Lexington musician Brett Ratliff sleeps to classical music, listens to trance in the shower and checks his emails to a background of world beats. He describes his band Giant Rooster Sideshow as a “strange fusion of folk, honky tonk, blues, classic country and psychedelic rock.” And this month, as a principal organizer for the inaugural Lexington Old-Time Music Gathering, Ratliff will do his part to advocate for a music genre that is especially close to his heart: traditional old-time music.
With roots in sacred music and ballads about daily life for mountain folk, mountain music was first coined “old timey” during the 1920s, when it was commodified as a niche of Appalachian culture by the burgeoning recording industry. As swing, bluegrass, and rock and roll surged from the 1920s to the 1950s, old-time music became old fashioned, with square dances, hoedowns and frolics starting to fade out along with those who played at them.
But the music didn’t die. According to University of Kentucky professor and acclaimed Appalachian music scholar Ron Pen, old-time music has continued to flourish under the radar in the Bluegrass region – even today.
“Despite the perception, there has always been a culture of traditional music and dance [in the region],” Pen said, citing noteworthy regional performers that include Clark County’s Kentucky String Ticklers and Bill Livers, an African-American fiddler living in Owen County who Pen calls “remarkable.”
Despite old-time music sharing a strong surface resemblance to “its better known cousin,” bluegrass music, Pen is quick to point out the distinction.
“This is not a commercial style of music,” said Pen. “It is seldom mentioned in newspapers or played on the radio, and it does not have an industrial base in Nashville, like bluegrass and country.”
Having traditionally been passed down by neighbors and ancestors on porches and backwoods jam sessions, authentic old-time music has suffered as young people in rural areas have increasingly fled their homes to pursue employment and higher education in larger cities, said Brett Ratliff, a longtime friend of Pen’s and fellow old-time music enthusiast.
Recognizing the value of preserving and promoting the local community that is working to keep the art form alive, Ratliff summoned a committee of Lexington-based musicians and friends last fall to help organize the inaugural Lexington Old-Time Music Gathering, which takes place at various Lexington venues Feb. 12-15.
Ratliff, who also helped found the popular Morehead Old-Time Music Festival in 2006, hopes the event will not only provide something for the region’s old-time music community to look forward to in the winter months, but that it will also bring a wider audience to that community.
“Without these traditions, we lose a large piece of our history,” Ratliff said.
The four-day gathering kicks off on Thursday, Feb. 12, with an old-time music showcase at Al’s Bar, which also serves as Kentuckians For The Commonwealth’s eighth annual “I Love Mountains Day Old-Time Music Showcase.” On Friday night, Lexington Old-Time Music Gathering moves to ArtsPlace for a concert, square dance and jam session. Saturday will host a full day of workshops, jams, academic presentations, master’s showcases and youth activities, followed by a Saturday Night Square Dance event that will feature professional callers and musicians from around the state. Sunday closes out with an old-time “cabaret” at Willie’s Locally Known; impromptu jam sessions for all skill levels are expected and encouraged throughout the weekend.
The festival is designed for maximum participation to promote and preserve the traditions of Appalachia. Organizers were intentional in creating a variety of activities geared toward children, recognizing that whereas kids used to pick up the music from their elders by being around it on a daily basis, special efforts now have to be made to keep mountain traditions alive and make the music accessible.
“The stakes are pretty high for those working to promote cultural heritage in Kentucky, to create as many opportunities for this music to be passed down orally as we can,” Ratliff states. He added that it’s important not to “lose the human aspect of these traditions – and to show that we still value what our elders have to teach us.”
“Only through the ‘keepers’ of our most enduring mountain traditions can we achieve a deeper understanding of and connection to our ancestral past,” Ratliff said. “To play these tunes in what we believe to be much the same way as they were played back then – well, that’s a pretty powerful connection to the past and to our ancestors.”
Lexington Old-Time Music Gathering
Feb. 12-15, 2015 • Various venues • www.lexoldtime.com
(Please visit the event's website for the most up-to-date schedule)
Thursday, Feb. 12
Book Signing: “Appalachian Dance:
Creativity and Continuity in Six Communities”
Morris Book Shop, 882 E. High St. • 4 p.m.
I Love Mountains Day Old-Time Music Showcase
(annual benefit for Kentuckians for the Commonwealth)
Al’s Bar, 601 N. Limestone • 7:30 p.m.
Featured performers include Sam Gleaves, John Haywood and Kevin Howard, The Jarflies, Clack Mountain String Band, and the Blind Corn Liquor Pickers.
Friday, Feb. 13
Concert, square dance and jam session
ArtsPlace, 161 N. Mill St. • 6:30 p.m.
Featuring The Tillers, Rayna Gellert and Friends, a Friday Night Square Dance with live music from the Hog-Eyed Men and more.
Saturday, Feb. 14
Daytime events: Master’s showcases, workshops,
youth activities and more
ArtsPlace, 161 N. Mill St. • Noon-5 p.m.
Daytime events (noon-5 p.m.) include workshops; jams and song sessions; master’s showcases with Lee Sexton, Rich Kirby and more; youth activities; vendors and more.
Evening events: Saturday Night Square Dance
Artsplace, 161 N. Mill St. • 7-11:30 p.m.
The Saturday Night Square Dance will feature several dance callers from around the state, as well as rotating dance bands that include the Empty Bottle String Band, The Pawpaw Pickers, Hog-Eyed Men and The Railsplitters.
Sunday, Feb. 15
Old-Time Cabaret
Willie’s Locally Known, 800 N. Broadway • 2 p.m.
Old-Time Jam
Windy Corner Market, 4595 Bryan Station • 5 p.m.