Songs about the Appalachian Highlands

[Orionson]

OC & Tripleblessed, I am enjoying this thread immensely. What on Earth did we do before Google?

The answer, of course was listen intently to the stories of the folk of old (see my tag line at the bottom of all my posts ~ my mantra since I was a boy) and soak up as much as we could. Now, sadly, fewer and fewer of them are still around to tell us themselves. Youtube goes someway to addressing the inevitable downside of the passing of time. Making it easier for us to search for them from the comfort of our homes thousands of miles, and generations away.

Here is another.... I especially like his tune "Two O'Clock" about 4 minutes in.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzXmdSmiSSE


What breaks my heart is that none of Ole Hen's legitimate children picked up his music ~ learning his old tunes directly from him. They are all lost. Only my Uncle, John Virgil (Pete) who passed two years ago aged 94 and had lived all his life in Marietta, only a mile from where he was born, could tell the stories he heard directly from his father. My Dad passed here on our farm in Scotland in 2002, aged 82.

Here is a picture of my Dad, Charles (Charlie) Amos (centre), and Uncle Pete (right) at the Washington County Children's home circa 1938.



and Dad at Braefarm in 2001.


Sadly we have no photos of Hen. The family was literally dirt poor and the children all went into the county children's home in the 1920's. Fiddle music and small time bootlegging didn't pay much in Marietta in those days.

The thing is though, the music of Appalachia has always beat strong in my heart, and my daughter's too. It has always been like the strongest pulse that defines us in the most primal of ways. Perhaps, you Gentlemen will understand this?

Tripleblessed, are there any Youtube clips of you playing? I gather that you are a musician yourself, and perhaps a student of Bruce Molsky?

OC, are the Pipes your only instrument? Or, does the music of the Hills spring from your fingers as well?