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The Piedmont Blues:
A True Song of the South
By John Waldrop
The East Coast Blues, also known as Country Blues, and The Piedmont Blues, was played in the coastal Southern states. As the blues began to develop and become popular at the turn of the twentieth century, Ragtime music was king. The composer Scott Joplin published "The Maple Leaf Rag" in 1900 and sold one million copies. This in a country of only a little over 75 million people! Joplin's rags and John Philip Sousa's marches were the popular music of the day and influenced the blues and other styles all over the country, except in the severely isolated regions like the Mississippi Delta. But, land holdings were much smaller on the East Coast and people lived closer together. Folks could easily get into town to buy their supplies and listen to the music of the day. The east coast responded to this ragtime/country influenced blues, which came to be known for the Piedmont region in which many of its most popular performers were based. Black guitarists and musicians in Virginia, Maryland, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Florida heard and embraced ragtime/country music and The Piedmont Blues was born.
Durham, North Carolina for years was home to many of the originators of the Piedmont Blues like Reverend Gary Davis (Born in Laurens, SC), Blind Boy Fuller and many others until the city outlawed street music in 1942. Morganton, NC was the home of Etta Baker. She was given North Carolina's Folk Heritage Award for her lifetime of performing and advancing the Piedmont Blue's tradition. This nationally recognized performer was also presented with a lifetime achievement award by the National Endowment for the Arts. She died in September, 2006 at the age of 93, and was an exemplary exponent of the Piedmont style of guitar. Bob Dylan met her on his 21st birthday and she influenced his composition of "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right". His finger-picking on that song was definitely inspired by the Piedmont style.
Piedmont-style blues is characterized by a finger-picking Martin Guitar style borrowed from the banjo that imitates the ragtime piano. The bass line is played with the thumb while the lead lines and harmonies are played by the other fingers. The sound therefore is more rhythmically complicated and displays more melody than the Delta Blues. Most Piedmont Blues songs sound lighter and more subtle as opposed to the hard driving rhythms of the other styles of blues.
The Piedmont Blues of the Carolinas and Georgia, as noted, were more inspired by ragtime, white country, gospel and popular song more than their Delta Blues counterpart. This was probably due to smaller black populations and less rigid segregation than in the Deep South. Piedmont Blues- men like Cootie Stark (Born in Abbeville, SC), Blind Boy Fuller, Revered Gary Davis, and Pink Anderson typically displayed greater instrumental virtuosity than their Delta cousins.
Delta Blues-- Even though the Mississippi Delta blues-- , of Robert Johnson and Elmore James, by most is considered "true" African-American blues music, we should consider this - The Piedmont Blues style may indeed embody an even more fascinating "Authentically American" blues convention. It melds African American traditions with gospel, ragtime, country music, and American popular music, making the Piedmont Blues a true "Song of the South."
