I abdicate the throne...
On Feb 16, 4:48 pm, MinnesotaMandolin <[email protected]> wrote:
> So, this is idea here is not a specific question, more of a half-
> formed idea of mine I'm sharing for discussion because I'm curious
> what other people think.
>
> The other day I was listening to Jawbone Railroad, a fine Montana-
> based stringband whose CD I picked up during my travels. They do a
> cool version of Keep Your Skillet Good and Greasy and it contains a
> vocal line about collard greens.
>
> Now, I don't think collards can grow in Montana. I know they can't in
> my part of the world, which is zone 3 for you greenthumbs. So the tune
> probably traveled to Montana. In this day and age, obviously, between
> the internet and other mediums tunes can travel anywhere. But most
> traditional stringband music seems to be Southern, that is to say,
> zone 5 or higher. Collard green growing climates. And I'm going to use
> these zone markings to keep the focus on climate and not any other
> sort of differentiation between the different parts of the US.
>
> Back in "the day," there had to be fiddle bands in all the zones,
> because the instrument traveled there. There's collections of
> Minnesota/Wisconsin fiddle music, for example, which is mostly
> Scandanavian in its origins. But that part of the world had its share
> of Irish immigrants, as did Appalachia and other regions associated
> with stringband music. Up in Zone 4 or colder, though, the other major
> instrument seemed to be the accordian, not the banjo.
>
> So that's my wordy introduction to My Questions. Do you think the
> reason much of the fiddle or stringband tradition seems to be (mostly)
> Zones 5-8 is the banjo is cooler than the accordian? (that's a
> subjective question, I know) Is it because the Carter family and other
> professionals really crystallized a lot of very cool stuff on recorded
> mediums in a way that transcended their place and time? Is it because
> WSM was located in Nashville? Are there "lost" tunes that are Michigan/
> Minnesota/Montana in origin and are only lost because the performers
> died out before the field recorders or the radio got there in time?
> Did the record companies think Iowans were less likely to buy records
> than Virginians?
>
> Certainly we can play what-if games all day about history, which is
> actually one of my late-night conversation hobbies. I guess what I'm
> after is why do you think contemporaty Montana-based stringbands sing
> traditional songs about collard greens (with cornbread and beans) and
> Carolina-based stringbands don't sing traditional songs about ice
> fishing?
>
> Of course, that's just keeping the focus on the United States.
>
> And with that, I'm going to wrap this up. I'm curious to read what
> people think.
>
> erik
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