With a little imagination thrown into the mix, the crowd ambling into the Andover Town Hall could be from another century, the men in their work shirts, denim, and boots, the women with children and knitting on their laps. They talk of wood chores, harvest, and weather, and their voices mingle with those of other residents who have gathered in this meeting place for generations. But today, they have gathered here to hear music. And if you close your eyes when the fiddler raises his bow, the music will take you back to hardscrabble pioneer cabins tucked into mountain hollows, and to circles of musicians singing and playing before a smoky hearth. The Old-Time Music that fills the Andover Town Hall during a Columbus Day weekend concert …show more content…
Andover, Vermont fiddler John Specker keeps this tradition alive today. “I’m just a link in a long chain,” John tells his audience, with both humility and pride. It is his life’s work and goal to celebrate this music and to pass it on to future generations. John’s repertoire comes from the legacy of songs first planted by British and Celtic newcomers who settled in the Blue Ridge and Appalachia mountain regions. The music spread over time, altered by each new wave of pioneers. Old-Time Music “is the kind of music that ... most rural people prior to the mid-1920s were raised with,” Mike Seeger (half-brother of Pete) explained in an essay titled “What Is Old-Time Music?” (Bluegrass Unlimited, May 1997). He said the music endured over the centuries “because it filled the needs of the people, who, after all, created it for themselves.” But as waves of Americans moved to the cities, they tended to abandon this music along with their rural roots, embracing instead the “cooler” city sounds of ragtime, bluegrass, and jazz. It was “rediscovered” when new recording technology inspired anthropologists and music historians to take
Located in a “lonesome area,” the town did not have much to see. All of the local buildings were falling apart; with their chipping paint and “dirty windows” and “irrelevant signs.” The citizens of the dreary town were nice people, everyone knew everyone, and they spoke to each other in an accent "barbed with prairie twang.” The description of this town makes it sound very dull and boring, doesn’t it? Yes.
The drummer boy would give us all a good laugh when he floated through the water on his drum. We had “feasts” of what little food we had. The drummer boy would play music for us for entertainment. Interviewer: What songs did the drummer boy play?
Altschuler discusses media commentator Jeff Greenfield’s opinion about the influences of Rock and Roll on American youth. Greenfield states, “Nothing we see in the counterculture [of the 1960’s], not the clothes, the hair, the sexuality, the drugs, the rejection of the reason, the resort to symbols and magic – none of it is separable from the coming to power in the 1950s of rock and roll music.” He continues with “Brewed in the hidden corners of black American cities, its [Rock-n-Roll] rhythms infected white Americans, seducing them out of the kind of temperate bobby-sox passions out of which Andy Hardy films are spun. Rock and Roll was elemental, savage, dripping with sex; it was just as our parents feared.” (Altschuler, 8) Rock and Roll stood as a powerful alternative to the conformist ideals Americans had valued.
As stated earlier, blues music grew out of post-Reconstruction African American communities. It was the black proletariat from the Southern United States that was the economic force behind performers such as Ma Rainey (Springer 34). While discussing Ma Rainey’s latest record sales, Sturdyvant reveals that he is disappointed by the sales data. Although Ma’s records are popular in Memphis, Birmingham, and Atlanta, they did not sell well in places such as New York City (Wilson 19). As a result, Sturdyvant expresses to Irvin his desire to began a career in a more “respectable” industry (Wilson 19).
So what is country music? Webster Dictionary defines country music as “a style of music that developed in the southern and western United States, that is
Richard Speck was one of America’s most daunting mass murderers. He was born in Kirkwood, Illinois in 1941 and moved to Monmouth, Illinois shortly after he was born. Speck was the seventh of eight children in his great religious family. Speck experienced the sadness of death very early in his life. He lost his father, whom he was very close to, at the age of six, and lost his oldest brother at the age of eleven.
Today, country music is very prideful, romantic, and tends to tell stories. Country music is more popular in rural areas, or the countryside, hence its name - Country music. Country music is calming and has the ability to make people feel at peace. When things in America started to pick up in the 20’s country music helped people connect during change. In an article titled “The Rise Of Country Music In The 1920s' ', Kerlinger states, “ As people grapple with the new realities of the modern world, many found comfort in the simple, old-fashioned sound of country music.
Their view of life was ranks and degrees. In issues the town come upon, only having one meeting hall used for Sabbath, town meetings, school etc. but, this meeting hall was about three miles from the “outlivers” this
In life, there are few things as organic as jazz music. With its raw sound and scrappy roots, one cannot help but feel life head-on whilst witnessing players produce such a sound right before their eyes. Its origins and arch are a product of the United States’ national culture and identity. Jazz exists not only as a deeply rooted form of art but as a cultural marker, particularly during its commercial peak in the first half of the 20th century. Its impact transcends borders, and it is one of the most beloved musical genres worldwide.
Traditional Country music was an era that started back in the early 1920s and extending all the way to the 1980s. “The 1920s is where it all began- with Atlanta’s music scene, in particular, playing a significantly
From receiving heavy criticism due to a variety of factors to being the most popular musical genre for Canadians during the Great Depression, jazz music has been responsible for uplifting people’s spirits, shaping cities and changing the face of music. Prohibition and racial tensions in the United States attracted talent, whether immigrants were seeking employment in film or pursuing a career in jazz. The Golden Age of Radio also contributed to jazz’s success, leading jazz to be the most popular genre of the 1930s. It is often forgotten that Canada is home to some of the greatest jazz musicians of all time, like Oscar Peterson. Jazz is not only an American concept, contrary to popular
Name Professor Course Date Book Review: Everyday Life in Early America The book ‘Everyday Life in Early America’ by David Hawke provides a comprehensive account of the history of early settlers in America. It maintains that the geographic concept including the physical environment is a chief factor that influences the behavior of individuals. The author assumes that early settlers came to America in the hope of taking forward their customs and traditions while starting afresh in a foreign land.
With lyrics made by color people, sung by white ones, music quickly became the soundtrack for protest and social discontent, characteristic that would last through time. Music evolved with the same speed as society and it’s conflicts, until it became Rock as we know it. In today’s culture, Rock music is full of romantic love
“There was music from my neighbor's house through the summer nights. In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars. At high tide in the afternoon I watched his guests diving from the tower of his raft, or taking the sun on the hot sand of his beach while
4 It features many different kinds of activities celebrating the Māʻohi5 cultural heritage, including not only traditional music and dance competitions but also a ‘ōrero competition, canoe races, cooking, traditional sports competitions, and fire walking. The weight of the Heiva in shaping contemporary musical practice in traditional arts, and indirectly in other musical genres, is noticeable. Rehearsals for the Heiva concentrate most participants’ available energy and time during the year, generally leaving little spare time for other artistic practices (Libor Prokop, pers. comm. , 24 September 2013).