What Dreamers Do

Blurred Lines: Flatfooting & Clogging & Bluegrass & Old-Time

Carla Gover Season 1 Episode 10

As an artist who performs traditional Appalachian music and dance, I get lots of questions about the styles of music and dance that I play.
"You play banjo--does that mean you play bluegrass?"
"What's the difference between flatfooting and clogging?"
And, quite often, "Will you play Dueling Banjos?"

In this episode, I sketch out the major differences (and similarities) between all those things, and share how I came to understand them in spite of a background where we tended to just call it all "music and dance."

And I discuss the fluid nature of folk music, along with the phenomenon of "prescriptive culture" and the tendencies of traditions to evolve over time, even as there are some groups and individuals who would wish for it to be static or to fit neatly into boxes or rules.

Links Mentioned:
Cowan Creek Mountain Music School
Appalachian Flatfooting & Clogging Academy

Listening Links:
Lee Sexton
Paul David Smith
John Harrod
Marion Sumner
Art Stamper


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