Black Roots: Arnold Shultz and bluegrass in Kentucky

The Documentary Podcast

BBC

Society & Culture, Documentary, Personal Journals

4.3 • 2.6K Ratings

🗓️ 9 November 2022

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Acclaimed musician Rhiannon Giddens explores bluegrass music in Kentucky, the history of the banjo and the story of Arnold Shultz. For many listeners of bluegrass, the story of this music begins in December 1945, when ‘Father of Bluegrass’ Bill Monroe brought his band on stage at the Grand Ole Opry. Yet, Bill Monroe always acknowledged the black fiddler and guitarist Arnold Shultz as one of his major influences. Rhiannon explores how African-American musicians like Shultz were often mentors to white country stars of the time.

Transcript

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0:00.0	My Indian Life is back for season 3.
0:02.8	There are more stories ahead which need attention.
0:06.0	Bringing you more compelling stories from India's young people
0:09.0	as they navigate life in the 21st century.
0:11.8	We young people are being impacted by climate crisis.
0:15.4	We cannot let the elders to decide our fate.
0:18.4	That's how he presents my Indian Life from the BBC World Service.
0:22.0	Find out more at the end of this podcast.
0:33.0	This is an 1890s nylon string bandjobe.
0:50.0	My uncle was a bluegrass musician.
0:52.0	My granddaddy was a bluegrass musician.
0:54.0	My dad ran away from bluegrass because he didn't want any part of it.
0:58.0	But that was what I thought my connection was.
1:00.0	And then I started thinking about my other grandparents and going,
1:04.0	oh man, that makes things even more interesting.
1:07.0	I'm Rianne Giddens.
1:16.0	I've been playing bandjo in fiddle for over 20 years.
1:24.0	First with the Carolina chocolate drops and now as a solo artist.
1:28.0	And in this series, I'm exploring the African American roots of folk and country music.
1:34.0	I was born to a black mother and a white father in North Carolina.
1:38.0	But both sides of my family are close to this sort of music.
1:42.0	Especially bluegrass, that banjo heavy high-loans sound that emerged out of western Kentucky in the 1930s.
	...

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