Bluegrass music is a genre of American roots music that developed in the 1940s in the Appalachian region of the United States. The genre derives its name from the band Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys. Like mainstream country music, it largely developed out of old-time string music, though in contrast, bluegrass is traditionally played exclusively on acoustic instruments and also has roots in traditional English, Scottish, and Irish ballads and dance tunes as well as in blues and jazz. Bluegrass was further developed by musicians who played with Monroe, including 5-string banjo player Earl Scruggs and guitarist Lester Flatt. Monroe characterized the genre as, "Scottish bagpipes and ole-time fiddlin'. It's a part of Methodist, Holiness and Baptist traditions. It's blues and jazz, and it has a high lonesome sound."
Arthel Lane "Doc" Watson was an American guitarist, songwriter, and singer of bluegrass, folk, country, blues, and gospel music. He won seven Grammy awards as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. His fingerpicking and flatpicking skills, as well as his knowledge of traditional American music, were highly regarded. Blind from a young age, he performed publicly both in a dance band and solo, as well as for over 15 years with his son, guitarist Merle Watson, until Merle's death in 1985 in an accident on the family farm.
The term American folk music encompasses numerous music genres, variously known as traditional music, traditional folk music, contemporary folk music, vernacular music, or roots music. Many traditional songs have been sung within the same family or folk group for generations, and sometimes trace back to such origins as the British Isles, Mainland Europe, or Africa. Musician Mike Seeger once famously commented that the definition of American folk music is "...all the music that fits between the cracks."
Charles Edward Haden was an American jazz double bass player, bandleader, composer and educator whose career spanned more than 50 years. Building on the work of his predecessor bassists Jimmy Blanton and Charles Mingus, Haden revolutionized the harmonic concept of bass playing in jazz, evolving a way of playing that sometimes complemented the soloist, and sometimes moved independently, to help liberate bass players from a strictly accompanying role, to becoming more direct participants in group improvisation.
Old-time music is a genre of North American folk music. It developed along with various North American folk dances, such as square dancing, clogging, and buck dancing. It is played on acoustic instruments, generally centering on a combination of fiddle and plucked string instruments, most often the banjo, guitar, and mandolin. The genre is considered a precursor to modern country music.
Leylines is the sixth studio album by American Appalachian band Rising Appalachia. The album was produced by Joe Henry, recorded over ten days in Marin County studio Panoramic House, and released on May 3, 2019. Leylines was ranked on the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart, peaking at No. 22 for the week ending May 18, 2019. Singer-songwriters Ani DiFranco and Trevor Hall, as well as jazz trumpeter Maurice Turner, are featured on the album.
Randall Franks is an American film and television actor, author, and bluegrass singer and musician who plays fiddle, mandolin, guitar, and mountain dulcimer. The singer is nominated for 2023 Vocalist of the Year at the 9th Annual Josie Music Awards at the Grand Ole Opry House. He was inducted into the Tri-State Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2022; and America's Old Time Country Music Hall of Fame in 2019; Independent Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013; recognized by the International Bluegrass Music Museum & Hall of Fame in 2010 as a Bluegrass Legend; the Carolinas Country, Bluegrass and Gospel Hall of Fame presented him it’s Legend Award and designated him as the “Appalachian Ambassador of the Fiddle” in 2010; inducted into the Atlanta Country Music Hall of Fame in 2004; and was designated by Catoosa County, Ga. as "Appalachian Ambassador of the Fiddle" in 2004; and was inducted into the Chamber Business Person Hall of Fame and honored as Patriotic Citizen of the Year in 2020. He was chosen as the first 2020 AirPlay Direct Evolution Grant Artist (www.AirPlayDirect.com).
Appalachian music is the music of the region of Appalachia in the Eastern United States. Traditional Appalachian music is derived from various influences, including the ballads, hymns and fiddle music of the British Isles, the African music and blues of early African Americans, and to a lesser extent the music of Continental Europe.
Andrew Edward Statman is a noted American klezmer clarinetist and bluegrass/newgrass mandolinist.
Lee Sexton was an American banjo player from Letcher County, Kentucky. He began playing the banjo at the age of eight and was proficient in the two-finger picking and "drop-thumb" (clawhammer) traditional styles of east Kentucky. He also sang and played fiddle. His Whoa Mule album includes recordings from a 1952 home recording with fiddler Fernando Lusk to recordings made in 2001. Four solo songs also appear on Smithsonian Folkways album Mountain Music of Kentucky.
Del Doc & Mac is the title of a recording by American folk music artists Doc Watson, Del McCoury and Mac Wiseman, released in 1998.
Penguin Eggs is the fifth and final studio album by English folk musician and singer Nic Jones, released by Topic Records in 1980. After establishing himself as a sought after figure on the British folk revival scene, Jones recorded Penguin Eggs with producer Tony Engle; it consists largely of traditional folk songs arranged by Jones, but also includes three contemporary tracks by other writers. Exemplified throughout the album is Jones' intricate acoustic guitar playing style, characterised by a distinctive, percussive plucking style and use of open tunings. He also plays fiddle on one song, while he is joined on many tracks by Tony Hall on melodeon and Bridget Danby on recorder.
"Blackberry Blossom" is a fiddle tune in the key of G major. It is classified as a "breakdown" and is popular in old time, bluegrass and Celtic traditional circles.
Rising Appalachia is an American Appalachian folk music group, led by multi-instrumentalist sisters Leah Song and Chloe Smith. Their music is deeply rooted in the landscapes of Atlanta, New Orleans, and the southern Blue Ridge Mountains of Appalachia. What distinguishes Rising Appalachia is their ability to blend a diverse range of instruments and styles. Their musical palette spans from banjos and fiddles to djembe, balafon, congas, tablas, kalimbas, beatbox, and even didgeridoo. This distinctive combination gives rise to a musical mosaic that seamlessly interweaves elements of world, folk, and soul music.
Leah Song is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumental musician, storyteller, poet, artist, and activist known for her role as one of the two frontsisters of Rising Appalachia — with younger sister Chloe Smith — incorporating sultry vocals, rhythm, banjo, guitar, ballads, dance, spoken-word and storytelling into her work. Her music is based in the traditions of Southern soul and international roots music.
The Face of Appalachia: Portraits from the Mountain Farm is a 2003 hardcover book by photographer and author Timothy Lee Barnwell. It is a mixture of photography and oral history text about the culture of Appalachia. It was first published on December 17, 2003 W.W. Norton and includes over 100 black and white photographs as well as interviews with the Appalachia inhabitants depicted.
Timothy Lee Barnwell is an American author, commercial photographer, and fine art photographer based in Asheville, NC. His photojournalistic work has been published in dozens of publications including Time, Newsweek, Mother Jones, Billboard, LensWork, National Parks, American Craft, Outdoor Photographer, Blue Ridge Country, Our State, Smoky Mountain Living, Ceramics Monthly, and B & W magazine. An amateur astronomer, he is one of the founding members of the Astronomy Club of Asheville. Mr. Barnwell served as club president for many years and has had images published in Sky & Telescope and Astronomy magazines. LensWork, a photographic magazine, ran cover stories on two portfolios of his work; "Appalachian Home" with interview in Issue #76 / May–June 2008 and "Jewels of the Southern Coast" in Issue 126 / September–October 2016.
Chloe Smith is an American singer, multi-instrumental musician, and activist, known for her role as one of the two lead vocalists of Rising Appalachia alongside her older sister Leah Song. Her music, which incorporates sultry vocals, rhythm, banjo, guitar, and fiddle, is based in the traditions of Southern soul and international roots music.
Rob Amberg is a North Carolina photographer, folklorist, and chronicler of a small Madison County mountain community, Revere, North Carolina, which he depicted in his long-term photo project Sodom Laurel Album. Amberg anticipated the completion of highway I-26 from Charleston, South Carolina, to the Tennessee Tri-Cities area and, starting in 1994, began photographing, interviewing, and collecting objects to document the cutting of a nine-mile stretch of I-26 through some of North Carolina's most spectacular vistas and some of the world's oldest mountains—a project which contributed to the publication of his book The New Road. His documentary photography is archived in a collection at Duke University Library.
Daniel Shane Knicely, known as Danny Knicely, is an American country and bluegrass musician. In addition to singing, he plays guitar, fiddle, and mandolin. His album releases include: The Evenin' News, Chop, Shred & Split, Waltz for Aimee, The Melody Lingers, Roots and Branches, and Murders, Drownings and Lost Loves (2006) — which he recorded with Will Lee.
