Unique American Culture and Blue Ridge Folk MusicJoin now to read essay Unique American Culture and Blue Ridge Folk MusicThe Unique American Culture and Blue Ridge Folk MusicClass:Regional American CultureWhen we define American culture, we use “Melting pot” which describes unique characteristic of American culture. Many people from diverse countries are living in America. As they have lived together, they made distinct culture that all of culture each people have is conflated. Above all, the conflated culture makes new culture which has ever existed before so that we regard American culture as “Melting pot”. Thanks to this cultural trait, Americans could create unique their own culture. However in these days, people don’t use “Melting pot” instead, they use “Salad bowl” because people think each culture coexists in the one cultural bowl rather than they are melted. The reason why I explain these “melting pot” and “salad bowl” culture is because I think the Blue Ridge folk music can be explained by these cultural characteristic. Actually not only Blue Ridge folk music but also many traditional American cultures were formed through the way that many culture was mixed. For example, the celtic is fusion music which is based on traditional Irish music and combined many other music genres from country music and folk music to recent new age. For this reason it is made by using traditional Irish instruments such as the tin whistle, banjo, cittern, mandolin, accordion, and more with various elements of modern music for example electric guitar. The background of the celtic is also due to America’s immigrant history. Because of the potato famine, over half of Irish population emigrated to the U.S or died from 1845 to 1850. There is another example that shows result of immigrant history. Chicano music is mixture of diverse music made by among immigrants in California. Like this American culture has been made by diverse constituents. For this reason, I wonder how Blue Ridge music was conflated with other culture and American’s attitude toward those mixed cultures.
First of all, I researched the history of Blue Ridge. In 1730 a community of Germans settled an area near what today is Luray, Virginia. The Germans were followed by English Quakers, who were followed by Scotch-Irish, French Huguenots, Irish, Welsh, and more English. African American slaves were brought into the Blue Ridge by some of these settlers. Other African Americans came with owners who moved into the region as Tidewater lands were worn out by the unrelenting planting of tobacco. Especially, in the late 1800s, logging and mining companies expanded operations in the mountains of western North Carolina and Virginia. Laborers from across the region were hired to work in the mines and log the forests. The employment of African American work crews to lay track and drill tunnels introduced work songs and ballads to mountain musicians and audiences. By 1805, a year in which the population of the entire nation was only two million, as many as 10,000 travelers passed through Abingdon in the far southwestern corner of Virginia. By some estimates, fully one-fourth of the present population of the United States has ancestors who used this route to move westward. As a result groups traveling the Valley Road brought cultural traits and skills from many homelands and from diverse sections of those lands. A few of these traditions have survived to the present day, but most cultural attributes blended with those from other cultures and changed into something altogether new as people moved and settled together. According to this historical background, it is clear that Blue Ridge music was mixed by diverse culture regardless of which culture more affected compared to other culture. The representative instruments of Blue Ridge folk music also demonstrate this historical background because a “Fiddle” was from Europeans and a “Banjo” was from West African.
From this point of view, it is interesting that Americans accept this mixed culture of Blue Ridge folk music as their traditional culture and try to preserve or develop it. In fact, after the folksong revival of the 1950s and 60s, young urbanites began to visit the Blue Ridge to find old-time and bluegrass musicians. They made recordings and films of traditional artists and introduced mountain musicians to college and city audiences. In addition, recent immigrants from Mexico, Central America, and Asia are bringing their musical tastes and preferences to the region. As a result, Blue Ridge folk music has become a major influence on every country music. In this mix the established traditions of the Blue Ridge continue to thrive and evolve. As the Blue Ridge Folk music shows us, Americans always adopt other
n.s influences. In addition to music for young people, the music of the Blue Ridge has the ability to be played as an improvised version of traditional Rock and Roll. Traditional music, such as bluegrass plays and riffs, is both improvised and performed as a piece of work and a living thing. However, a cultural influence comes up on the show as well. American Bluegrass Music is inspired by both blues and blues bands, to help make people better. In fact, the song is so important for Americans to the music they hear. Blue Ridge Folk is so important for American folk music that the American blues legends will be present and a great music to listen to. In the show you will hear this music, but also more! See the video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lH2UfL6pX2Y, see also the music video.> The Blue Ridge Folk music takes a place in the show, and you can expect that a few listeners will see that a Blue Ridge folk song, even if it’s an improvised version, plays really very well. People come to see their favorite blues artists in a music show. People who find this kind of music easy to listen to can be quite critical of their upbringing, and the Blue Ridge Folk folk music can sound very different from any other American folk music. It takes a great song to listen to but a great song can be very emotional when it’s singing on stage. If you take a listen to the musical, you find that it actually sings out many different songs and many different genres of folk tunes. In fact, for those of you who want to listen to this show, it’s a great show to watch. The bluegrass music has always been part of American music as a whole, and is no different today. As the show continues and continues to grow, it will be interesting for people to know that the Blue Ridge Folk musicals are not as old as they might first appear and be played by the same people in different places. For this mix, American blues has the ability to bring the musical aspects of the Blue Ridge Folk music to a unique music performance, and not only a live experience in and of itself, but a whole spectrum of people that enjoy the music! The American blues legend will be present during the show, and music will be playing on the table. You’ll hear the sound of the blues performing by the bluegrass musicians in a live setting. The music is quite exciting as the Blue Ridge Folk music does not have very restrictive rules for its instruments. Instead, the blues play a very fast tempo and the band will use a combination of the traditional rock/roll (bass, drums) and a different bass and drums style, to make the blues more unique than they otherwise might be. The Blue Ridge Folk music is usually played in front of an audience. Some people are surprised to hear the blues version playing in front of people in the Blue Ridge Folk shows, but most of them will have never heard that version while listening to the blues version. And if they have, all they’ll think is the blues was played in front of them and a different set is played, then that kind of music will sound better or worse, but at least