It's a mistake to think that "Rural America" was monolithic in its attitudes. Attitudes depended on individuals and affiliations. Rufus Crisp, from Allen Kentucky, (whom I learned a lot about banjo from) was a popular and admired performer in his youth. He later married a preacher lady, and had to stop playing banjo for some 20-odd years, until she died. Inciudentally, Floyd County, KY, where he lived was a steadfastly "Dry" county,in which moonshining was an industry second only to coal mining as a source of income. There can be a vast difference between what's preached and what's practiced.