Appalachian music has a rich history in western North Carolina. Native American and African American music cultures melded with the ballad-singing traditions of Scots-Irish settlers in the 1700s. In the years that followed, western and piedmont musicians crafted signature styles of banjo picking in old-time and bluegrass music. Today, the sounds of Appalachia can be heard in a range of musical genres, from country to blues and beyond. In this episode, oral history interns Fiona Allen and Bree Dumont introduce the Connecting the Docs crew to some Appalachian music traditions as we listen to Ashe County fiddler Howard Miller, explore the history of the banjo, and learn how musicians and historians alike have worked to preserve this unique heritage.
Sources Mentioned:
Miller, Howard, and Miller, Haroldean, c. 1970s, Unpublished cassette tape recording. Included in National Historic Register nomination AH0023, prepared by Sarah Woodard, approved September 24, 2001. https://files.nc.gov/ncdcr/nr/AH0023.pdf
Sharp, C. J. (1973). English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, 1973. Oxford University Press. Outer Banks History Center, OBHC:15C4.
North Carolina Arts Council Record Group. Folklife Section: Projects File, 1852-2013, bulk 1990-2010. Finding aid available in DOC: https://axaem.archives.ncdcr.gov/solrDetailPages/series/NCA/Series_detail.html?fq=seriesRid:703807
Lunsford, B. L. (1925). “Old Gray Mare.” Robert Winslow Gordon Cylinder Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress. Available at https://www.loc.gov/audio/?q=Bascom%20Lunsford&loclr=fbafc&fbclid=IwAR2XizdU1GGzqy3UqWuAMmt08VFMjnfN6axeFjt6sUPrvv45vbOht95jdIs
North Carolina Folklore Journal, 1948-2019, published by North Carolina Folklore Society. Available at https://digital.ncdcr.gov/digital/custom/nc-folklore-journal.
The Journey of an Archival Record. Part III: Digitization and Access
The Journey of an Archival Record, Part II: Arrangement and Description
The Journey of an Archival Record, Part I: Appraisal
When Are We US? America250: A Look to the Past to Inform Our Future
A Peculiar Instrument in Collecting Foreign Records
Dammed Cities: Bringing an Underwater Story Aboveboard
Highways and History: Archival Documentation of Urban Renewal and ”Black Removal”
Yo-Yos and Selfies: Exposing Photographs in the Albert Barden Collection
The Great North Carolina Baking Show
Welcome to our Front Porch: A History of Bynum‘s Community
Telling Fuquay‘s Tobacco Story
Tales Around the Campfire | Episode 1, part 2, ”Ghostly Governor”
Tales Around the Campfire | Episode 1, part 1, ”Witches & Werewolves”
The Murder of Nell Cropsey | Episode 3, part 3, “Jim Wilcox: Guilty or Not?”
The Murder of Nell Cropsey | Episode 2, part 2, "Charges and Trials"
The Murder of Nell Cropsey | Episode 1, part 1, "Disappearance and Recovery"
"Animal Stories"
Ghost Ship: The Mystery of the Carroll A. Deering | Episode 2, part 2, "A Great Maritime Mystery"
Ghost Ship: The Mystery of the Carroll A. Deering | Episode 1, part 1, "A Ghostly Monument"
Frankie Silver: A Woman Hanged | Episode 3, part 3, "Frankie at Rest"
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Best Song Podcast
Irish Songs with Ken Murray
History Obscura
The Rest Is History
American Scandal