The Southern Mountains is a microcosm of the musical influences that have occurred throughout the United States in the last two hundred years, but have long since disappeared in other areas of the nation.
In the Southern Mountains these and other now obscure musical genres are still thriving in the traditional folk music of the region. In most parts of America songs of the Civil War, the minstrel and medicine shows, and early vaudeville have long since disappeared. But all the major influences that effected other music in America also effected the styles of traditional mountain music. Likewise, when people think of traditional mountain folksongs, they naturally think of an unchanging, static music with few outside influences.
The mountains create a natural isolation and the people there are notoriously conservative, eager to hold on to tradition. The Southern Mountains has long held the image of a place very slow to change. The words to the songs follow these notes so that you can sing along if you choose. All music examples are from David’s recordings: I Got A Bullfrog (BF), Reel And Rock (RR) and Grandfather’s Greatest Hits (GGH). By using these notes and David Holt’s recordings one can get an overview of history and sounds of this unique music. What follows is a short history of the major influences that have combined to create mountain music.