Guest
This man is the great Appalachian Mountain North Carolina folk musician/historian/wonderful character Bascom Lamar Lunsford. I have posted here the entire documentary that I made because so many of my subscribers have asked to see more of this film. Back in 1965, I was making my first television documentary (23 years old) and got the chance to go down from New York City to spend six weeks with Bascom and his wife Freda as they drove around the North Carolina Appalachian Mountains to find unknown but great musicians, dancers, poets, singers & songwriters for his music festival- The Asheville Music and Dance Festival that he founded in 1929. I knew as I rolled 16mm film through my camera that I was recording amazing mountain music history. In the early 1990s, PBS gave me the chance to return to those wonderful mountains and tell a story of Bascom's life and why he was so committed to preserving and sharing the mountain (some would say old-time) music and dance and storytelling of his people. Although he was not a great performer, Bascom had a keen understanding who was the best for Appalachian mountain fiddling, for flat picking guitar, for 5 string and 4 string banjo, for clog dancing and other forms of square dance. He saw these art forms as classically American. I loved those people and their creativity then. I love them now. I take every opportunity to thank Bascom Lamar Lunsford and his wife and his colleagues and friends for so openly sharing their incredible abilities with an outsider–a young man from New York with a profound respect for their unique and creative culture. And for all of you who think that this culture has died, my experience is that it has not. The music, songwriting, dance, storytelling, sense of humor, so prevalent in the mountains of North Carolina, is alive and well. I love the Luke Bryan songs, the Creed Fisher songs, the Blake Sheldon songs, and everything played and sung by the amazing Billy Strings. I wish I could go to those mountains again and be with the grandchildren of the people who I filmed. If you found my film of entertainment value and/or historical value, I ask you to support my efforts by clicking the Super Thanks button below the video screen or by becoming a patron at I have much more to share if time and money allow. Thank You David Hoffman filmmaker
