[banjo playing peppy old-time tune] ♪ ♪ ♪ (man) One, two, three, four, one, two-- [foot tapping] [high fiddle melody leads banjo in fast old-time tune] ♪ ♪ ♪ [fiddle introduces lower-pitched melody] ♪ ♪ [high-pitched melody] ♪ [low-pitched melody] ♪ ♪ There are many different styles of Southern fiddle playing.

One of the most compelling comes from Surry County, North Carolina.

Instead of emphasizing highly intricate melody notes, they emphasize a very rhythmic bow arm.

Now, in the 1970s and '80s, young folks came from all over the country to learn from fiddlers like Tommy Jarrell, Fred Cockerham, Benton Flippen, and Earnest East.

One of those that made the pilgrimage was Bruce Molsky.

Bruce, we're here in Surry County, right in the shadow of Round Peak.

What brought you to this part of the country to learn the fiddle?

Well, I liked folk music all my life, and when I was a teenager, I had the opportunity to come to the Galax fiddler's convention.

Living in New York, goin' to college, living among the-- the kinda tail end of the folk music revival that was going on in the Northeast at that time when I already had a lot of awareness and interest in this kinda music, I just--there was something very, uh, straightforward and honest and romantic about it for a city kid.

And let's talk about the style that we hear down here in Surry County.

It's a very strongly rhythmic style, isn't it?

Mm-hm, very strongly rhythmic, and, I think, to play this kind of music, you almost have to be a percussionist at heart.

Yeah, yeah, I agree.

To play a--a tune in a more straightforward kinda style like you'd find in some other places, the bow is quite-- is much more linear.

[folk tune playing without embellishments] ♪ ♪ It's all in a straight line.

If you were to listen to the music from around here, you'd hear a much more rhythmic swing, and a lotta that swing comes from how all the old fiddlers operated the bow, which was not so much in a straight line, but-- They actually rock the bow.

But they rock the bow, not so much in one dimension but in two dimensions, so to take what I just played you and try and kind of Round Peak-ify it a little bit.

OK, let's see it.

[syncopated variant of folk tune] ♪ ♪ Or something like that.

It's the best dance music in the world.

That's so much of what it's about.

[droning, stuttering notes] [swinging tune] ♪ What a good old tune-- "Breakin' Up Christmas," and you know, that kind of pulse... [droning, stuttering notes] ...to me, that's drumming.

And I took that, for instance, just as a device, and, uh-- and I figured out how to bounce the bow and swing the bow and got somethin' else out of it.

Let's hear it.

[droning, stuttering notes] So that's sorta just to demonstrate it.

♪ [speed increasing] [adding harmonies] Ha, ha...ha!

[melody emerges] Ha, ha!

Things like that-- I just find that it's exciting.

Let's do one of those old tunes.

How 'bout "Down the Road;" I'll do a little hambone.

Sounds good to me.

[harmonically dense fiddle tune] [rhythmic smacking] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Down the road, down the road♪ ♪ I got a sugar babe down the road♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Down the road I can see♪ ♪ All them pretty girls lookin' at me♪ ♪ Down the road, down the road♪ ♪ I got a sugar babe down the road♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Ida Red, Ida Red♪ ♪ I'm goin' crazy 'bout Ida Red♪ ♪ Down the road, down the road♪ ♪ I got a sugar babe down the road♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Down the road, down the road♪ ♪ I got a sugar babe down the road♪ ♪ [both laughing] [Molsky, unaccompanied] ♪ Sit down, buddy♪ ♪ We'll drink and smoke♪ [slow violin harmony supports] ♪ Oh, woman, don't you weep for me♪ ♪ My hands can't fiddle, and my heart's been broke♪ ♪ You damned old Piney Mountain♪ ♪ Lost my fingers in the Galax mill♪ ♪ Buddy, sing a sad old song♪ ♪ And my heart got broke in these pine hills♪ ♪ Lord, and my time ain't long♪ ♪ I started out to loggin' when I's in my prime♪ ♪ Woman, don't you weep for me♪ ♪ Hitchin' up the spruce to the big draglines♪ ♪ You damned old Piney Mountain♪ ♪ Where the skidders start a-buckin'♪ ♪ As the gears come down♪ ♪ Buddy, sing a sad old song♪ ♪ Makin' God's own thunder on the new-cut ground♪ ♪ Lord, and my time ain't long♪ ♪ We was fightin' over nothin' and drinkin' too hard♪ ♪ Woman, don't you weep for me♪ ♪ Ridin' up to camp on the flat-wheel car♪ ♪ You damned old Piney Mountain♪ ♪ Thirty years a-hangin' on the old chain brake♪ ♪ Buddy, sing a sad old song♪ ♪ Laid off and paid off in '58♪ ♪ Lord, and my time ain't long♪ [embellishing main melody] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ And the skidders got sold to a scrap-iron yard♪ ♪ Woman, don't you weep for me♪ ♪ I moved down Virginia when the times got hard♪ ♪ You damned old Piney Mountain♪ ♪ Lost my fingers to a steel band saw♪ ♪ Buddy, sing a sad old song♪ ♪ Now my fiddle just hangs untuned on the wall♪ ♪ Lord, and my time ain't long♪ ♪ And the trees have grown up on the loggin' road♪ ♪ Woman, don't you weep for me♪ ♪ And the wildflowers bloom♪ ♪ Where the big Shays blow♪ ♪ You damned old Piney Mountain♪ ♪ There's nothin' left for me but to drink and smoke♪ ♪ Buddy, sing a sad old song♪ ♪ My hands can't fiddle♪ ♪ And my heart's been broke♪ ♪ Lord, and my time ain't long♪ [bass playing "Amazing Grace"] ♪ [banjo leads driving bluegrass tune] ♪ (Holt, voice-over) Many people think that any type of music with an acoustic guitar or a banjo is called bluegrass.

It's kind of a catchall term, but actually, bluegrass is a very specific kind of music.

Bluegrass grew out of old-time mountain music in 1945 when Bill Monroe put together a band he called the Blue Grass Boys.

Now, his young banjo player, Earl Scruggs, was from Boiling Springs, North Carolina.

He created a highly syncopated, driving style of banjo, so revolutionary, it's still called Scruggs style today.

Since the 1940s, bluegrass bands have been adding their own twist to what Monroe started, always with an emphasis on original material and expert musicianship.

Now, Bill Monroe was from Kentucky, the Bluegrass State, but some of the very best musicians and songwriters are from North Carolina, and some of the finest are from right here in Haywood County.

[fiddle leads bluegrass band] The Balsam Range is where the Blue Ridge Mountains meet the Smoky Mountains, and it's the perfect name for a group whose music is so deeply rooted in this area.

Now, I've known the members of this group individually for many years, and when I heard they were putting together a band, I thought, great things are gonna happen.

Since that time, Balsam Range has taken the bluegrass world by storm.

[mandolin leads] ♪ [fiddle leads] ♪ ♪ [concluding with three rising chords] The five of you are some of the best musicians in North Carolina.

You didn't get together to start a band; how did it start?

All of us are from this county and didn't all know one another.

Some of us have been travelin' all over the place.

Most of us have been out of state all our lives, travelin' around playin' music.

All of us ended up back in the county at one time, and we just got together, I guess, in Darren's kitchen, and the second time we got together, we had so much fun.

We knew it sounded pretty good.

We got together one more time.

Jammed a little more, and Marc said, "Boys, somebody called me to do a show.

What do you think; wanna play it?"

We made up a name; it was not Balsam Range.

I don't remember what we called it.

We played at the Grove Park Inn.

David Holt Band.

[group laughing] Some jerk stole the name.

Anyway, that's another story.

(Surrett) But that's how it kinda came together.

Who are some of the people you listened to-- influenced you?

Uh, I grew up listenin' to Jim Croce and, uh, Gordon Lightfoot and James Taylor, or my mother did.

My dad was a Doc Watson/Merle Travis finger-style guy, so I got that side of it too, but these other guys-- Darren was a classic country-- Yeah, I loved George Jones, Merle Haggard and Flatt, Scruggs, and the Osborne Brothers.

The Osborne Brothers were a huge influence on me because it had the bluegrass sound as well as--a lot of their recordings had pedal steels and fiddles and drums.

And so it's kinda the best of both worlds, and that was a huge influence on me and actually what got me back into playin' bluegrass.

(Holt) What about you, Tim?

Well, um, I spent many years playin', uh, gospel music.

(Holt) Yeah.

And that was always a huge part of-- of what I like to listen to.

Sometime in the early '80s, I heard Tony Rice for the first time, and that really put me back into the bluegrass frame of mind.

Where I'd grown up around here in Canton, my dad played music around here, and when I heard Tony for the first time, it made me wanna kinda get in on it and learn to play some of it, so that was a huge thing for me, and people like that and the jazz side of things.

I've always-- I think I-- I really gravitated towards jazz because they all have an incredible bass player, you know, and you try to pick up something or emulate what that sound is, so that had a lot to do with it as well.

Marc, who were your big influences?

I was lucky enough to get to listen to a lot of first-generation bluegrass people, and I'm old enough to remember when you could only get one TV station here, and, uh--uh, watch Flatt & Scruggs, and, of course, love Bill Monroe and the Stanley Brothers.

Some of the guys that I grew up with, they were big Stanley Brothers fans, and they sung a lotta their songs-- and Reno & Smiley-- but, uh--uh, they-- some of the guys that were a little too crusty, my mother wouldn't let me play their records.

(group) Ha, ha...ha!

(Pruett) So--but I-- but I was happy listenin' to Flatt & Scruggs, so that was-- that was my biggest influence.

How 'bout you, Buddy?

(Melton) You know, I think a lotta my influences came from regional musicians, just from this area.

It wasn't till years later that I started playin'-- that I started gettin' exposed to national, more well-known players.

Incidentally, I think that has an, uh-- a big effect in our sound, the fact that we all are from here, and those regional musicians that have such a unique sound, about their style or their-- like Caleb sayin' earlier, their phrasin', the way they sing or their energy in their music, and so for all of us to bring all of our influences that we like outside of bluegrass, like jazz or country or gospel, and then have the common bond of the west North Carolina regional musicianship, uh, it-- I think that's kinda what ties it all together.

It's the glue of this band, and then the influences kinda give it a unique sound.

Do you think there is a western North Carolina sound?

(Nicholson) Yeah, I do.

(Surrett) I do too.

I think it's a different style of bluegrass.

It's real bouncy and bubbly and energetic.

The other thing, you know, when you grow up and there's so many not just good but great musicians around, it really pushes you... (Holt) It does.

...you know, to wanna play and learn and get better, you know, because there are so many great players in this area.

I think the old-time influence of this area, as well, is a big part of the bluegrass sound, if there is one of western Carolina.

(Nicholson) And that's an energy thing too.

Yeah, absolutely, and, you know, a lotta the old-guard players around here, the Smathers and, you know, people that still carry their stuff on, like the Tranthams or the Stuart boys-- love those guys.

There's something in that that finds its way into-- (Melton) For so many years, it was based on the dance portion of the music, you know, for dance, and so that which needed to be very rhythmic and very energetic for the type of cloggin' and-- and the dance that was goin' on in this area and still is, so that carries that same amount of energy and those dynamics carry into the music that we play.

You know, it seems to me like one of the things-- your strength is a good repertoire, a really interesting repertoire.

How do you go about choosing a song... and deciding that that's gonna be one you'll play?

Well, we all bring different songs to the band, and, you know, for me, it's not necessarily gettin' a song that paints a picture, you know.

Anybody can, you know, pretty much do that, but to really-- to do that and weave a interesting story and a hook into it has-- I've always been fascinated by that.

(Holt) You got lots of those kinda songs.

Do you find yourself influenced by the modern bands?

[group affirmations] Sure!

Yeah, sure!

Yeah, uh, you know, there's-- and when I think modern bands-- Caleb, he's a lot younger than me and Darren.

(Smith) A lot.

(Surrett) That's not necessary.

[group laughing] Talkin' 'bout people like some of our labelmates, Lonesome River Band-- (Smith) Lonesome River Band-- they were... the first bluegrass that I was ever introduced to.

My dad had a friend that played banjo, and he gave us a cassette tape, and one side was the J.D.

Crowe & New South "0044" record, uh, with Tony Rice and Ricky Skaggs, Bobby Slone.

The other side was Hot Rize, Untold Stories, and then he gave us another tape, and it was the Lonesome River Band Old Country Town record, and all of that just made my head-- [imitating explosion] I couldn't believe what I was hearin'.

It was so cool.

Everything was so together, and the harmonies and the syncopation and all that stuff, that turned me on to bluegrass, you know-- And even today, we still like to listen to pirated music.

(group) Heh, heh...heh!

[tender guitar melody] ♪ [mandolin strumming supports guitar] ♪ [soft chords sounding] ♪ ♪ Here's to the trains I missed♪ ♪ The loves I lost♪ ♪ The bridges I burned♪ ♪ The rivers I never crossed♪ ♪ Here's to the call I didn't hear♪ ♪ The signs I didn't heed♪ ♪ The roads I couldn't take♪ ♪ The map that I just wouldn't read♪ [muted strumming introduces rhythmic support] [harmonizing] ♪ It's a big old world♪ ♪ And I found my way♪ ♪ From the hell and the hurt♪ ♪ That led me straight to this♪ ♪ Here's to the trains♪ ♪ I missed♪ [mandolin improvisation] ♪ [guitar improvisation leads] ♪ ♪ Well, I've been a clown♪ ♪ I've been a fool♪ ♪ And I pushed on every chance♪ ♪ I searched far and wide♪ ♪ To try to crawl outta God's hands♪ ♪ But the stones I didn't throw♪ ♪ And hearts I didn't break♪ ♪ And the little hope I held onto♪ ♪ With a silver shining thread of faith♪ [harmonizing] ♪ It's a big old world♪ ♪ And I found my way♪ ♪ From the hell and the hurt♪ ♪ That led me straight to this♪ ♪ Here's to the trains I missed♪ [fiddle improvising] ♪ [tender mandolin improvisation leads] ♪ ♪ [musical mood relaxes] ♪ ♪ Here's to the place I found♪ ♪ The love I know♪ ♪ The earth and the sky♪ ♪ That I call home♪ [musical mood builds] ♪ Here's to the things I believe♪ ♪ Bigger than me♪ ♪ And the moment I find myself♪ ♪ Right where I'm supposed to be♪ [harmonizing] ♪ It's a big old world♪ ♪ And I found my way♪ ♪ From the hell and the hurt♪ ♪ That led me straight to this♪ ♪ It's a big old world♪ ♪ And I found my way♪ ♪ From the hell and the hurt♪ ♪ That led me straight to this♪ ♪ Here's to the trains♪ ♪ I missed♪ ♪ [concluding chords] ♪ ♪ [twanging mouth bow supports melody] ♪ [slapping string] (male announcer) David Holt's State of Music is available on DVD.

Music from the program is available on CD.

To order, visit shopPBS.org or call 1-800-PLAY-PBS.

♪ My old hen is a good ole hen♪ ♪ She lays eggs for the railroad men♪ ♪ Sometimes a-one, sometimes a-two♪ ♪ Sometimes for the whole damn crew♪ ♪ Cluck old hen, cluck and sing♪ ♪ Ain't laid eggs since late last spring♪ ♪ Cluck old hen, cluck and squall♪ ♪ Ain't laid eggs since late last fall♪ [twanging] ♪ One more time.

(female announcer) More information about David Holt's State of Music is available at pbs.org.

Captioning by Will Halman and C.A.

Satterfield Caption Perfect, Inc. www.CaptionPerfect.com ♪ Yeah.

(woman) Cut.

That was cool.

(man) Very good.

(woman) OK, now we'll reset for Rhiannon.