S1:E2 // I Could Root That Mountain Down

American Songcatcher

Season 1, Episode 2 // I Could Root That Mountain Down

Featured in this Episode:

Traditional | Bascom Lamar Lunsford - “I wish I was a Mole in the ground" (:27)

Mississippi John Hurt - “Spike Driver Blues” (13:50)

Reverend Gary Davis - "Slow Drag” (28:23)

Norman Blake - "Church Street Blues” (42:26)

Willie Watson - "James Alley Blues” (56:08)

Teaser:

A North Carolina mountain banjo player dubbed the "Minstrel of the Appalachians" helps create America’s first folk festivals and preserves history as one of the country's earliest song collectors. A sharecropper is discovered as one of the founding fathers of folk blues, nearly 40 years after his first recordings. A blind virtuoso has a hard upbringing, turns into a reverend, and goes on to teach generations of some of the finest guitar players. A 16 year old boy quits school to pursue music and becomes one of the most decorated guitar players in history, with wife equally as talented. After landing success with Old Crow Medicine Show, a man goes alone and discovers his path of preserving old songs.

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"Shine A Light":

Pickin’ for Progress

Web Source Credits:

#1: Ballad of a Mountain Man | NCpedia | Blue Ridge Heritage

#2: MJH Foundation | MS Blues Trail | MJH: His Life, His Times, His Blues

#3: Cultural Equity | NCPedia

#4: The Bluegrass Situation | NPR

#5: Lyric Magazine | OCMS | Red Line Roots | Chicago Tribune

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