Charles Frazier's novel and the film Cold Mountain opened the door to a world of Appalachian history, life, and music. Now, John Cohen and Smithsonian Folkways take you all the way home to the source and the spirit of Appalachia in the signature sounds of its musical elders. Descendents of the 19th-century Appalachian frontier families perform traditional music they inherited from their Civil War-era ancestors

The album is "one of true Otherness, where dislocation, quark strangeness, and untamed spirits gather in order to whisper, cry, moan, shout and laugh in a language that has not so much died as disappeared." and is "essential listening for anyone interested in authentic American roots music".(Thom Jurec – All Music)

With one or two exceptions, these songs and tunes were alive during the Civil War. They survived into the early and mid-20th Century, to be rediscovered by folksong collectors. Most selections come from Folkways' deep archives, ably picked by John Cohen, whose recordings with the New Lost City Ramblers introduced many of us to the Appalachian tradition during the 1960s folk revival and after. Frazier himself, who provides the introduction to the enclosed booklet, explains how this music inspired his novel, set in Civil War-era North Carolina. Cohen's extensive liner notes and annotations are informative and engrossing.



Few of the musicians are likely to be familiar, though names like the Stanley Brothers, Bill Monroe, Doc Watson, Roscoe Holcomb, and Tommy Jarrell will resonate with those who have at least passing knowledge of the tradition. The performances are always inspired, sometimes rawly emotional in a way that has vanished from today's music; sometimes a performance may be even a little frightening, for one dramatic example Oscar Parks's angry rant at the conclusion of the ballad "The Battle of Stone River." French Carpenter's fiddle tune "Camp Chase," on the other hand, aches with mournful beauty.



The sound quality, thanks to modern technology, is so perfectly executed that it serves to erase distance between listener and performer. Time and geography roll away, and you're right there on a back porch or a church bench, hearing the ballads, fiddle pieces, and hymns in person. There is a dark magic in this old music, and Back Roads evokes it brilliantly.

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Floyd “Dipper Boy” Council (1911-1976) became a well-known practitioner of the Piedmont blues sound from that area, popular throughout the southeastern region of the US in the 1930s.
Born in Chapel Hill, North Carolina to Harrie and Lizzie Council, Floyd began his musical career on the streets of Chapel Hill in the 1920s, performing with two brothers, Leo and Thomas Strowd as "The Chapel Hillbillies". He recorded twice for ARC at sessions with Blind Boy Fuller in the mid-thirties, all fine examples of the Piedmont style in full bloom.

Council suffered a stroke in the late 1960s which partially paralyzed his throat muscles and slowed his motor skills, but did not significantly damage his cognitive abilities. Folklorist Peter B. Lowry attempted to record him one afternoon in 1970, but he never regained his singing or playing abilities. Accounts say that he remained "quite sharp in mind".

Council died in 1976 of a heart attack, after moving to Sanford, North Carolina.

He is the “Floyd” in Pink Floyd’s name. Syd Barrett came up with the band's name by juxtaposing the first names of Council and South Carolina bluesman, Pink Anderson. He noticed the names in the liner notes of a 1962 Blind Boy Fuller LP (Philips BBL-7512).

The Trice Brothers were from Hillsborough (North Carolina – Orange County) Willie (1910) and his younger Brother Richard (1917) played various instruments. When Blind Boy Fuller record first appeared in 1935 Willie walked the six mile distance to Durham to meet the guitarist. A solid friendship began, and when Fuller moved to Decca records he arranged for the Trice Brothers to accompany him. When they arrived in New York they were soon on the street before even the session with Blind Boy Fuller, on Monday July 12, 1937.

The Fuller Session was abruptly blown off by an electric storm. Fuller only recorded 10 songs with the Trices.
The next day, it was extremely hot and the session ended without a real success.

Richard moved back to Carolina ad performed a while as “Little Boy Fuller”. He joined the Church in the Fifties. Willie returned to performing until his death in 1976.

Nothing is known of Eddie kelly’s Washboard Band other than the session details. They were recorded on location in Charlotte, North Carolina by the Victor Filed Unit. Their Washboard driven sound has elements of the black and white shared pre-blues tradition.

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