Many of the people who originally settled this area were from Scotland and Ireland. Gramy Award Winning Bruce Nemerov, formerly with MTSU's Center for Popular Music, has done much research on the Scot-Irish musical connection. He and Amy Macy, an associate professor at the university's Department of Recording Industry, shared some of this musical history at Tuesday's (8/28/2012) Murfreesboro Rotary Club luncheon.
Scot-Irish Connection In Woodbury This 7:30PM Friday
A closer look into the area's history will be presented at 7:30 this coming Friday night (8/31/2012) at the Arts Center of Cannon County. Tickets to that event are available by calling 615-563-ARTS (2787). The theatre is located at 1424 John Bragg Highway in neighboring Woodbury.
Although the music still had an identifyable Celtic sound, the people of the South blended it into what is now referred to as Appalachian folk music.
Uncle Dave Macon, who ran his horse-drawn delivery business from the Kittrell area, is a great example of this genre of music. Uncle Dave hated motorized vehcles, because he feared it would end his major source of income. In fact, many of his hit recordings share that feeling.
He is described as the first super-star of the Grand Ole Opry. Not only did Uncle Dave entertain randomly on the Murfreesboro town square, he also took the bus to Nashville on the weekends to perform on the Opry.
Civil War Symposium October 26-27
This music was also popular during the Civil War, and these songs documented the trials and moods of the time. Since this is the sesquicentennial of that chapter in America's history, Nemerov and Macy are also part of the Stones River Battlefield's "150th Anniversary Symposium" on October 26th and 27th. That event will include segments at the battlefield, The Heritage Center in uptown Murfreesboro (225 W. College St.) and Murfreesboro's First Presbyterian Church (corner of College and Spring Streets), where they just celebrated their bicentennial.
There is a $20 fee to participate in that session, and registration must be complete by October 22nd. Contact the local National Park Service at www.nps.gov/stri or www.tncivilwar.org. There are more details about the Symposium on the Stones River Battlefield's website: http://www.nps.gov/stri/planyourvisit/legacycurrent.htm.