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rendesvous1840
Ha`aha`a
USA
1055 Posts |
 Posted - 02/16/2009 : 3:15:58 PM
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Hi, Y'all. This came in an e-mail, and while it concerns Traditional Appalachian Mountain music, it seems like some of it could fit into a variety of threads that have appeared here from time to time. Todays guest speaker is Dwight Diller. http://www.dwightdiller.com/
Dwight learned banjo from the elders in his section of West Virginia, and works at passing on the music and tradition as close as possible to the way he learned it.Especially since the elders he learned from are all gone.
THOUGHTS ON ABC's 20/20 'A Hidden America: Children of the Mountains' ON
FRIDAY NIGHT FEB 13th 10 p.m.
DIANE SAWYER, I AM TOLD, IS HEADING
IT UP. IT SPEAKS OF PROBLEMS IN
APPALACHIA [APPLE-LATCH-AH]. IT
MIGHT BE INFORMATIVE FOR ANY OF
YOU WHO WOULD BE INTERESTED.
I WAS TOLD IT GOES FOR THE JUGULAR
IN REGARD TO POVERTY WHICH RESULTS
IN A CERTAIN SLANT IN OUR REGION.
ONE OF THE MANY SLANTS IS:
THERE WAS A CERTAIN PAIN KILLER WAS
PASSED OUT IN LARGE DOSES BY THE
NAME OF 'OXYCONTIN' IN THE COAL
FIELD BECAUSE OF THE CHRONIC BACK
PROBLEMS FROM WORKING UNDERGROUND.
IT IS EXTREMELY ADDICTING AND SPREAD
OUT VERY QUICKLY IN THIS WHOLE REGION.
OF COURSE IT IS BAD "EVERYWHERE". YOU
WOULD OR WILL HAVE TO HAVE SOME MORE
FACTS TO MAKE THAT JUDGEMENT.
WHAT CAN BE QUICKLY DISCERNED IN THIS
WHOLE REGION IS: "DESPAIR AND DEPRESSION"
IMMEDIATELY. IT IS HERE IN THESE MOUNTAINS
FILLED WITH 'INNOCENT BEAUTY' JUST AS
MUCH IN THOSE STRIP MINING REGIONS
WHICH WERE TURNED INTO 'MOONSCAPES'
LITERALLY. 'MOUNTAIN TOP REMOVAL NEVER TO RISE AGAIN' IS THE CONSTANT.
I HAVENT SEEN THE 20/20 SHOW, OF COURSE,
BUT I WILL JUST TRY TO SET UP A ONE PERSPECTIVE FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF
SOMEONE WHO WAS BORN AND LIVED HERE
ALL HIS LIFE. WHETHER IN THE GHETTO OR
IN THE APPALACHIAN REGIONS, IT IS THE
CONSTANT FEELING OF POWERLESSNESS.
AS HANK WILLIAMS' SONG: "AINT NOTHIN
NEVER GONNA BE ALRIGHT NOHOW".
SO REMEMBER, THOSE FROM THE APPALACHIAN
REGION WHO HAVE MARKETABLE VALUE
IN THE "OUTSIDE WORLD", HAVE MOSTLY MOVED
ON. THE POWER AND MONEY HUNGRY HAVE
STAYED BEHIND OR MADE A PILGRIMAGE
IN, TO EXPLOIT AND PUT NOTHING BACK.
THOSE NATURAL RESOURCES ARE COAL,
OIL, GAS, TIMBER AND IN RECENT YEARS
IT IS THE "MOUNTAIN CULTURE"; ALL GOES
OUT AND NOTHING IS PUT BACK.
IF YOU DO WATCH 20/20, YOU WILL SEE
A THIRD WORLD NATION WHICH IS THE
RESULT OF COLONIALISM. THE LEGAL
SYSTEM AND THE MONEY SYSTEM WHICH CONTROLLED BY OUTSIDE INTERESTS.
SO IF YOU SEE FOLKS WHO ARE IN DOWN
IN HARD SCRABBLE POVERTY, PLEASE DO
NOT CONDEMN THEM; KEEP THAT FOR THE
POWER STRUCTURE WHICH MAKES THESE
FOLKS CAPTIVE. "OWE THEIR SOUL TO THE
COMPANY STORE" STILL IN THIS 21st CENTURY. JUST ENOUGH TO KEEP THEM
ALIVE. THAT IS HOW PRISONS HAVE ALWAYS
KEPT PRISONERS UNDER CONTROL.
PLEASE DO NOT THINK TOO HARD OF
THOSE WHOSE CHILDREN HAVE ROTTEN
TEETH AS A RESULT OF THE "DRINK OF
CHOICE" - FULL OF HUGE AMTS OF CAFFINE
AND SUGAR: 'MOUNTAIN DEW'. I DONT
SEE FOLKS BEING CONDEMNED FOR
DRINKING 'STARBUCKS' WHICH IS FULL OF
CAFFINE! YOU GET MY DRIFT; ITS ALL DRUGS.
SO PLEASE DONT THINK TOO HARD OF FOLKS
WHOSE HEARTS AND MINDS ARE EMPTY OF
HOPE IN THIS SECULAR WORLD; WHO HAVE
BEEN LEFT BEHIND. MANY CANNOT EVEN
DREAM; WHAT THEY HAVE BEEN FACING IS
A WALL BLOCKING THEM FROM THE OUTSIDE.
BUT THERE IS ALWAYS ANOTHER SIDE TO
ANY COIN:
JOHN MORRIS MENTIONED: "WE GET DISCOVERED
BETWEEN 25YRS AND 50 YRS, BY FOLKS LIKE THE
KENNEDY'S WHO NEEDED OUR VOTES. OR THE
'ROCKY-FELLERS' NEEDING TO GET IN THE
SENATE.
OF COURSE, REMEMBER THAT THE POWERFUL "BLUEGRASS" CAME FROM FOLKS OF THAT
REGION. IT IS THE REAL VOCAL MUSIC OF FOLKS
FROM THAT REGION WHO SPEAK OF IT. IT DOES
COME FROM BABY BOOMER COLLEGE KIDS WHO
WERE RAISED ON SIDEWALKS.
BLUEGRASS MUSIC IS A "WAY"
PUSHING THE TIMETABLE BACK, THE SO CALLED OLD TIME TRADITIONAL APPALACHIAN
MOUNTAIN MUSIC WAS WHERE IT WAS INVENTED BY A
PEOPLE WHO WERE "UP AGAINST IT".
OLD TIME MUSIC WAS NOT FROM ENGLAND
OR IRELAND NOR IN AFRICA, BUT A "COMBINATION"
OF THE RHYTHMS AND TUNES FROM THOSE
DIFFERENT REGIONS DOVETAILED TOGETHER.
THE REAL OLD TIME MUSIC IS ABOUT A "WAY".
SO IT IS THAT GENERALLY AN OPPRESSED
PEOPLE ARE THE ONES WHO CAN COME UP
WITH "GREAT HOMEMADE MUSIC ALL OVER
THE WORLD".
WHICH IS ABOUT A "WAY"
THE BLACKS TOOK THAT 19th MUSIC AND
CAME UP WITH "THE BLUES", "JAZZ", ETC, ETC.
WHICH IS ABOUT A "WAY"
THE 20/20 SHOW MAY HAVE COME FROM
EASTERN KENTUCKY. AND IF IT CAME FROM
"BIG MUD CREEK" OR SOMETHING LIKE
THAT, THEN THAT WAS THE AREA WHERE
JOHN AND DAVID MORRIS BAND AND I
WAS PLAYING BANJO FOR THEM IN 1972
WERE WORKING ON HOLDING A "FESTIVAL".
JOHN OR I CAN TELL YOU THE STORY SOME
TIME IF YOU ARE INTERESTED.
HOPE THIS HELPS PUT A BIT OF POSITIVE
LIGHT RE THINGS YOU MIGHT SEE DOWN
IN THE MIDDLE OF POVERTY AND
HOPELESSNESS. THERE IS A WELL WRITTEN
BOOK CALLED "STORMING HEAVEN" BY
DENISE G_____ WHICH GOES INTO THE
MIDDLE OF THE REGION, IF YOU ARE
INTERESTED.
DWIGHT
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"A master banjo player isn't the person who can pick the most notes.It's the person who can touch the most hearts." Patrick Costello |
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