American folk music has its origins in oral traditions and tells the stories of working class people throughout history. It encompasses songs about labor struggles, war, civil rights, and other hardships. Important folk artists like Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, and Bob Dylan advanced the genre and used music to raise awareness about social and political issues important to the working class. Folk music experienced revivals in popularity during times of social unrest in the 1960s and continues to be inspired by struggles for justice.

1. MUS103: Survey of Music History II Dr. Kathleen Bondurant, Ph.D. American Folk Music

5. American Folk Music (Cont.) Long haired preachers come out every night, Try to tell you what's wrong and what's right; But when asked how 'bout something to eat, They will answer with voices so sweet: You will eat, bye and bye, In that glorious land above the sky: Work and pray, live on hay, You'll get pie in the sky when you die. Workingmen of all countries unite; Side by side we for freedom will fight. When the world and its wealth we have gained to the grafters we'll sing this refrain: You will eat, bye and bye, When you've learned to cook and fry; Chop some wood, t'will do you good, and you'll eat in the sweet bye and bye. Joe Hill, US labor organizer and poet/songwriter, born on October 7, 1879

7. American Folk Music (Cont.) Woody Guthrie, singer, songwriter, dean of American folk artists is seen in a 1947 publicity photo. The family of singer, songwriter Woody Guthrie has released a rare bootleg recording of one of his live shows as "Live Wire: Woody Guthrie in Performance 1949." http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/j/ap/5a601494-7c2d-4513-9ff4-0107021c4b80.widec.jpg

8. American Folk Music (Cont.) 2:28 p.m. CT, Fri., Dec. 7, 2007 LOS ANGELES - He wrote more than a thousand songs, ranging from his “Dust Bowl” ballads to patriotic incantations like “Pastures of Plenty” to the American classic “This Land is Your Land.” He performed them everywhere he went, from community centers to Broadway theaters to California fields filled with migrant workers. He also recorded dozens on records. But one thing Woody Guthrie never got around to doing was recording any of his songs in front of a live audience — or so Guthrie’s family thought. Until an odd-looking package with reels of wires showed up unsolicited in the mail one day at the Woody Guthrie Archives. Captured on a wire recorder, the 75-minute recording was painstakingly transferred to compact disc, an effort that took more than a year. It was recently released by the archives as “Live Wire: Woody Guthrie in Performance 1949.”

9. American Folk Music (Cont.) Earl Scruggs revolutionized and popularized the banjo and developed what is now known worldwide as the “Scruggs Style Picking.” His style of picking is a defining characteristic of bluegrass music. For more than 20 years, Scruggs performed with vocalist Guitarist Lester Flatt forming the most famous band in bluegrass history. But Scruggs parted with Flatt and in 1969 formed Earl Scruggs Revue with his three sons. In 2003, Scruggs received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and in that same year he and Flatt were ranked No. 24 on “CMT’s 40 Greatest Men of Country Music.”

11. American Folk Music (Cont.) http://www.iwelk.com/publicity/Visionaries/Photos/73168_JoanBaez.jpg

15. Text Sources: http://folkmusic.about.com/od/historyoffolk/a/Folk_History.htm http://www.lib.utexas.edu/benson/border/arhoolie2/raices.html www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22150712/ http://www.commotionpr.com/images/earlFriends_L.jpg