Barbara's post above included the comment...

...The invention of the phonograph and the onset of the radio in the early 1900s brought this old-time music out of the rural Southern mountains to people all over the United States.

interesting and ironic that while these media helped spread the music to a greater audience, at the same time it had a negative effect. Music collectors that returned to the appalachians found that only 10 years after radio and the gramophone became more common, people were singing less, and forgetting traditional tunes.

(I think it is not unlike the resurgence of Irish Traditional music in Ireland following Michael Colemans recordings in the USA..) While it became more popular, there was some loss of the regional styles as more people wanted to play In Michael COlemans Sligo Style) petr