Book Summary: Massively popular for the past century, country music has often been associated with political and social conservatism. While such figures as George Wallace, Richard Nixon, and Ted Cruz have embraced and even laid claim to this musical genre over the years, country performers have long expressed bold and progressive positions on a variety of public issues, whether through song lyrics, activism, or performance style.Bringing together a wide spectrum of cultural critics, The Honky Tonk on the Left takes on this conservative stereotype and reveals how progressive thought has permeated country music from its beginnings to the present day. The original essays in this collection analyze how diverse performers, including Fiddlin’ John Carson, Webb Pierce, Loretta Lynn, Johnny Cash, O. B. McClinton, Garth Brooks, and Uncle Tupelo, have taken on such issues as government policies, gender roles, civil rights, prison reform, and labor unrest. Taking notice of the wrongs in their eras, these musicians worked to address them in song and action, often with strong support from fans.In addition to the volume editor, this collection includes work by Gregory N. Reish, Peter La Chapelle, Stephanie Vander Wel, Charles L. Hughes, Ted Olson, Nadine Hubbs, Stephanie Shonekan, Stephen A. King, P. Renee Foster, Tressie McMillan Cottom, Travis D. Stimeling, and Jonathan Silverman.

Excerpt: The guitar, brought by the Spanish to the New World in the seventeenth century, was not common in the Blue Ridge through the dawn of the twentieth century.

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Book Summary: Canada's Prince Edward Island is home to one of the oldest and most vibrant fiddling traditions in North America. First established by Scottish immigrants in the late eighteenth century, it incorporated the influence of a later wave of Irish immigrants as well as the unique rhythmic sensibilities of the Acadian French, the Island's first European inhabitants. In "Couldn't Have a Wedding without the Fiddler," renowned musician and folklorist Ken Perlman combines oral history, ethnography, and musical insight to present a captivating portrait of Prince Edward Island fiddling and its longstanding importance to community life. The book draws heavily on interviews conducted with 150 fiddlers and other Islanders, whose memories colorfully brings to life a time not so very long ago when virtually any occasion - wedding, harvest, house warming, holiday, or the need to raise money for local institutions such as schools and church - was sufficient excuse to hold a dance. And in those days, you simply couldn't have a dance without the fiddler!Perlman explores how fiddling skills and traditions were learned and passed down through the generations and how individual fiddlers honed their distinctive playing styles. He also examines the Island's history and material culture, fiddlers' values and attitudes, the role of radio and recordings, the fiddler's repertoire, fiddling contests, and the ebb and flow of the fiddling tradition, including efforts over the last few decades to keep the music alive in the face of modernization and the passing of old-timers. Rounding out the book is a rich array of photographs, musical examples, dance diagrams, and a discography. The inaugural volume in the Charles K. Wolfe American Music Series, Couldn't Have a Wedding without the Fiddler is, in the words of series editor Ted Olson, "clearly among the more significant studies of a local North American music tradition to be published in recent years."

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Excerpt: Dom Flemons, Rhiannon Giddens, and Justin Robinson met at the Black Banjo Gathering at Appalachian State University in 2005. Inspired by this meeting in Appalachia, the trio worked to connect the legacy of Cumberland Plateau fiddler Howard Armstrong (of the 1920s band the Tennessee Chocolate Drops) with musical material they learned from their mentor, North Carolina Piedmont fiddler Joe Thompson. As the Carolina Chocolate Drops (CCD), these musicians explored a variety of black string band traditions.

Excerpt: Seventy-five years ago this month the definitive ‘Appalachian’ novel was published—James Still’s River of Earth. ‘Appalachian’ literature did not exist then. Still and his novel essentially spawned the phenomenon of people writing consciously and reflexively about Appalachia, a storied if misunderstood American region.

Book Summary: Breathtaking photographs and original essays illuminate this tribute to the natural wonders of the Blue Ridge Parkway. The 469 miles of the Parkway run through some of the most magnificent landscapes in the United States, connecting the Shenandoah National Park to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and these photographs capture the unique beauty of the region. Accompanying the images are heartfelt writings of regional poets and essayists who celebrate their abiding love for the Blue Ridge Mountains.