The South is a two-handed place. On one hand, you have the mythical "South" with Scarlett O'Hara, darkie songs, so-called Southern gentlemen, Uncle Tom's Cabin, and a glorification of the Confederate army and the Confederacy.

The real South has coal miners fighting for their rights and livelihoods, institutions like the Highlander Folk School who were integral to the Civil Rights Movement, many black heroes and musicians as well who gave us the blues and jazz.

I have the same ambivalence that Kendall has about the South. I love the old-time folk music of the early banjo pickers and singers and I have an antipathy for the maudlin sentimentalization of the Civil War and "the South shall rise again-sters". To me, this is phony.

I am uncomfortable with the attitudes of many bluegrass musicians who hang on to these phony "South shall rise again" values and it tends to turn me off to the music. I am uncomfortable with the emphasis on drinking, gambling, fighting and infidelity that is glorified and commericalized in Trashville country songs. On the other hand, I admire the importance of the folk songs that come out of the "hardscrabble" conditions of poor tenant farmers, isolated Appalachian families, Black People who have fought hard for their rights, coal miners (the real heroes of legend, not the cowboy), Southern unions, traditional balladeers and the lively dance music of hoe-downs and set-runnings. It seems to me that the phony nostalgia gets in the way of appreciating the real contributions of Southern music, being a tool for White-Ring propaganda, prejudice, bigotry and racial discrimination.

I would like to see more African-American people in bluegrass music to counter the negative attitudes of some of those white players. Bill Monroe was a complicated character, not admirable in his behavior, a formidable mandolin player though he does give credit to the blues for his style of playing which comes from Black People.

Earl Scruggs on the other hand seemed like a real gentleman and not part of the "tude"
that you get from some bluegrassers.

Alan Lomax told me the story of Hobart Smith and Mississippi John Hurt getting together to play music. Hobart was prejudiced. John was black. But when the two sat down to play music together, they appreciated each other so much that the wall melted away.



The Civil War was fought over slavery, regardless of any propaganda out there. An acknowledgement of this would go a long way to having an appreciation for the real values of the South, not the Senator Claghorn (Leghorn) stereotype or the Scarlett O'Hara phony pure white Southern womanhood. In it's place, we could learn to appreciate the folk music and the honest expression of the Southern people.