Trip To The Roots Of Country Music In The Carolinas: Heavy Influences From The Scotch-Irish: The Scotch-Irish Influence On Country Music

Country music is a distinctively American form of popular music based on traditional, southern, Anglo-American folk music and influenced to some extent by the blues. North Carolinians played a significant role in the development of this music, particularly in the 1930s, and its popularity has continued in the state.
Country music in the Carolinas and the southern Appalachian Mountains owes a tremendous debt to freedom-loving Scotch-Irish pioneers who settled the southern backcountry during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. These hardy Protestant settlers brought with them from Lowland Scotland, Northern England and the Ulster Province of Ireland music that created the essential framework for "old-time string band music." From the cabins of the Blue Ridge and the Great Smoky Mountains to the textile mills and urban centers of the Carolina foothills, this colorful, passionate, heartfelt music transformed the culture of America and the world and laid the foundation for western swing, bluegrass, rockabilly, and modern country music. Author Michael Scoggins takes a trip to the roots of country music in the Carolinas.