Lunsford&Labor

This transcription discusses the work of Bascom Lamar Lunsford, a folklorist and musician who dedicated his life to preserving Appalachian culture and music. Lunsford collected and preserved southern Appalachian music and dance, and his efforts are still recognized today through his collections in the Library of Congress and the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival, which he founded. His work inspired others, such as Glenn Bannerman and Jeff Atkins, to continue preserving mountain traditions. The transcription also highlights the challenges faced by mountain communities, including the impact of outside industries and the need to protect the culture from disappearing. It also mentions the genre of bluegrass, which has its origins in the Appalachian mountains and continues to evolve with the influence of modern artists. The hope is that with continued preservation efforts and education, Appalachian culture will thrive for future generations. Oh, my first day in court, I wished to report, then witnessed a story so true. Oh, and as they closed his case, the young man raised his face, and began all the facts to review. Oh, they call it that old mountain dew, and those who refuse it are few. Oh, and I know I've done wrong, the temptation is strong, when they call that mountain dew. What you are just listening to is Mountain Dew by folklorist and musician Bascom Lamar Lunsford. Lunsford was born in the mountains of Marsville, North Carolina in 1882. Raised on an Appalachian farm, Lunsford grew up not only appreciating mountain culture, but also traditional mountain music. As a child, he learned how to play the fiddle. As a teenager, he learned to play the banjo. Lunsford grew up to be well-versed in music, as well as the recipient of a good education that allowed him to work such jobs as a lawyer, professor, publisher, and fruit tree salesman. Lunsford saw how outside industries, such as mining and textiles, came into the area and created work environments that disconnected people from their culture. He sacrificed his legal career and began to collect and preserve southern Appalachian music and dance in the 1920s. Here's John Parris, a friend of Lunsford, speaking about him in a 1974 interview by Bill Finger. Being a man who had gone to college and all, he suddenly realized that this was all slipping away unless something was done about it. This became a hobby with him, collecting the songs. I think he wanted to be the best. He was a young man, and I think that also he had learned about Cecil Sharp coming in, outsiders coming in and collecting folk songs and everything, and he figured to do it himself here in western North Carolina. Lunsford's work to preserve mountain traditions has lived on through his collections of music in the Library of Congress and through the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival. Founded in 1928, the festival remains the oldest running folk festival in the country. Although Lunsford died in September of 1973, his belief in preserving mountain heritage has inspired generations. One such inspired individual was a man named Glenn Bannerman. Bannerman's father taught him how to call big circle dances and of the history behind the culture of barn dances. Filled with a love for his roots, Bannerman later became involved in Lunsford's Mountain Dance and Folk Festival and hosted Asheville's Shindig on the Green and the Montree Barn Dance for many years. These remnants of Appalachian heritage are only some of many efforts to maintain mountain tradition and pass it on to the youth of today. My father, Jeff Atkins, spent many years working to pass on Appalachian dance to young people in and around Asheville, North Carolina. Raised near Atlanta, Georgia, Atkins found out about clogging through a friend on his baseball team. He fell in love with the dance and later founded Coal Mountain Cloggers, a youth clogging team, in 2001. Since then, the team has won several state championships, although if you ask any member on the team, they'll tell you that winning has never been CMC's focus. Atkins strives to keep the mountain tradition thriving through teaching young people the value and fun of Appalachian heritage. All of these men, from the 1920s to today, have worked hard to preserve mountain culture and ensure its survival, and they are only three of thousands of men and women working toward the same goal. The labor history of Western North Carolina is a rich and complex story. Mills that came into the mountains hired people for very low wages and required them to work long hours, isolating them from their music and culture. John Parris talks about how beautiful mountains, such as the Blossoms, have fallen victim to residential development as people built seasonal homes in the area. He also talks about how, as industries moved out of Western North Carolina, outsiders began buying up land and legally disposing of local mountain people. The many industries that have come and gone have influenced not only the land itself, but also the culture. It has been, and will continue to be, a labor in and of itself to keep that culture alive. Lunsford's work sparked a change in mountain communities that encouraged them to sustain their music and culture, despite the growth of outside influences. The music that Baskin-Lamar Lunsford worked so hard to collect and preserve is largely of a genre called bluegrass. Bluegrass is a unique genre in that it is traditionally played by acoustic string instruments. Its origins lie in the mountains of Appalachia. Although bluegrass as a genre remains relatively strict on not allowing technology to be implemented in the music, several modern artists have found ways to experiment with the genre. Artists such as Old Crow Medicine Show, Bella Fleck, and Nickel Creek have brought in influences from other genres and performed bluegrass-rooted music with progressive styles. From the unique characteristics of bluegrass, to the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival, to countless individuals fighting to maintain Appalachian heritage, these mountain traditions may seem to be set up for success. The work of Baskin-Lamar Lunsford ensures the preservation of mountain music, but preservation and continuation are two very different concepts. Hopefully, as modern artists continue to bring a fresh name to bluegrass and people become more educated on Appalachian culture, we will see this culture thrive and grow.