Toward a Nuanced Understanding of Old Time Music, Nature, and Environmentalism

The idea that old-time music is often strongly associated with nature is not news to anyone familiar with the frequent lyrical references to natural settings and the critters who live in them. The genre is also associated with nature beyond lyrical content: the music and its community are steeped with a sense of nostalgia for a more authentic and typically rural past; participatory, communal, and intimate music-making is prized; and styles and practitioners tend to be deeply connected to particular places. These less overt natural associations echo larger societal sentiments and overlap with major themes in modern environmentalist agendas. For this reason, those with a particular concern for the well-being of the natural world seem to gravitate toward old-time music regardless of their location and understanding of the music’s roots, sometimes resulting in a romanticization of the relationship between nature and old-time music. This is not inherently bad, but can eventually lead to a problematic and one-dimensional portrait of Appalachian culture. A more nuanced understanding of the relationships between nature and old-time music is necessary for an appreciation of Appalachian cultural traditions not steeped in false idealizations. This paper draws on ecocritical and ecomusicological sources and methodologies to explore this romanticized relationship, and seeks a more complex understanding of the connections between old-time music, nature, and environmentalism