In Pursuit of Authenticity: The New Lost City Ramblers and the Postwar Folk Music Revival

RAY ALLEN

doi:10.1017/S1752196310000155

In Pursuit of Authenticity: The New Lost City Ramblers and the Postwar Folk Music Revival

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 July 2010

RAY ALLEN

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RAY ALLEN*: Affiliation:
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Abstract

This article explores the discourse of authenticity, which has become central to our understanding of twentieth-century folk music revivals in the United States. The process of musical revival, that is, the self-conscious restoration of musical systems deemed in danger of decline or extinction, has been closely tied to perceptions of exactly what constitutes authentic, or genuine, folk tradition. The term tradition, like authenticity, is a slippery concept based on a self-conscious interpretation and selective editing of the past. The complex mechanism of cultural editing that undergirds the authentication process is fleshed out by focusing on the efforts of one band, the New Lost City Ramblers. During the 1960s the Ramblers introduced northern audiences to what they judged to be authentic southern string-band and bluegrass styles at a time when the urban revival was dominated by popular and artsy interpreters of folk music. The Ramblers' struggles to render accurately southern rural instrumental and singing styles, while maintaining their own distinctive sound, offer insight into the challenges authenticity posed for mid-century folk musicians and their urban audiences, and continues to pose for scholars and cultural workers today.

Type: Research Article
Information: Journal of the Society for American Music , Volume 4 , Issue 3 , August 2010 , pp. 277 - 305

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1752196310000155 [Opens in a new window]
Copyright: Copyright © The Society for American Music 2010

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