Golden Shoals w/ Nicholas Edward Williams | "Dry Bones" (Traditional)

This is a rendition of an old gospel tune called "Dry Bones", with Golden Shoals, filmed on location at legendary old-time folk musician and preservationist Bascom Lamar Lunsford's front porch in Leicester, NC on April 20th, 2023.
This was part of a special field recording for the American Songcatcher podcast (‪@americansongcatcher5240‬ -www.linktr.ee/AmericanSongcatcher) with a focus on raising awareness around Bascom's home being preserved by a recently formed grassroots non-profit, Pondering Bascom Education Center, who is seeking to raise funds for repairs on the house and turn it into an event center and historical landmark, honoring Bascom's legacy for future generations to appreciate.
GoFundMe website coming soon!
Performing:
‪@GoldenShoals‬ (Amy Alvey - Fiddle, Vocals + Mark Kilianski - Guitar, Vocals)
www.goldenshoals.com
Nicholas Edward Williams - Banjo, Vocals
www.nicholasedwardwilliams.com
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More about Bascom Lamar Lunsford:
Bascom Lamar Lunsford (March 21, 1882 - September 4, 1973) was a folklorist, performer of traditional Appalachian music, and lawyer from western North Carolina. He was often known by the nickname "Minstrel of the Appalachians." Bascom was born at Mars Hill, Madison County, North Carolina in 1882, into the world of traditional Appalachian folk music. At an early age, his father, a teacher, gave him a fiddle, and his mother sang religious songs and traditional ballads. Lunsford also learned banjo and began to perform at weddings and square dances.
After qualifying as a teacher at Rutherford College, Lunsford taught at schools in Madison County. In 1913, Lunsford qualified in law at Trinity College, later to become Duke University. He began to travel and collect material at the start of the 20th century, often meeting singers on isolated farms. Lunsford has been quoted as saying he spent "nights in more homes from Harpers Ferry to Iron Mountain than anybody but God".
Lunsford gave lectures and performances while dressed in a starched white shirt and black bow tie. This formal dress was part of his campaign against the stereotyping of “hillbillies”. In 1922 Frank C. Brown, a song collector, recorded 32 items on wax cylinders from Bascom. In 1928, Lunsford recorded "Jesse James" and "I Wish I Was a Mole in the Ground" for the Brunswick record label. Harry Smith included "I Wish I Was a Mole in the Ground" on his Anthology of American Folk Music in 1952. Smith's anthology also includes Lunsford's performance of the gospel song "Dry Bones", recorded in 1928.
Lunsford played in a style from Western North Carolina, which had a rhythmic up-stroke brushing the strings. It sounds similar to clawhammer banjo playing, which emphasizes the downstroke. He also played a "mandoline", an instrument with mandolin body and a five-string banjo neck. He occasionally played fiddle for dance tunes such as "Rye Straw". He censored himself, avoiding obscene songs or omitting verses. His repertoire included Child Ballads, negro spirituals and parlor songs. A CD collection of Lunsford's recordings, from the Brunswick recordings of the 1920s to the recordings for the Archive of American Folk Song at the Library of Congress in 1949, Ballads, Banjo Tunes and Sacred Songs of Western North Carolina, was released by Smithsonian Folkways Records in 1996.
In 1927 the Asheville Chamber of Commerce organized a 'Rhododendron Festival' to encourage tourism. The Chamber asked Lunsford to invite local musicians and dancers. 1928 was the first year of the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival, often claimed as the first event to be described as a "Folk Festival". After a few years the rhododendron element disappeared but the festival continues to this day. He was the organizer and performed there every year until he suffered a stroke in 1965.