As the year comes to a close, I wanted to take a quick moment to highlight just one, very unassuming tape I found this year in my digging. The Museum of Appalachia is a place I’ve visited a handful of times over the years —some field trips, some quick walk-throughs with friends, and it’s always been a wealth of knowledge and interest for me. I’ve only ever attended a fall homecoming on the grounds once, but it’s had a lasting effect on me. From the music to the food, and especially the smell of apple butter being cooked over the fire, my experience at the fall homecoming of 2016 was nothing short of magical.
And yes, it’s true, nothing can really do the feeling of being there in person justice, this tape will at least give you a partial view of that special once-a-year day in Norris, Tennessee.
I’ve done my best to provide timestamps below to all of the performances, as the tape is 4 total hours of runtime. Feel free to skip around and find the parts you’re most interested in. I’m not 100% familiar with all of the artists, but I’ve done my best to make sure all these are correct!
0:00 - The Doc Watson
27:12 - Marshal Andy Amalls & Riders of the Silver Screen
42:36 - Dr. Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys
1:02:45 - Terry Pierce & the Summertown Bluegrass
1:38:22 - Tom Brantley
2:00:07 - Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver
2:38:04 - footage of the crowd
2:39:17 - Dancers/Cloggers: Robert Spicer & His Girls/Tubman and His Sister & others
2:53:52 - Lilies of the West
3:02:08 - Leroy Troy
3:10:40 - Mac Wiseman
3:26:18 - John Hartford's Last performance from the year 2000
3:51:09 - footage of the crowd
3:53:58 - Raymond Fairchild & Friends
Well, that’s it for this YEAR! I wanted to keep this last entry for the year short so I could highlight the tape itself, but I did want to take the time to thank EVERYONE who is out there reading my dumb little words and watching these tapes and looking at py photographs and listening to my music and sending me sweet emails and a HUGE thank you to my paid subscribers!!!!!!
2023 was a wonderful year and I had even more fun digging around trying to find the best lost media for y’all to enjoy. 2024 will be no different! I appreciate every one of you for taking time out of your day to spend it here with me, and I look forward to what the next year brings. Until then, I hope you enjoyed the tape! If you’re looking for more, please check out my page on Archive.org for the full list of digitized media. If you have any questions, feel free to send me a message right here or drop a comment below. If you haven’t already, please check out the one of my previous posts below, or all of my other previous posts here. Thanks so much for checking out this week’s edition of Diptych!
Happy New Year!
—Forrest
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