Alan Lomax travels through the Southern Appalachians investigating the songs, dances, and religious rituals of the descendents of the Scotch-Irish frontiers people who have made the mountains their home for centuries. Preachers, fiddlers, moonshiners, cloggers and square dancers recount the good times and the hard times of rural life. Performances by Tommy Jarrell; Janette Carter; Ray and Stanley Hicks; Frank Proffitt, Jr.; Sheila Kay Adams; and Ray Fairchild, the man reputed to be the fastest banjo-picker in the world.
Another segment in my genealogical video (edited for privacy) where my Scotch-Irish (Ulster-Scots) continue moving through America from the Alamo to the Civil War
From 1969 to 1973 the Morris brothers held old time music festivals at their home in Ivydale, West Virginia. These "back porch" festivals were famous for their outstanding fiddle, banjo, and ballad music, as well as for their persistent rain and mud. John and Dave Morris consistently rounded up the finest performers of Appalachian mountain music. This film captures the music and mood of the 1972 festival.