BASCOM LAMAR LUNSFORD

Known as the "Minstrel of the Appalachians," Bascom Lamar Lunsford was an Ashville, North Carolina based song collector, composer and performer who combed the western portion of the state for traditional music. He sought out family members, friends and other residents for repertoire including ballads, banjo tunes, fiddle pieces, folk songs and spirituals.

The range of Lunsford's work is best represented on a collection entitled Ballads, Banjo Tunes and Sacred Songs available on Smithsonian Folkways.

The tracks, originally made for Brunswick Records in the 1920s and the Library of Congress in 1949, include "Old Mountain Dew," an original composition which found its way into both oral tradition and popular culture.

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