Music

The independent filmmakers who made these films, were particularly interested in music, convinced that much of the creativity for which our country was respected welled up in the honky-tonk, the country or store front church, the mining town, the mill village, and the urban ethnic center. It was in such places that Americans created the blues, work songs, spirituals, gospel mu...

Music

The independent filmmakers who made these films, were particularly interested in music, convinced that much of the creativity for which our country was respected welled up in the honky-tonk, the country or store front church, the mining town, the mill village, and the urban ethnic center. It was in such places that Americans created the blues, work songs, spirituals, gospel music, bluegrass, conjunto, salsa, zydeco, country music, jazz, rock and roll, and urban rap—distinctively American music that has won the attention of the world. This filmmaking and music collecting was spearheaded by people like Alan Lomax, John Cohen, and Pete Seeger—all of whom were active in the American “folk music revival.” Others were located on university campuses where the study of traditional culture was growing, stimulated by the same social, political, and psychic energy that found expression in the revivalist movement. Folklorists, musicians, and filmmakers took field trips looking for new undiscovered material. Disoriented by the Vietnam War and inspired by such things as the Civil Rights Movement, the Women’s Movement, and the Appalachian Volunteers, they were in search of an America they could respect, an America they could identify with.
----—Folklorist Daniel Patterson