/r/oldtimemusic

Photograph via snooOG

A place for lovers of old-time music.

A place for lovers of American Old-Time music.

Old Time is a specific genre and not just old music.

It generally refers to the dance music and songs that came from the European/African immigrant musicians living in the Southern Appalachians and Ozarks and less commonly other areas around the country. Typically involves a fiddle, banjo, guitars, or just solo ballad singing.

Feel free to post anything old time related especially audio/video of you playing.

Typical examples of Old Time:

Old Time Stringband playing a Tune

Old Time Band playing a Song

Valuable Resources:

Related Subreddits:

/r/oldtimemusic

7,397 Subscribers

2

Hey Folks, I'm writing a paper on Tradition and Folk and would really appreciate if you could fill in my survey!

0 Comments
2024/10/31
13:00 UTC

13

Old Time on the BBC Jerron Paxton on Later with Jools Holland

0 Comments
2024/10/28
18:45 UTC

7

Wee Midnight Hours played by Tuba Skinny

1 Comment
2024/10/28
08:03 UTC

7

The Wilders play Riding On Your High Horse

1 Comment
2024/10/27
18:06 UTC

9

Sandy Boys - Octave Mandolin & Banjo

Hey y'all! Here's my take on Sandy Boys. Thanks for listening!

1 Comment
2024/10/26
22:54 UTC

9

SOLDIER'S JOY

0 Comments
2024/10/26
01:45 UTC

5

When you go to a fiddlers convention, who is in the hottest jam and where can I listen to them?

All the links that get posted here or in Dedicated to Old Time Music are either the OGs or the YouTubers. I want to know who, in your experience, kicks the most butt in person. Looking for folks that a) are alive, b) drive hard, and c) suck at self promotion.

Many thanks!

9 Comments
2024/10/22
20:06 UTC

4

I'm learning banjo and made this little music video in the Red River Valley

0 Comments
2024/10/22
09:43 UTC

1

How do you hold your fiddle?

2 Comments
2024/10/19
03:52 UTC

4

Origin of this tune?

I just noticed that Béla Fleck's version of "Ain't Gonna Work Tomorrow" from the album "Crossing the Tracks" has the same tune as "Darling Cora", but most other recordings of it I've found don't use the same tune. Am I overlooking anyone else who plays it to that tune, or did Béla mix the two together on his own?

Do these two songs share a common origin, just like how "The Crawdad Song", "Peg and Awl", and "Peggy-O" all come from "The Ballad of Captain Kidd"?

Edit: Thanks to /u/banjoman74 over in /r/bluegrass for providing this Louvin Brothers recording from 1960 which uses the same tune I'm talking about (as opposed to the one used in most other versions).

2 Comments
2024/10/17
16:24 UTC

19

Oh Suzanna played by Margo MacSweeney

0 Comments
2024/10/17
06:17 UTC

9

"Doc's Guitar" by Doc Watson

2 Comments
2024/10/15
16:18 UTC

5

The Girl On The Greenbriar Shore played by Tom Paley

0 Comments
2024/10/15
07:29 UTC

3

Peggy Seeger plays Thoughts of time

0 Comments
2024/10/15
07:25 UTC

11

Mike Seeger plays Cuckoo

1 Comment
2024/10/15
07:20 UTC

14

Little Birdy and Graveyard Blues performed by Roscoe Holcomb

0 Comments
2024/10/15
07:14 UTC

4

Suzy Thompson performs Stop and Listen

0 Comments
2024/10/15
06:38 UTC

8

EKY Vacation

Visiting my friends in EKY and I happened into something really amazing. Yesterday, I went out to Knott County to George Gibson's house to listen to old time and make sorghum. John Haywood showed up and played three different instruments. After that I got to see John and some other good pickers put on a benefit for hurricane victims. Topped that off by stumbling my way through jamming with the boys. I just got back from James E Webb's store in Tomahawk where I watched a group of kids from Morehead State play. When I mentioned I never learned to pick because I am left-handed, Jim walked into the back and gave me this left-handed banjo neck. Looks like I'm fixin to build a banjo!

3 Comments
2024/10/14
03:53 UTC

5

Jam in Nashville?

I will be in Nashville 10/12-10/15, and I am looking for any old time jams I could join during that time!

15 Comments
2024/10/11
16:46 UTC

7

Meredith Axelrod with Jerron Paxton play Margie

0 Comments
2024/10/09
07:37 UTC

12

Frank Fairfield plays Short Life of Trouble

0 Comments
2024/10/09
07:32 UTC

9

Matt Heckler plays Been So Long

1 Comment
2024/10/09
07:20 UTC

25

Amythyst Kiah plays Darling Corey

4 Comments
2024/10/08
07:30 UTC

11

Kaia Kater plays Sun to Sun

0 Comments
2024/10/08
07:05 UTC

16

Carolina Chocolate Drops play Pretty Girl With the Blue Dress On

0 Comments
2024/10/08
06:57 UTC

1

The Soulmates play Bury Me Under The Weeping Willow

0 Comments
2024/10/08
06:22 UTC

3

Songs played around the holidays?

Does anyone know of Christmas or other traditional old time songs played around the holidays? I’m not talking about classic Christmas songs composed into banjo and fiddle tunes. I know breaking up Christmas is very popular so other songs similar is what I’m looking for. Thanks.

3 Comments
2024/10/07
22:36 UTC

2

Can anyone identify the sample used here?

https://youtu.be/-RiXWHQbvpY?si=MO9ybvTx3nZs6Zzr&t=1317
Track 7, "Stumped", 21:57, could someone please identify the song sampled in that track? It's the only sample in this video that's left unknown.
Edit: FOUND! It's "Rose Room"

6 Comments
2024/10/07
22:08 UTC

4

Tennessee Mafia Jug Band plays Mountain Dew

0 Comments
2024/10/07
17:48 UTC

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