There is something about struggle and hardship that leads to the creation of great art. The Adirondacks are notoriously unforgiving to its inhabitants and as a sort of coping mechanism, has inspired countless works of music that work to capture these raw human emotions.
Using intense emotional experiences to fuel creative development is nothing new. From the ancient Greeks using political tension to inspire lyrical plays to biographical singer-songwriters such as Paul Simon, an emphasis on some of the harsher elements of the human experience come to the forefront of masterpieces. This is perhaps due to the psychological tendency to rationalize difficult experiences. If this is the case, then it is easy to understand the massive music library that has been generated out of the common struggles of Adirondack residents.
One of the struggles that pervades most American folk music is the difficulties of being an immigrant. The partial assimilation of these populations that were brought into the region and expected to figure out the intricacies of American culture from a remote position were able to hold onto their culture through their music. Perhaps deriving some of their form from Celtic ballads, the Adirondack ballad is a prime example of a combination of struggles manifesting themselves in a deeply enjoyable work of art.
What made these testaments to struggle so pervasive was their emotional universality in addition to the use of music as a sort of social currency, carrying musicians throughout the Adirondacks from one rural meeting place to the next. This "un-selfconscious and communal activity" helped residents understand the circumstances they were surrounded by, while still allowing these overworked woodswomen and woodsmen to blow off some steam.
I am curious what the early Adirondack history would have looked like without music. Would depression have been even more pervasive in the region? Would the legacy of these loggers been largely forgotten? What would we have known of the dangers of early logging without these important primary sources? I, for one, and happy that these questions do not need to be answered. Instead of dwelling on these hypothetical questions, we are instead able to turn to the well preserved works of Adirondack music to gain a perspective on what these trying times were like for the people living through them.
Great post! I for one feel that ballads are important everywhere, even outside of the Adirondacks. There's something about that type of song; the music itself is only half of the equation. Ballads leave so much room to tell stories and recount events that they create so much of our cultural and social history and we sometimes forget how much of an impact the music has had.
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