See what happens in the great white north when one is trapped indoors too long? ;)
RF (Yes in MN) On Mon, Feb 16, 2009 at 7:49 PM, Nelson <[email protected]>wrote: > > 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 > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Taterbugmando" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/taterbugmando?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
