass is more upbeat. These are often grouped together when talking about each genre, almost becoming synonymous. This is because each of these genres, for the most part, come from the same groups of people, with the same cultural ideals. This makes it a little difficult to define what actually is specifically Appalachian Folk music at times.

Many of these songs tend to go around themes like working, with lyrics talking about trains and working “in the coal mines,” which many immigrants at this time could relate to during this industrialization period. On the other hand, you also get many songs that tell wild stories, like murder or about love. It is similar to blues in the idea of singing about your day to day struggles, but in the form of work songs. Another common idea that runs here is that Appalachian folk is also passed down by rote, like many of these other genres. Many of these songs do sound similar to that of modal Irish or Celtic ballads in structure and melody. These songs, when brought over by settlers, started off as ballads, later adding instruments in.

In this video below you have a bit of a modernized version of an older tune. The women introduce the lyrics before they start and they also talk a little bit about what this kind of music means to them, being from southern Appalachia. When I first heard it, I couldn’t help think of Aaron Copland’s music, which much of it is inspired by this area (Appalachian Spring!) but what first came to mind was “Hoedown” from Rodeo because of all of the double stops that are typical of the fiddle style. We also here see different kinds of drums and a double bass to maintain this upbeat tempo!

While we often see mostly just the banjo and fiddle as primary instruments, another common one which originates from this region is called the dulcimer. The Appalachian dulcimer is what is called a fretted zither, with relation to the German zither, called the scheitholt. The “mountain dulcimer” is thought to have been created around the late 1700’s or early 1800’s and there are many different variations in the shape of this instrument, some being more common than others depending on the area of the region you are in. For a while, this instrument was starting to die off, especially when radios were introduced to the mountains giving people new exposure to other instruments and genres outside of what they know. In the video, the woman talks a little about her story and how she came across the dulcimer, followed by a demonstration. It is really interesting to me because unlike most other zithers, this is actually strum with a pick or quil of a feather, much like a reconstructed guitar. She also talks about how this music is ever changing and how while the instruments may continue, many of the styles and the culture around it are not as easily able to be preserved.

When talking about Appalachian folk music in this day and age, typically a lot of it revolves around the Appalachian revival. Originally, this folk music was very secluded to these communities and this region, with music like country being the more popularized genre, there was a “renaissance” of this old time music. Around the 1950’s and 1960’s, more and more college aged people had gained an interest in this kind of music as it started to spread across the country, especially with more “modern” songs in the style. With this genre growing, the traditional folk instruments started to travel as well and bled into other styles of music. For example, since the dulcimer was fairly easy to pick up and learn, people began to play all sorts of genres on the instrument trying to see how they could fit it in. In the revival, one of the most well known contributors was Jean Ritchie, also known as “The Mother of Folk”. She was a famous mountain dulcimer player and folk singer who has recorded over 35 different albums. Jean Ritchie has also written a few books and is known as a role model among people of Appalachia as she earnestly had shared their culture with the country and helped to preserve their music. Here is an example of one of her ballads. 

Below is another example by an all female band based out of Kentucky, the Coon Creek Girls. This folk band made their debut in 1937 and continued performing together for another 20 years. They performed through the mountains and eventually made it into the Kentucky music hall of fame for their contributions to Appalachian folk music and essentially establishing what would become Kentucky country music.

Gibson Dulcimers. “A Brief History of the Appalachian Mountain Dulcimer.” Ron Gibson Mountain Dulcimers. Published 2016.  https://gibsondulcimers.com/dulcimer_history.htm.

 

Hall, Glenn. “Appalachian Mountain Music Documentary.” Published December 7, 2015. RadfordOnCamera, 4:32.tps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCYq3S1Ubv0. 

Kentucky County Music. “Who are the Coon Creek Girls?.” History/News. Published August 21, 2016. https://kentuckycountrymusic.com/2016/08/who-are-the-coon-creek-girls.html.

Library of Congress. “Appalachian Music.” Library of Congress. Accessed January 27, 20201. https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200152683/.

The North Carolina Arboretum. “Discovering the Roots of Appalachian Music.”  North Carolina Arboretum. Published June 22, 2016. https://www.ncarboretum.org/2016/06/22/discovering-roots-appalachian-music/ .