Sunday is the Fourth of July. Festivities will be as varied as the nation’s constituents. Our roots gravitate from every country, ethnicity, and social strata.
Far from being monolithic, our culture is an amalgam. America absorbs heritage from each huddle mass that yearns to be free and from civilizations extant prior to European pioneering. If this country is a melting pot then we, the people, are the viand – a gumbo, a pozole, a burgoo.
A fine example of this stew is old time music. Also known as folk music, hillbilly music and Appalachian music, the genre mixed Celtic, German, African, French and other traditional rhythms to create an American sound.
Originally families would play these tunes together at home. Minstrel and medicine shows took them on the road. By the 1920s, radio and records had spread the sound across the rural and urban landscape. Old time music laid the groundwork for what would become country, bluegrass, blues and rock ‘n roll.
The names of these string bands reflect the music’s creativity and humor: The Skillet Lickers, Dr. Humphrey Bate & His Possum Hunters, The Fruit Jar Drinkers, Seven-Foot Dilly & His Dill Pickles to name a few.
This weekend wherever you celebrate, in the backyard, at the beach, on the porch, on the stoop, grab a guitar, banjo, fiddle, kazoo, spoons, or whatever you have. Revel your patriotic fervor with a glorious noise. As ever - BB
“As I was walking a ribbon of highway/I saw above me an endless skyway/I saw below me a golden valley/This land was made for you and me” - Woody Guthrie
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