American Roots Music

My little sister + me outside the Birthplace of Country Music Museum

Appalachian folk music- The Roots of Modern Country Music

The Appalachian Mountains

The Appalachian Mountains range over 200,000 miles from Alabama through New York across the Eastern United States. This region has long been associated with economic struggles, violence, and a lack of education. Native American hunter-gatherers were the first in this area over 16,000 years ago, with the earliest discovered settlement being in today’s Washington County, Pennsylvania. Enslaved Africans were brought to the Pee Dee River region of North Carolina by European colonists in the 16th century. A large proportion of 18th century immigrants pushing west into the Appalachians were known as the “Scotch-Irish”, who played a huge role in the development of Appalachian Folk music which we will discuss later. The Trail of Tears inevitably moved the Cherokee, Choctaw, and other Native populations out of the region in the 1830s, clearing the way for European settlement. 

Appalachian frontiersmen are often depicted like this image of hunter Daniel Boone, wearing a coonskin cap, buckskin clothing, and carrying a long rifle to aid in  the early settling of Kentucky and Tennessee. A rift between Appalachian farmers and their rich lowland neighbors grew as taxation and funding were controlled by the upper class, leading towards the Civil War. After this, northern Appalachia had an economic boom, yet stereotypes still pegged the people as “moonshiners” and lots of culture-based stereotyping. This is still a prevalent problem today.

Origins of Appalachian Folk Music

Traditional Appalachian folk music can be traced back to primarily the English and Scottish ballad, Irish and Scottish fiddle music, and African-American blues. European immigrants often chose to live in the Appalachian mountains because it was more financially sustainable. Newly freed slaves wound up there as well looking to make a living. African and European culture and music syncretized from this, aiding in the development of traditional Appalachian Folk music as we know it. Folk ballads would be sung by women telling stories and passing down history orally similarly to African griots. They were set to stanzas and often depicted themes of loss, death, financial struggle, and of course, love. 

The Birthplace of Country Music

This past summer, my mom’s family and I visited the Birthplace of Country Music museum in Bristol, Tennessee. I’ve never been all that into country music, but I was absolutely enthralled by all the history there and the ways in which it was presented. We went room to room, exhibit to exhibit, watching short documentary films about the adaptation of Appalachian folk and bluegrass music melding into country music as we know it. The most interesting part for me was the exhibit about Maybelle Carter (1909-1978), one of the very first people to use the guitar as more than just a rhythm instrument. She learned how to play watching an African-American guitarist named Lesly Riddle, who also played a huge role in shaping country music into what we know today. Rather than only strumming chord shapes, Maybelle would play bass notes on the E, A, and D strings and “frail” with her other fingers. Her thumb would alternate between bass notes to create a melody while she played and sang. She gained her popularity using thumb picks for her picking style that was eventually deemed “The Carter Scratch”. 

In this video, Courtney Marie Andrews discusses the evolution of the Carter Scratch and the Carter family’s influence on country music. If you’d like to see the picking style in action, jump to about three minutes and fifty seconds in. 

Here is a very famous picture of the Carter Family. 

The Bristol Sessions

At the Birthplace of Country Music museum, we also learned a lot about the two-week long recording process of 1927 called The Bristol Sessions. Technology development including the invention of the electric microphone in the mid 1920s replaced the acoustic recording process and increased sound quality immensely. These new microphones were easily transportable, allowing record producers to travel with their studio equipment.

me enjoying the electronic microphone immersive exhibit

Ralph Peer, a producer of the 1927 Bristol Sessions, worked with the Victor Talking Machine Company, The Carter Family, and Jimmie Rodgers to market and distribute music to larger audiences. The most influential recordings from these sessions were all by The Carter Family, Maybelle being only 18 at the time. Below is the original recording of “Bury Me Under The Weeping Willow Tree”, their first song recorded on August 1, 1927 in Bristol. 

Instrumentation and Styles

The most notable Appalachian folk style instrument is the five-stringed banjo, which has Arabic origins and was spread West along with Islam. Alongside the banjo, fiddle, and guitar, musicians of Appalachia incorporated some other odd instruments that were easy and affordable to craft out of everyday objects. My favorite instrument in this genre is the idiophone we call the spoons. Anyone can play them by pinching two spoons together and slapping them on their thigh or hand.

This video features the "Spoon Lady" in Asheville, North Carolina. She and Chris Rodrigues record videos on her porch to show the world their music and keep the traditional Appalachian Music alive. 

What This Genre Means to Me

Appalachian Folk music means a lot to me because my family is part Scottish, and pretty much all of them live in West Virginia except for my mom, my sister, and I. I grew up watching reruns of the Andy Griffith Show with my dad before he passed away. Because of these memories, the show has always meant a lot to me. My favorite episode is when The Darlings visit town and play “There Is A Time”, an Appalachian Folk classic. This song still gives me chills. 

Here is another version that I like to listen to of the same song, sung by The Vaughn Family. 

The genre of Appalachian Folk is one with factors from many cultures and traditions that incorporates storytelling elements in a very unique manner. It means a lot to me and my family, especially my Uncle Pete, who battles a lot of chronic illnesses but will always play guitar through it. Without this type of music, the people of the Appalachians would have continued to be seen as less than. 

Sources

‌“Appalachian Music.” n.d. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200152683/.

Appalachian Regional Commission. 2023. “About the Appalachian Region.” Appalachian Regional Commission. 2023. https://www.arc.gov/about-the-appalachian-region/.

Leyburn, James G. The Scotch-Irish: A Social History. University of North Carolina Press, 1962. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5149/9780807888919_leyburn.

McClatchy, Debby. 2000. “A Short History of Appalachian Traditional Music.” Www.mustrad.org.uk. June 27, 2000. https://www.mustrad.org.uk/articles/appalach.htm.

“Spoons and Other Weird Appalachian Instruments (and Where to Hear Them).” 2017. Almost Heaven - West Virginia. January 15, 2017. https://wvtourism.com/appalachian-music-instrument/.

“The Scots-Irish in the Southern United States: An Overview.” n.d. Www.archives.com. https://www.archives.com/experts/garstka-katharine/the-scots-irish-in-the-southern-united-states-an-overview.html.