Exploring Authenticity in Old-Time Music

• Main Author: Langley, Mikaela
• Format: Others
• Published: Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University 2020
• Subjects: music composition; bluegrass; roots music; appalachia; appalachian studies; east tennessee; Appalachian Studies; Composition; Music Performance
• Online Access: https://dc.etsu.edu/honors/603; https://dc.etsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1759&context=honors

This thesis focuses on the question of authenticity in old-time music, and the ways in which it is studied in ETSU’s Bluegrass, Old-Time, and Country Music Studies program. In an academic setting, old-time is often studied in more of a historical or anthropological context and less as a specific style of music. Arguments for authenticity in this music have been made since the popularity of such films as “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” and “Cold Mountain”, which brought a lot of outside attention to the genres of bluegrass and old-time music, as well as defining the aesthetics associated with them. Contemporary composition and performance of old-time music exists, but is not typically studied in an academic setting, or evaluated for how it adds to the musical tradition. The intention of this thesis is to validate the existence of contemporary composition in old-time music, and its authenticity within the genre.