Shed Seven - Chasing Rainbows

Southern music entered the nation's consciousness late in the nineteenth century. Until that time national audiences had heard only caricatures of Southern music in the performances of the black face minstrels,  Northern, White song and dance men who roamed the country sporting corked faces and grotesque darky dialects. In 1865, however, a small group of African American entertainers, the Georgia Minstrels, inaugurated a brand of minstrelsy that, while still suffering from stereotypes of the genre, enabled Black performers to slowly develop a form of entertainment more truly representative of their culture and music. At least as late as World War I, minstrel troupes featuring African American performers such.

Country music has become America's favorite. Its styles and themes seem to appeal to much of the nation's adult White population. This trend may reflect a southernization of the North, but it also suggests the musics and the cultures that created them are becoming part of the national mainstream. But country musicians are still overwhelmingly from the South, and their lyrics often self consciously reflect Southern preoccupations and longings.

Southerners export musical treasures to the world and absorb much in return. Their styles may no longer be as regionally distinctive as many would like, but how could it be otherwise when the folk cultures that produced these traditions are undergoing a similar transformation? Happily, many of the older traditions, such as old time fiddling and string band music, clog dancing, and Sacred Harp singing, are preserved and revitalized by increasing numbers of young people. New Orleans has seen a revitalization of the brass band as young musicians rediscover it, and scores of Cajun youth have taken up the accordion and the Louisiana French music of their ancestors.

Source: Southern Music by Bill C. Malone

Shed Seven - Chasing Rainbows

• Released on: Nov 4, 1996
• Genre: Rock, Indie Rock
• Duration: 4:23

"Shed Seven is a British indie band formed in 1994 consisting of Rick Witter, Paul Banks, Tom Gladwin, Joe Johnson and Alan Leach. They released four albums and scored fourteen Top 40 singles."

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