"Surviving styles of Appalachian banjo music are likely the most authentically African music in the United States, but few musicologists have ever considered, much less investigated, the question of African elements in white Appalachian folk music." - Azizi

I had a huge argument with someone regarding this very topic a few months back, in relation to sources of Appalachian music, and regarding the the commonalities in the experiences of poor and migrant labourers and scratch farmers, whether black, Irish or other European, and the likelihood of hearing a lot of each others' music in the course of labour and migration.