Sunday Earworm

I've had this song stuck in my head for about four days.

I've been a fan of old-time music for most of my life.  For the uninitiated, old-time is what American folk music used to be before the dirty Bolshevists ruined it.  Most people confuse it with bluegrass because of the fiddle and banjo, but bluegrass is a different kind of music, a modern fusion of old-time, blues, gospel, and jazz.  Old-time is a sound of what America used to be, an obscure relic known by few except for clawhammer banjo players.

One of my favorites is the Second South Carolina String Band, a band of Confederate Civil War reenactors, From Pennsylvania despite the name of the band.  They play Southern Civil War-era music as authentically as possible, even using period-correct instruments.  Their sound is unique.  What really does it for me is the drumming and flute along with the fiddle and banjo.  Particularly in the case of this song, which wouldn't be the same without the drum.

The humanity of this song kicks me right in the feels.  It tells the story of a man who says goodbye to his family and marches off to give his life for his country; a story that could be told of any war, but for many people the cause of the Confederacy continues to have an emotional pull despite having been defeated 150 years ago, even among those who are not Southerners, as evidenced by the Confederate flag bumper stickers, decals, teeshirts and actual flags that I frequently see here in Connecticut.

A great deal of romanticism surrounds the Confederacy.  I intend to explore the subject, but I will save that for another post.  Today, it's all about the music.