Shakers and Country Music

While still in Kentucky yesterday, I made my way to a village called South Union where the religious group known as the Shakers had a community from the early 1800s til about 1920.  They were celibate, strictly religious, hard working, and wanted to keep life simple and free of sin.  They utilized technology to the extent that it allowed them to make a good living in the world of their day, and they tried to leave peacefully with all people.  The Civil War caused their community great economic hardship from which it never really recovered.  The need to constantly recruit members became a problem as the frontier moved farther west and people saw greater adventure and fulfillment there.  They are credited with inventing the modern flat broom, and some of the furniture they built is considered priceless today.  There are six buildings open to the public, beautifully preserved and interpreted.

I drove to Nashville, Tennessee, to visit the Country Music Hall of Fame museum.  On the way, I stopped at a small community called Lutons to visit Grandpa Jones' gravesite.  I saw him on Hee Haw for many years, but I bought an album of his banjo music and mountain harmonies a few years ago and greatly enjoyed it.  It's a small Methodist church cemetery.






At the Hall in Nashville, what a joy to see all the stars I have enjoyed for so many years!  Their instruments, stage clothes, and other memorabilia are all over the place in the three-story modern museum, and the Hall of Fame Rotunda has the plaques with the names and likenesses of all of those who have been elected to the hall.  Whether you like old-time music like the Carter Family or the newest stuff from Taylor Swift and Jason Aldean, there's something for every music lover.

John Hartford's banjo.  The yellow pages
are his original copy of the lyrics of Glen
Campbell's "Gentle on my Mind"

Jim Reeves' red blazer

Bill Monroe's mandolin

Spent the night in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, the home of Middle Tennessee State University.