Gastonia Gallop provides a vivid portrait of the evolving musical traditions heard in the mill villages of Gaston County, North Carolina, during a period of swift social and cultural change. Amid this emerging modern world, with its factory whistles, clattering machines, and low-wage labor, local textile workers created a vibrant working-class music that provided the foundations for today's country music. These Gaston County string band musicians interpreted a wide range of American music, combining the fiddle tunes, minstrel songs, and ragtime numbers of their youth with the more contemporary sounds of blues, vaudeville, and Tin Pan Alley.
Here are 24 tracks by largely unsung musicians who left behind an enduring musical legacy on phonograph records between 1927 and 1931. You'll hear David McCarn's biting and witty critiques of cotton mill life; the virtuoso harmonica-and-guitar duets of Gwin Foster and Dave Fletcher; the upbeat hokum of the Three 'Baccer Tags; the soulful ballads of Wilmer Watts & The Lonely Eagles, and much more. The music of Gastonia Gallop has been expertly remastered for digital clarity, and the disc comes with a 24-page, full-color booklet with rare vintage photographs, complete discography, and a detailed historical essay by Patrick Huber, author of the award-winning book Linthead Stomp, The Creation of Country Music In The Piedmont South.
