Audio
From the album "On the Road to Prosperity" by Roger Bellow and the Drifting Troubadours, 1991. Bellow - guitar and Spanish Dobro, Gordon Terry - fiddle, Don Helms - steel guitar, Bob Sachs - mandolin...Fiddle & Old Time Country
A type of country music ensemble that includes fiddle, banjo, acoustic guitar, mandolin, and upright bass. Emerged in the early 1900s and was an important precursor to bluegrass. During the late 1800s, the Carolina Piedmont provided fertile ground for the cultivation of a string band tradition that combined Scots-Irish fiddle and balladry with African instruments like banjo and European guitar and mandolin. String band music was social music, played at dances, contests, and other community occasions. String band musicians were storytellers, performing songs of tragedy and revenge, love and friendship. Much of this music, whether blues or string band, has deep roots in both sacred and secular themes, creating dynamic music with emotional and personal meaning.
Today it is played primarily in circles where old-time country music remains popular, such as family picnics, square dances, fiddle conventions, and jam sessions. Rooted in British ballads and folk songs originally played on the fiddle in Britain. Country music has been aggressively marketed since the 1920s, developing numerous traditions within genre – honky tonk, western swing, and early rock and roll.
Content is provided by McKissick Museum, University of South Carolina.
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Within this Series
Audio
Song featured on the "Fiddle Traditions" recording produced by Hairy Toe Productions. Clarence Green on guitar.Audio
Song featured on the "Fiddle Traditions" recording produced by Hairy Toe Productions. Clarence Green on guitar.Audio
Recorded in the late 1930s, this traditional country tune is also known as "A Dollar Down and A Dollar a Week" and provides apt social commentary on buying with credit.Audio
A Claude Casey original that paints a vivid image of a rowdy young man, much in the style of later country musicians like Hank Williams,Jr. Also recorded in the late 1930s.Audio
From the album "Success Street" by Roger Bellow and the Drifting Troubadours, 1988. Bellow - guitar, Bob Sachs - mandolin, Don Earl - Dobro, and Dick Daniels - bass.