American Patchwork: Songs and Stories of America

The bayous of Louisiana have combined French, German, West Indian, native American and hillbilly ingredients into a unique cultural gumbo. Cajun Country investigates the Cajuns’ roots in Western France, visits their cattle drives, horse races, and fais do-dos in rural Louisiana, and listens to the salty tales and raunchy songs of its black, white, and Indian music-makers.

Alan Lomax, John Bishop, and Worth Long explore the enduring African-American performance traditions of the Mississippi Delta. Featuring bluesmen R.L. Burnside and Jack Owens; tall-tale tellers, fife and drum bands, and diddley-bow players; and former prisoners, railroad workers, and roustabouts singing field hollers, work chants, and levee camp songs. (re-edited version of a 1979 film)

Investigating the songs, dances, and religious rituals of the descendants of Scotch-Irish settlers of the Southern Appalachian mountains. Preachers, fiddlers, moonshiners, cloggers, and square dancers recount the good times and the hard times of rural life. Performances by Tommy Jarrell; Janette Carter; Ray and Stanley Hicks; Frank Proffitt, Jr.; Sheila Kay Adams; and Ray Fairchild, the man reputed to be the fastest banjo-picker in the world.

Examining the talents and wisdom of elderly musicians, singers, and story-tellers, who perform not for fame or fortune but to preserve and share their culture. Stories told by Janie Hunter (80) of Johns Island, SC; ballads sung by ex-coal miner and union organizer Nimrod Workman (91), of Chatteroy, WV; fiddle tunes and tales of moonshining and feuds from Tommy Jarrell (83) of Toast, NC; and footage from the Alabama Sacred Harp Convention in Fyffe, AL, in which people of all ages gather to sing old-time shape-note hymnody.