The Origins

This section contains brief information pertaining to the historical context of the work featured in Okee Dokee Brothers performance. You may wish to consider the following questions as you read:

Origin of Folk Music

The term "American roots music" may not be a familiar one, and requires some explanation. At the beginning of the 20th Century, the term "folk music" was used by scholars to describe music made by whites of European ancestry, often in the relatively isolated rural South. As the century progressed, the definition of folk music expanded to include the song styles - particularly the blues - of Southern black people as well. In general, folk music was viewed as a window into the cultural life of these groups. Folk songs communicated the hopes, sorrows and convictions of ordinary people's everyday lives.  

Increasingly, music made by other groups of Americans such as Native Americans, Mexican-Americans, and Cajun people came under the umbrella of "folk music." It was sung in churches, on front porches, in the fields and other workplaces, while rocking children to sleep, and at parties.  

The melodies and words were passed down from parent to child, though songs - and their meanings - often changed to reflect changing times. American roots music draws on the lived experience of ordinary men and women, who were and often still are defined and limited by cultural constructions of race, class and gender. Just as music reflects how Americans have struggled against oppressive social and economic conditions, music is also a means of celebrating and giving dignity to identity.

Odetta Holmes

Odetta, was an American singer, actress, guitarist, lyricist, and a civil and human rights activist, often referred to as "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement".[1] Her musical repertoire consisted largely of American folk

music, blues, jazz, and spirituals. An important figure in the American folk music revival of the 1950s and 1960s, she influenced many of the key figures of the folk-revival of that time, including Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Mavis Staples, and Janis Joplin. Time magazine included her recording of "Take This Hammer" on its list of the 100 Greatest Popular Songs, stating that "Rosa Parks was her No. 1 fan, and Martin Luther King Jr. called her the queen of American folk music."

Origin of Old-Time Music

Old-time music is a form of North American folk music, with roots in the  folk music of many countries, including England, Scotland and Ireland, as well as the continent of Africa.  This musical form developed along with various North American folk dances, such as square dance, buck dance and clogging.  The genre also encompasses ballads and other types of folk songs.  It is played on acoustic instruments, generally centering on a combination of fiddle and plucked string instruments(most often the guitar and/or banjo). 

Lead Belly

Lead Belly was an American folk and blues singer, musician and songwriter notable for his strong vocals, virtuosity on the twelve-string guitar, and the folk standard he introduced. He also played the piano, mandolin, harmonica, violin, and windjammer.  He sang while clapping his hands or stomping his foot.


Midnight Special:

The Midnight Special was a steam locomotive train that passed the Louisiana state prison; yes, and the light from that train would shine into prison cells of the men, and over time there was a kind of superstition developed among the men that if you were in the light of that train you would gain freedom, and be blessed with good fortune.

Origin of Bluegrass Music

Bluegrass music is a genre of American roots music that developed in the 1940s in the United States Appalachian region. The genre derives its name from the band Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys. Bluegrass has roots in traditional English, Scottish and Irish ballads and dance tunes, and in traditional African-American blues and jazz.

Bluegrass was further developed by musicians who played with Monroe, including 5-string banjo player Earl Scruggs and guitarist Lester Flatt. Monroe characterized the genre as: "Scottish bagpipes and ole-time fiddlin'. It's Methodist and Holiness and Baptist. It's blues and jazz, and it has a high lonesome sound." 

Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys

While many fans of bluegrass music date the genre to 1939, when Monroe formed his first Blue Grass Boys band, most believe that the classic bluegrass sound came together late in 1945, shortly after Earl Scruggs, a 21-year-old banjo player from North Carolina, joined the band.