Here's one of my favorites and he's from the same county I am from.

The Panther Hollow String Band. Their bassist used to work at the college campus where I work.

fun one to play/sing.. love all the different lyrical renditions.

Talking Feet is the first documentary to feature flatfoot, buck, hoedown, and rural tap dancing, the styles of solo Southern dancing which are a companion to traditional old-time music and on which modern clog dancing is based. Featuring 24 traditional dancers videotaped on location in West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia, and North Carolina.

This film project grew into the 1992 book Talking Feet: Solo Southern Dance of the Appalachian, Piedmont and Blue Ridge Mountain Regions, by Mike Seeger with notes by Ruth Pershing.

"Talking Feet is a film about a forgotten side of American dance culture: solo mountain dancing. Mike Seeger and Ruth Pershing take us to the southeastern mountains of the U. S., the source of this genre, and to a range of individuals (old, young, black, white, female and male) who grew up with the idea of talking with their feet. The film captures the deep sense of tradition and the value of freedom of expression these dancers share. Talking Feet is an exploration of a dance form rich in American do-it-yourself pride."

http://www.folkstreams.net/film,121

Its an 1 hour and 27 minutes long so make some coffee first.

Last edited Tue Jul 15, 2014, 11:40 AM - Edit history (2)

Shetland/Scottish fiddler Aly Bain did a field recording style documentary for British television back in the early 80's I think it was and among other U.S. regions .. he went to North Carolina to visit with Tommy Jarrell, and they had a few tunes together as well as some great story telling from Tommy talking about his early life bootlegging and getting shot by the "revenuers". But I digress, in one clip Aly and Tommy are out in the field of his land playing Ole Sally Ann I think it was, and a woman set up a little wooden platform just big enough to flatfoot dance along with the Tommy and Aly's fiddling. It was great.

Don't know who the woman was, but it was definitely authentic. Might have been Mike Seeger's wife? The documentary was actually a series made for British Tv Channel 4 called "Down Home". I don't know if it's available anywhere, I happen to have a copy Aly gave me at Valley of the Moon Scottish Fiddle Camp one year. It's a treasure trove of traditional playing from the Shetland Islands to the Appalachians; from Quebec to Texas. It's worth searching for if possible.


Editing to add, that Mike Seeger is featured at his home and so many others, a panoply of musicians, well known and not so known but important contributors to the cultural and ethnic diversity of traditional music.


Bruce Molsky wasn't known when this documentary was made, but he sure is now, and a fabulous teacher/friend of mine I'm proud to say. Of course where Bruce makes friends with everyone he meets where ever he goes to all the corners of the planet. Aly is on the left, and Bruce is the fiddler on the right.. this clip is from one of the transatlantic sessions: great tune by the way.

Search that in youube for plenty more similar.

and yes, that one is on youtube and a bunch of others too. Loved to have been in those jam sessions!

I don't. Just happen to have 80 or banjos and about 30 guitars.

80 banjos! 30 guitars! LOL! I mess around with trying to learn basic chords on my daughters guitar now and then.. but it's not in my possession long enough to get good enough to play it well. do you have a shop?

Just a very untidy Victorian cottage.

Songcatcher is a 2000 drama film directed by Maggie Greenwald. It is about a musicologist researching and collecting Appalachian folk music in the mountains of western North Carolina. Although Songcatcher is a fictional film, it is loosely based on the work of Olive Dame Campbell, founder of the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, North Carolina and that of the English folk song collector Cecil Sharp, portrayed at the end of the film as professor Cyrus Whittle.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songcatcher

Iris DeMent singing Pretty Saro from Songcatcher.

I've seen a couple of times, but it's worth seeing again, thanks for the reminder. I LOVE that song. Bruce Molsky does a wonderful recording of it on one his several recordings.. I'll look to see if it's available on youtube..

found it:

Blue Ridge Music Trails
http://www.blueridgemusic.org/

This is a cool site that calls itself "A Travelers Guide to Live Traditional Music and Dance Along the Blue Ridge". It has an interesting search feature by which you can search for events and concerts by location. Try it out!

Great article on an after-school program for young musicians.

Smoky Mountain News
Wednesday, 28 May 2014 14:51
Passing on the song of Appalachia: JAM teaches music, tradition and a sense of place
Written by Jeremy Morrison


At the front of the room, banjos and fiddles plow through an Appalachian repertoire. Fingers dance across strings, conjuring the history and tradition that have seeped out of the region’s hills for generations.

“Trying to get’em to play together on the same beat at the beginning is kind of like herding cats,” laughed instructor Robby Robertson. “But by the end they get it together.”...

... Off to the side, other young musicians watch their friends play. They cradle guitars and banjos and wear fiddle cases like backpacks as the group up front finishes up with “Good Old Mountain Dew.”

These students have gathered in Haywood Community College’s creative arts building to celebrate another year of JAM, or the Haywood County Junior Appalachian Musicians program. They’re performing for family and friends, demonstrating the skills they’ve learned in the after-school program....

MORE at http://www.smokymountainnews.com/aae/item/12985-passing-on-the-song-of-appalachia-jam-teaches-music-tradition-and-a-sense-of-place