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, it 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. It 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."
Appalachia is a geographic region located in the central and southern sections of the Appalachian Mountains of the eastern United States. It stretches from the western Catskill Mountains of New York state into Pennsylvania, continuing on through the Blue Ridge Mountains and Great Smoky Mountains into northern Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. In 2021, the region was home to an estimated 26.3 million people, of whom roughly 80% were white.
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.
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, and to a lesser extent the music of Continental Europe.
Diana Jones is an American singer-songwriter based in Nashville, Tennessee. Jones's career gained wider critical acclaim in 2006 with the release of her album, My Remembrance of You. The album made a number of critics end-of-the-year "best of" lists. The Chicago Tribune rated the album as the "best country recording of 2006" and described Jones as "an Americana gem", whose sound rides "an old-timey vibe that never sounds fussy, ... in a voice subtly shaded by the high lonesome sound."
"Shady Grove" is a traditional Appalachian folk song, believed to have originated in eastern Kentucky around the beginning the 20th century. The song was popular among old-time musicians of the Cumberlands before being widely adopted in the bluegrass repertoire. Many variants of "Shady Grove" exist.
In the United States, the Hillbilly Highway is the out-migration of Appalachians from the Appalachian Highlands region to industrial cities in northern, midwestern, and western states, primarily in the years following World War II in search of better-paying industrial jobs and higher standards of living. Many of these migrants were formerly employed in the coal mining industry, which started to decline in 1940s. The word hillbilly refers to a negative stereotype of people from Appalachia. The term hillbilly is considered to be a modern term because it showed up in the early 1900s. Though the word is Scottish in origin, but doesn't derive from dialect. In Scotland, the term "hill-folk" referred to people who preferred isolation from the greater society and the term "billy" referred to someone being a "companion" or "comrade". The Hillbilly Highway was a parallel to the better-known Great Migration of African-Americans from the south.
Jerry Leger is a Canadian singer-songwriter. Since 2005, he has released 13 albums.
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 Appalachian region and its people have historically been stereotyped by observers, with the basic perceptions of Appalachians painting them as backwards, rural, and anti-progressive. These widespread, limiting views of Appalachia and its people began to develop in the post-Civil War; Those who "discovered" Appalachia found it to be a very strange environment, and depicted its "otherness" in their writing. These depictions have persisted and are still present in common understandings of Appalachia today, with a particular increase of stereotypical imagery during the late 1950s and early 1960s in sitcoms. Common Appalachian stereotypes include those concerning economics, appearance, and the caricature of the "hillbilly."
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.
Melissa MacLeod, better known by the stage name Cashavelly Morrison, is an American singer and songwriter.
Watchhouse is an Americana/folk duo based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The group was formed in 2009 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and consists of songwriter Andrew Marlin and Emily Frantz, who are married to each other. Watchhouse has produced six albums of Marlin's original works of American roots music. In the last three years, the group has toured throughout the U.S and Europe, including appearances at Austin City Limits, South by Southwest, Edmonton Folk Music Festival, Telluride Bluegrass Festival, Newport Folk Festival, Philadelphia Folk Festival, Pickathon, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, Rooster Walk, MerleFest, and the Omagh Bluegrass Festival. Watchhouse was the featured artist on CBS This Morning's Saturday Morning Sessions on December 7, 2019.
The city of Baltimore, Maryland includes a significant Appalachian population. The Appalachian community has historically been centered in the neighborhoods of Hampden, Pigtown, Remington, Woodberry, Lower Charles Village, Highlandtown, and Druid Hill Park, as well as the Baltimore inner suburbs of Dundalk, Essex, and Middle River. The culture of Baltimore has been profoundly influenced by Appalachian culture, dialect, folk traditions, and music. People of Appalachian heritage may be of any race or religion. Most Appalachian people in Baltimore are white or African-American, though some are Native American or from other ethnic backgrounds. White Appalachian people in Baltimore are typically descendants of early English, Irish, Scottish, Scotch-Irish, and Welsh settlers. A migration of White Southerners from Appalachia occurred from the 1920s to the 1960s, alongside a large-scale migration of African-Americans from the Deep South and migration of Native Americans from the Southeast such as the Lumbee and the Cherokee. These out-migrations caused the heritage of Baltimore to be deeply influenced by Appalachian and Southern cultures.
Jake Blount is an American musician and writer based in Providence, Rhode Island. He specializes in the traditional music of African Americans, and his work has been described as "Afrofuturist folklore." Blount, while initially recognized for his skill as an old-time banjo player and fiddler, is a versatile multi-instrumentalist and vocalist who has described his music as "genrequeer." He often performs most of the parts on his recordings, and fluently employs modern instruments and production techniques in his performances of centuries-old repertoire. His work critiques popular notions of genre and linear time, and usually centers themes of social and environmental justice.
"Dorothea" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift from her ninth studio album, Evermore (2020). Swift wrote the song with its producer, Aaron Dessner. The lyrics are from the perspective of an unnamed character reminiscing an old friendship with the titular fictional character, when they were in their adolescence. It tells the story of how the two reconcile when Dorothea returns from Hollywood to their hometown Tupelo for the holiday season. The narrator confesses to Dorothea that they still love her despite the change and hope to reconcile the long lost friendship. The narrator later convinces her to abandon an acting career for a simplistic life in their hometown.
"Bright Morning Star" is a traditional Appalachian spiritual, the earliest recording of which dates back to 1937. It has been sung by numerous folk artists, but was popularized in the folk revivals of the 1960s and 70s, particularly by The Young Tradition.
Wider Circles is the fifth studio album by American Appalachian band Rising Appalachia. It was recorded at Echo Mountain Recording in Asheville, North Carolina, and was released on July 17, 2015.
L.A. Edwards is a musical group founded in California in 2015. It is named eponymously for its songwriter and vocalist Luke Edwards.
