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8/28/02

In today’s world, the authentic is a healing salve

SMN
We live in an incredibly commercial world and it’s not heartfelt. Most of it is not for our own good, from the food we eat to the music we listen to. The traditional music was not made for profit; it was made for the soul. I remember I mentioned to Doc Watson one time that I feel like the spirits of the old people are in the music. There’s a little bit of Grandpa Jones on there, there’s a little bit of Morris Norton, there’s a little bit of all these old mountain people in the music as it’s being played. No matter if I’m playing or someone else. It’s the real soul of our country.

— Musician and storyteller David Holt


Mountain music is, as Holt says, made for the soul. This weekend, then, there will be an extra helping of soul food around these mountains. Those who get the opportunity to take advantage of it will be better for it.

One of the beauties of the traditional music that is still such an integral part of mountain culture is its purity. It was handed down from family members to the next generation as a way of preserving and venerating the past. In most art forms, people pursue excellence with hopes of making their mark, trying to set the world on fire with creativity and avant garde thinking. And in many art forms that is what is called for.

The old-time mountain musicians, though, almost to a person, had no plans to ever dash off to the city and get rich. Most of them never even made a living from their music. They just played and danced, perfecting their art on back porches, in kitchens and under barn roofs, preserving songs, tunes and dance steps that date back hundreds of years.

And now, as the pace of change in this country and in the world barrels on, the mountain music and culture — and the continuity it provides us with our past — is gaining a mass appeal. Whether it’s the reaction to Charles Frazier’s Cold Mountain, the acclaim thrust upon the movie and soundtrack “O Brother Where Art Thou,” to the rush of musicians who now claim roots in old-time mountain music, Appalachian culture is now valued as something unique. Just a few years ago, it seems, hillbillies were a constant source of ridicule and jokes.

Mountain culture will be out in full force this weekend. Out in Bryson City at Darnell Farms there’s the Tomato Festival; at Lake Junaluska, the Smoky Mountain Folk Festival brings together some of the region’s most authentic musicians; in downtown Asheville there’s the Shindig on the Green; and in Canton, a host of musicians including David Holt and Laura Boosinger will appear at the Canton Labor Day celebration.

As Holt said, you’ll be hearing the soul of our country. It’s a sound you don’t want to miss.