I'll begin in response to Dr. Vaneman's blog regarding Helen, Georgia. I live very close to Helen, Georgia! One merely has to travel over the Helen Mountain to find himself or herself Hiawassee, Georgia. This is the location of Bodysense, my step-mom's lovely store. If the individual drives past Hiawassee he or she will end up in Hayesville, North Carolina. This is where I live. Hayesville, North Carolina is in the Appalachian Mountains. This area is rich with history, and Cherokee Indians originally inhabited it. Many of the Hayesville natives have a great deal of Cherokee blood.
When I was a senior at Hayesville High School our school established a connected with a Danish high school. The Honors English students were ambassadors to Denmark. While there, we stayed with students and their families. In return, they came to stay with us. To help them better understand the area we took a field trip to Cherokee, North Carolina where we visited the Museum of the Cherokee Indian. Here the tour guide played the wooden flute. He sang traditional songs, including war cries from different tribes. He also sang a song and played a drum while we did a traditional dance consisting of everyone holding hands and winding in and out to imitate a snake.
My step-mom is from the North Georgia Mountains. She grew up singing bluegrass with her family. One Christmas she, her sister, her cousin Renee, and her mom, and her aunt performed impromptu "Keep on the Sunny Side of Life" for our family. They are wonderful at harmonizing. My step-mom also takes me along to her annual "pickin' party." This is a gathering of old friends, where those who sing or play an instrument that can be picked perform. Instruments that are used are the fiddle, upright bass, the guitar, the banjo, and the mandolin.
In Hayesville, North Carolina on the square, bluegrass music is performed. This is often accompanied by clogging. There is festival on the square in July where one can expect to hear good bluegrass while shopping from merchants. There are many craftsmen and artists in our area. The festival on the square is like a mini version of the Georgia Mountain Fair in Hiawassee. The Georgia Mountain Fair attracts wonderful bluegrass bands. Each summer I listen to traditional mountain music at the fair grounds. Some people who aren't from Appalachia act repulsed by the twangy sound of the music, but I think it is beautiful and full of emotion. The lyrics are not always sad either. As I mentioned, my step-mom sang keep on the sunny side, which is very optimistic.
One of the coolest musical things near Hayesville is the contra dance. Here fast paced bluegrass is played while groups of people square dance together.
My parents also introduced me to other genres. They used to play celtic music like the The Last of the Mohicans soundtrack every Sunday after church. They would also play new age celtic music like Enya and Loreena McKennitt. My dad is from Miami, so whenever we visit we dine at Cuban restaurants and enjoy Cuban music in the background. When I was very little my stepmom would play cassette tapes of Swahili women and children. Later I sang a Swahili song in Show Choir called O Sifuni Mungo.I've listed some links that go with my blog.
Georgia Mountain Fair Grounds Pickin' (not on stage)
One of our Contra Dances - You can't hear the lady calling out the steps
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Sarah, this is a lovely blog, and the links are wonderful. O Sifuni Mungo was popular back when I was in college--I think some popular Christina Contemporary group recorded it or something--and I remember all sorts of very, um, stuck-in-the-mud choirs trying to sing it, with varying degrees of success!
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, the Southern Appalachian mountains are a great treasure trove of various kinds of musics. We had a music history student a few years ago do her honors thesis on the various influences on Southern Appalacihan folks music--it's all really very interesting.