Participation Type
Paper
Session Title
Off the Mountain: Bascom Lamar Lunsford in Eastern North Carolina
Session Abstract or Summary
Bascom Lamar Lunsford, dubbed the Minstrel of the Appalachians and famed for founding the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival, also collected songs, sought performers, and coordinated festivals in Piedmont and Eastern North Carolina. In briefly mentioning Lunsford’s work with the Carolina Folk Festival and the State Fair Folk Festival, both Piedmont-centered events, Lunsford’s biographer Loyal Jones writes in Minstrel of the Appalachians (1984), “During his busy life he probably helped with many other such programs, now forgotten” (77). One of those “other such programs” that was not exactly forgotten, but has just not received as much scholarly attention as his other events, was the Eastern Carolina Folk Festival in Kenansville, Duplin County, North Carolina—about 330 miles east of Asheville and just 50 miles from the Atlantic Ocean. This panel session will note some of the work Lunsford conducted in central North Carolina and then follow Lunsford’s eastern explorations, addressing which of his mountain performers he brought to flatland audiences and which eastern performers he selected to showcase in their home communities. With several Duplin County dancers, he developed long-term friendships that resulted in some eastern percussive dancers and community square dancers traveling to the mountains to perform as well. Lunsford’s eastern travels dually diversified his work and forged ties among folk practitioners who had grown up far apart but with similar dance traditions. This session will provide context from published materials and contribute newly documented first-hand accounts to build the story and address the significance of Lunsford’s lesser-known travels.
Presentation #1 Title
Off the Mountain: Bascom Lamar Lunsford in Eastern North Carolina
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
Bascom Lamar Lunsford, dubbed the Minstrel of the Appalachians and famed for founding the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival, also collected songs, sought performers, and coordinated festivals in Piedmont and Eastern North Carolina. In briefly mentioning Lunsford’s work with the Carolina Folk Festival and the State Fair Folk Festival, both Piedmont-centered events, Lunsford’s biographer Loyal Jones writes in Minstrel of the Appalachians (1984), “During his busy life he probably helped with many other such programs, now forgotten” (77). One of those “other such programs” that was not exactly forgotten, but has just not received as much scholarly attention as his other events, was the Eastern Carolina Folk Festival in Kenansville, Duplin County, North Carolina—about 330 miles east of Asheville and just 50 miles from the Atlantic Ocean. This panel session will note some of the work Lunsford conducted in central North Carolina and then follow Lunsford’s eastern explorations, addressing which of his mountain performers he brought to flatland audiences and which eastern performers he selected to showcase in their home communities. With several Duplin County dancers, he developed long-term friendships that resulted in some eastern percussive dancers and community square dancers traveling to the mountains to perform as well. Lunsford’s eastern travels dually diversified his work and forged ties among folk practitioners who had grown up far apart but with similar dance traditions. This session will provide context from published materials and contribute newly documented first-hand accounts to build the story and address the significance of Lunsford’s lesser-known travels.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Leanne E. Smith received an MFA in Creative Nonfiction at Goucher College; teaches in East Carolina University’s Department of English in Greenville, NC; serves on the boards of the Folk Arts Society of Greenville and North Carolina Folklore Society; is working on a manuscript about the Green Grass Cloggers; writes articles about food, music, and dance; and is editor of the North Carolina Folklore Journal.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #2
Rodney C. Sutton is an independent folklorist who has worked to preserve and share Appalachian music and dance for over 40 years. He currently dances with the Green Grass Cloggers and serves as the Director of Joe Shannon's Mountain Home Music in Boone, NC.
Off the Mountain: Bascom Lamar Lunsford in Eastern North Carolina
Bascom Lamar Lunsford, dubbed the Minstrel of the Appalachians and famed for founding the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival, also collected songs, sought performers, and coordinated festivals in Piedmont and Eastern North Carolina. In briefly mentioning Lunsford’s work with the Carolina Folk Festival and the State Fair Folk Festival, both Piedmont-centered events, Lunsford’s biographer Loyal Jones writes in Minstrel of the Appalachians (1984), “During his busy life he probably helped with many other such programs, now forgotten” (77). One of those “other such programs” that was not exactly forgotten, but has just not received as much scholarly attention as his other events, was the Eastern Carolina Folk Festival in Kenansville, Duplin County, North Carolina—about 330 miles east of Asheville and just 50 miles from the Atlantic Ocean. This panel session will note some of the work Lunsford conducted in central North Carolina and then follow Lunsford’s eastern explorations, addressing which of his mountain performers he brought to flatland audiences and which eastern performers he selected to showcase in their home communities. With several Duplin County dancers, he developed long-term friendships that resulted in some eastern percussive dancers and community square dancers traveling to the mountains to perform as well. Lunsford’s eastern travels dually diversified his work and forged ties among folk practitioners who had grown up far apart but with similar dance traditions. This session will provide context from published materials and contribute newly documented first-hand accounts to build the story and address the significance of Lunsford’s lesser-known travels.
