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The Mountain Music of Highlands
Written By: Tracy Foor, Highlands Historical Society | Issue: December 2023
Thanks to Highlands Historical Society, the sounds that animated life on the Plateau echo down through the decades.
Though the Highlands Historical Society museum is closed for the season, the museum’s newest exhibit – The Mountain Music of Highlands – remains accessible online on the HHS website. Visit this interactive exhibit today!
From parlors and porches, to parks, pews and pubs, mountain music has been played on the Highlands Plateau in a wide variety of venues by a richly talented assortment of musicians, past and present. This digital exhibit explores the musical styles, instruments, venues and personalities that define the mountain sound of Highlands.
Through video, audio and photos, the differences between old-time and bluegrass music are explained, as are the special instruments – the banjo, mandolin, fiddle and dulcimer – which give the two genres their unique sounds. Specially chosen songs accentuate the subtle distinctions between bluegrass and old-time, while other songs help define the roles of each musical instrument.
A unique element of the exhibit is its description of folk art instruments. Necessity, poverty and skilled craftsmanship combined to allow settlers in Appalachia to create their own musical instruments from any available resource. The ingenuity of the musician can be seen in cigar box guitars, pie tin banjos and gourd stringed instruments that are described in the exhibit.
A common thread winds its way in the exhibit through the tales told of some of the fascinating characters who created the culture that still rings out in Highlands today. The legacies left behind by people such as Felix Eugene Alley, Henry Ossawa Tanner and Sylvia Sammons are vividly brought to life through story, art and song.
Old-time and bluegrass music have left an indelible mark on the Highlands Plateau and will continue to do so for years to come. You are invited to the museum for its 2024 grand opening on May 25th. But, until that time, sit back at home and explore the music that helps to make Highlands such a special place. The Mountain Music of Highlands is the featured exhibit on the museums website – visit highlandshistory.com.
