The Story of Country Music Part 2

The Story of Country Music Part 2

Earl
Johnson, a barn, a dance. That brings us back to 1919. And even further
back. The Hillbilly culture and music. It was their culture and music
born in Appalachian that gave us the music as we know it today. A Folk
music that is extremely popular in the US and the world. And to picture
all that it is time to write that story as it should be.
In
the North East of the US into Canada are the Appalachian Mountains. In
this area  mostly Protestant immigrants from Ulster, Ireland, settled in
the 18th century. People who knew the raugh life, hunger and even war
decided once again to move further away from Scotland, Ireland, There
home country into the new promised land. To find a better future, a
better life for themselves bringing along there openminded culture. They
moved into the mountain areas in the US, founded communities and lived
there side by side with the Indians. Real frontier settlers who lived in
parts where life was not that easy. Sharing medical knowledge, herbs,
food with the natives. They seemed to be, in my opinion, one of the few
who had no problem at all with the natives. Living there under hars
cirscumstances away from civilizations they relied upon themselves.
Bringing with them Celtic influenzes and “witch-craft” medicine. 

I
found some amazing stories via Printerest while looking for pictures.
Yes they where poor, mostly not well educated like the rest of the
country but the Hillbillies had something else which is rare. They had
tight communities, a granny as a doctor, old celtic roots for music, and
big sense of surviving. Like they dit not need anything more then the
mountains, family, friends to survive. Like back home in the UK, ENgland
they had no money for a doctor. They learned over the centuries how to
us nature and herbs to find cures for illnesses. It was very common that
many communities had a family with women who had the knowledge to help
out. The granny would train the daughter and granddaughter to become the
“medicine woman”. If it weren’t for Henry the VIII that knowledge would
have vanished due to the withtrials from the Catholic Church. Not that
it was prohibited but I believe that England had more potention for a
“witch” then the rest of Europe. Thankfully the grannies mergen their
knowledge with the natives. Instead of fighting them they lived
alongside with them. Learned from eachother, shared with eachother. That
made them to me very social frontier people. But many thought of them
as poor and unaducated.

Isabel Blanco for Country Music News International

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