Introduction
The early part of our nation’s history provided a great arena for the integration of cultures, musical forms, instrumentation, and social idiosyncrasies. The American South, in particular, provided a virtual "birthing-ground" for a characteristically American folk music. The assimilation of the fiddle and banjo into frontier culture was paramount in the development of an American folk tradition. As the country grew and evolved, so did its distinct, culturally different, musical tastes and forms. The music that grew alongside the nation was overtly and originally American.
From the earliest decades of the seventeenth century, the fiddle played an integral part in social interaction and was present as America grew, struggled, and evolved. The fiddle embodied tradition and the tunes that were played on this instrument were a direct link with the European continent and cultures, which the settlers had then recently departed. Fred Fussell illuminates this point in his book; Blueridge Music Trails (2003): "The fiddle was a compact carry-over from the old world."
Fussell continues, "When the Europeans first brought it to North America during the late seventeenth century, the fiddle was a novel and exciting instrument that was beginning to replace the hornpipe, tabor, and harp at country dances and other rural social gatherings in the Old World." The fiddle was often the only musical instrument played in many white settlements; numerous British, Irish, Scottish, and other European tunes were brought with this instrument.
In the late 1800s, as America experienced the modernization and industrialization that would define the rapidly approaching century, rural inhabitants began to take part in a mass exodus out of the southern Appalachian region, away from the isolation and poverty of the mountain South. The promise of good jobs and new, modern ways of life attracted impoverished mountaineers and rural folk, while the prospect of leaving the old ways in exchange for new, urban areas was often intimidating and daunting.
As the southern migration to the cities exploded, many aspects of rural life were carried along and incorporated into the newer, modern modes of everyday life. Significant aspects of this modern change were the impact of traditional music, recordings, and radio broadcasts. With newly implemented programming including barn dances, skits, minstrelsy, and vaudeville performances, these musicians along with the far-reaching power of radio impacted, nurtured, and influenced the hillbilly acclimation to these new urban centers.
The enormous business opportunity that the (old-time) hillbilly and race recordings provided in the 1920s significantly impacted the history of traditional folk music, spurring on its rise in popularity and its broader acceptance. The genre provided an easily marketable elixir for southern transplants with its rural values and rustic nostalgia, and this notion was presented at a time when the old ways of life were most assuredly fading away. This sentiment was not lost on savvy businessmen like Ralph Peer, George D. Hay, and Frank Walker, and the commercialization of the hillbilly genre was an exercise in the symbiotic relationships between musicians and businessmen and ultimately would develop and evolve into a business model for popular music.
This digital exhibit will examine the regional old-time, hillbilly styles exemplified in primarily southern states through highlighting the 78rpm recordings associated with them. With the advent of the modern recording industry during the 1920s and 1930s, newer recording techniques allowed these early recording artists to demonstrate their particular regional styles. The recordings and digital surrogates are drawn of the Timothy F. Woodbridge 78 rpm Record Collection.
-Ryan C. Bernard