Previous Programs

Our Roots of American Music Series is in its sixth year. We have produced twenty-three programs to date covering a wide range of music genres and treating diverse ethnic cultures.

In Folk Music Revival of the 1950's and1960's William and Mary (Bill Johnston and Mary Ray Roberts) explore the impact of major performers of the folk revival in helping preserve much of our rich musical heritage by making it palatable to the modern ear. The program shows the foundations laid by Pete Seeger and Woodie Guthrie and their influence on the major performers of the folk boom in the late 50’s and 60’s, including the Kingston Trio, Joan Baez, Peter, Paul, and Mary, and Odetta. Two themes in the program are the rise of the "singer-songwriter" and the notion of a "folk sound." The program also serves to demonstrate the role of folk music in the Civil Rights Movement. The program contains a timeline of the events of the period. (May and October 2010)

In Women of Blues and Jazz Barbara Martin presents a history of women blues performers during the classic blues era of the 1920's including Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, Sippie Wallace, and Ida Cox. She will primarily focus on the lives of Bessie Smith and Sippie Wallace and their contributions to American music. Barbara will point out and demonstrate the differences between classic blues and delta and country blues; how the music of the blues women was more sophisticated; and the link between blues and jazz and presented in more glamorous venues. Barbara will also highlight the Harlem Renaissance era with Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and into the 1940's with other vocalists, such as Sarah Vaughn and Dinah Washington, pointing out how vocalists worked with and influenced instrumentalists: Billie with her work with Lester Young; Ella with her scatting that brought her into the bebop era. Also included is the work of women jazz instrumentalists. (October, 2009)

In American Slide Guitar -- A Brief History of Tone Mike Dowling traces the history of the “slide” guitar from 19th century Hawaii to modern times. Included are the various physical designs and products such as Dobros and Nationals which provided mechanical amplification before the invention of electronic sound systems. He discusses and demonstrates different playing styles developed by a number of colorful performers. He also explains and demonstrates why the slide technique was accessible to “unschooled” performers. Mike employs his considerable skill and knowledge to demonstrate the way slide techniques can dramatically alter or color the mood of a song. (July 2009)

In Old Time Music Duet Singing Patrick McCauley (Mac) and Barbara Stevens (Annie) discuss and demonstrate various styles of duet playing and singing of many of the pioneers that have been an integral part of American music history. The “old time” music, taken from early duet recordings predates bluegrass and country music and harks back to unadorned ballads and spirituals, square dance music, gospel songs, and novelty pieces. The program follows a chronology and gives details about the songs and the performers. The artists presented include Uncle Dave Macon & Doris Macon, The Blue Sky Boys, The Delmore Brothers, James & Martha Carson, Burnett & Rutherford, The Louvin Brothers, The Everly Brothers, Red Foley & Kitty Wells, Flatt & Scruggs, The Coon Creek Girls, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Grandpa & Ramona Jones. (May, 2009)

In Following the North Star (Slavery and the Underground Railroad) Sparky and Rhonda Rucker present a special historical program giving a unique perspective into the songs and stories of slavery, abolition, and the Underground Railroad. Personalities such as Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, and Harriet Tubman are brought to life. They sing and discuss the traditional slave songs that were filled with symbolism, messages of freedom, and sometimes even the information to guide the slaves' escape. (February, 2009)

In Early Southern Guitar, Mike Seeger plays a variety of southern styles and songs covering the period from about 1850 to 1930. He uses four different types of guitars and discusses the history of the guitar in the South. Patterned after his Smithsonian Folkways CD "Southern Guitar Sounds." (September, 2008)

In The Long Road Home, Paul Rishell and Annie Raines present the “blues” as a collection of different styles and sounds from different regions that were often cultivated in isolated areas, carried forth at first by itinerant musicians, and then, with the advent of records and radio play, combined and recombined into new styles that have helped blues reach every corner of the world. They take the audience on a tour of the country through its regional blues styles. (July, 2008)

In Virginia Roots Music, Greg Kimball, Sheryl Warner, Mark Campbell , and Mauren Campbell explore the artists and the people who collected and popularized their music, shedding light on the complicated process of musical creation in Virginia and America and the forces that continue to shape our ideas about folk music. Based on the Library of Virginia’s recent exhibition Virginia Roots Music: Creating and Conserving Tradition, the multi-media presentation highlights rare sheet music, photographs, recordings, publications, and artifacts from artists and music collectors, emphasizing the 1920s and 1930s, a seminal period in recording and collecting. The show features some of the most important musical traditions of the Old Dominion, especially focusing on the jubilee-style gospel quartets of Tidewater Virginia, the string-band music of southwestern Virginia, and the Piedmont or East Coast blues style. (May, 2008)

In American Banjo and Fiddle Music, The Pyletown Fling, Jane Caspar on the claw hammer banjo, Dave Milefski on fiddle, and John Friant Jr. on guitar, present fiddle tunes from the British Isles, banjo rhythms from Africa and Cherokee fiddling from western North Carolina. The music was geared to country dancing, of the middle and mountain south, but some of the tunes were played in the northeast and were common in both sections. During the evening, the group will play an old country tune on the violin, and then show how the tune changed after it crossed the ocean. (April, 2008)

In Lovesick Blues – Life and Music of Hank Williams Robbie Limon reprised his role as Hank Williams. A narrator begins with Williams’ teenage years in post-Depression Alabama and brings the tale to his quiet death in 1953. The story is underscored by twenty hit songs wrapped tightly around Williams’ major biographical events. The group performed the songs using instrumentation and arrangements as recorded throughout the 1940s. The show also featured a “long-lost” song Williams planned to record but missed the opportunity due to his untimely death. Costume changes illustrate the evolution of Williams’ career from road-side honky-tonks, AM radio’s “Louisiana Hayride” and the “Old Dominion Barn Dance”, to his appearances on “The Grand Ol’ Opry”. One reviewer has noted “This is as close as anyone will ever get to seeing and hearing Hank again”. (September, 2007.)

In Acadian Music and Culture The Lost Bayou Ramblers presented a brief history of the Acadian migrations, the eventual settling in Louisiana, and the cultural influences of the French and Spanish émigrés from the Caribbean. In this multimedia program, they discussed and performed music from early French ballads and folk songs to modern Cajun music, displaying the influences of African field chants and work songs, religious music, and American “country” music. They also treated the instruments including the fiddle (the original primary instrument), the accordion (a result of German influence), and the modern instrumentation resulting from the exposure to country music. Their treatment of Zydeco music showed the influence of American rhythm and blues. The program included the contributions of important Cajun and Zydeco musicians including Iry LeJeune, Nathan Abs hire, Clarence Garlow, Clifton Chenier, Boozoo Chavis, and others. The group treated the Hank Williams’ influence on Cajun music and the influence of Cajun music on him. (August 2007.)

In A History of Recorded Blues Paul Rishell and Annie Raines performed and discussed “country blues” from the first blues recording (Mamie Smith: Crazy Blues) through the heyday years 1926-1929 to the present day. They discussed and demonstrated the music and styles of the great blues “writers” and performers including Fulton Allen, Scrapper Blackwell, Blind Willie McTell, Georgia Tom Dorsey, Johnny Winter, Jim Jackson, Washington Phillips, Spider John Koerner, Bessie Smith, Walter Jacobs, Whitney and Kramer, Big Maybell, James A. Lane, Bo Carter, Samuel Maghett, Charley Patton, and others. They presented various aspects of the recording industry including the Paramount 12000 Series recordings in 1928 which featured Ma Rainey, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Blind Blake, Charley Patton, Son House, and Skip James. Their treatment of “Piedmont Blues” demonstrated this movement native to the Virginia/Carolina area. (July 2007.)

In Timeline of American History In Folk Music, Bill Johnston, the project director, and the ElderBerrys performed American folk songs from the major periods of American history (Colonial, Revolution, 1812, Gold Rush, etc.) Included were slave songs and songs from the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. (June 07.)

In From the British Isles to Appalachia: The Story of Old World Immigration to western Virginia in Song and Story Ted Olson traced the flow of musical traditions from Scotland, Ireland, Wales, and England to North America. These musical traditions became the foundation for “mountain music,” “old-time music,” and even bluegrass music in Appalachia and the American South. During the program, Dr. Olson performed traditional songs from Scotland, Ireland, Wales, England, and Appalachia accompanied by guitar, banjo, and dulcimer, and gave background material on the origins of the music. (April, 2007.)

In Mountain Dulcimer – A Hands-on Presentation Ralph Lee Smith and Maddie MacNeil taught audience members to play simple folk tunes on the mountain dulcimer and described the nature and evolution of the instruments and the music. The history of the instruments was traced geographically as well as historically. The presentation included a “touch and feel” display of Ralph’s extensive collection of ancient dulcimers and their ancestor instrument, the scheitholt. (March, 2007.)

In Moravian Music in Early America, Nora Suggs and John Arnold presented sophisticated Moravian music from as early as the 1740s. This music from the time of Mozart and Handel was elegantly classical in style, fashioned for wealthy patrons and played chiefly in noble European homes. The Moravians, a joyful people, broadened its appeal within their own communities and brought it to eastern Pennsylvania around 1740. (January, 2007.)

In American Folk Blues Scott Ainslie, award-winning performer and renowned blues scholar played folk blues and traced the origins from work songs, “field hollers” and other forms to the great blues singers including Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters. Scott treated the evolution of Piedmont and Delta blues and demonstrated the use of the pentatonic and other scales in American blues. (October, 2006.)

In Appalachian Roots of Old-Time Country Music Mike Seeger, renowned performer and scholar traced Appalachian tunes to the 1930’s where they were transformed, recorded, and popularized by the Carter Family. Mike compared a cappella versions of Appalachian songs with the Carter Family playing style. (September, 2006.)

In Gypsy Jazz, Hot Club Millwood performed and disussed tunes from the 1930s. They discussed American jazz as played in Paris focusing on the works of Django Rheinhart. (August, 2006.)

In Ragtime Blues Mary Flower performed blues characterized as “ragtime.” She discussed the origins and flow of the style and specific songs. July, 2006.)

In Sing in Harmony – How to Sing for People Who Don’t Sing Madeline MacNeil led the audience in harmony exercises using traditional American folk songs. She taught methods for hearing the harmony notes in chords and other techniques. She described and demonstrated shape note music, handed out shape note music and had the audience sing from it. (June, 2006.)

In Lovesick Blues – The Life and Music of Hank Williams Sr. Robbie Limon performed Hank Williams songs interlaced with narrative of his short life. The impact of his music and style on later American genres was discussed. (April, 2006.)

In Roots of Soul, Andre Fox played soul music and provided commentary on the origins of and influences on American soul music. He also identified influences on later music. (November, 2005.)

In the program, Civil War Era Parlor Music – From the Home Front to the Battle Front music professors from Shenandoah University, dressed in period costume, performed Civil War era songs, with accompanying narrative. The program included a slide show and written program. (August, 2005.)

In the program Shenandoah Early Music Ralph Lee Smith, a musical historian and “song catcher,” presented the history of the mountain dulcimer in the Shenandoah Valley and included performances of old time and traditional music for dulcimer, banjo and harmonica, played on ancient instruments. During intermission, the audience was permitted to inspect a large collection of ancient instruments, including the scheitholt, the ancestor of the mountain dulcimer. (This collection is currently on display at the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley.) Materials provided to the audience included maps, photographs, and narratives. (February, 2005.)

A component of the Clarke County Community Band, the Dixie Rhythms, delivered a program on the Genealogy of Ragtime and Dixieland Jazz. The program included a narrative prior to each piece, describing the social conditions that prevailed as the music was developed, along with notes on the musical aspects. The text of the narrative was provided to the audience. (Aug, 2004.)