Piedmont blues, also called East Coast or Southeastern blues, is a guitar style known for using fingers to pluck the strings. The thumb alternates on the low strings to create a steady rhythm, while the melody, played on the higher strings, has an offbeat pattern. This style sounds similar to ragtime or stride piano music. The term was created by blues researcher Peter B. Lowry, who gave credit to folklorist Bruce Bastin. The Piedmont style differs from other styles, such as Mississippi Delta blues, because it uses rhythms based on ragtime.
Origins
The Piedmont guitar style started with older ways of playing the guitar called "frailing" or "framming," which were common in the South. It also used some methods from parlor guitars, early banjo playing, string bands, and ragtime music. What made the Piedmont style unique was that a group of musicians changed these older, ragtime-based methods to create blues music in a special and popular way. These musicians were influenced by guitar players like Blind Blake and Gary Davis.
Geography
The Piedmont blues is named after the Piedmont area, which is on the East Coast of the United States. This area includes places from around Richmond, Virginia to Atlanta, Georgia. Musicians who play Piedmont blues come from this region, as well as from Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, northern Florida, western South Carolina, central North Carolina, eastern Tennessee, Kentucky, and Alabama. Later, musicians from the Northeastern cities such as Boston, Newark, New Jersey, and New York also played this style of music.
Nick Spitzer, Professor of Anthropology and American Studies, folklorist, and producer of American Routes describes Piedmont Blues in this way:
Recordings
Recording artists such as Blind Blake, Josh White, Buddy Moss, and Blind Boy Fuller helped make the style popular because of their record sales in their area. The style was very popular among African-American people across the country from the mid-1920s until the mid-1940s. Blind Boy Fuller recorded the song "Step It Up and Go" in 1940.
Post-World War II
Piedmont blues is a type of popular music created by Black Americans. After World War II, it was no longer widely popular across the United States. By the late 1950s, it was played at folk music festivals and revivals, first by well-known Piedmont blues musicians like Josh White, Rev. Gary Davis, Brownie McGhee, Sonny Terry, Cephas & Wiggins, and John Jackson. Music experts such as George Mitchell, Peter B. Lowry, and Tim Duffy collected recordings from older Piedmont blues musicians. In later years, younger musicians like Stefan Grossman, Roy Book Binder, Jorma Kaukonen, Paul Geremia, Keb Mo', Michael Roach, Samuel James, Eric Bibb, Ry Cooder, David Bromberg, and Guy Davis continued the Piedmont blues tradition, often learning from older musicians. The unique fingerpicking style of guitar playing in Piedmont blues influenced other folk and popular musicians, including Doc Watson and Ralph McTell. Arlo Guthrie used a Piedmont blues musical style as the background for his "Alice's Restaurant" monologues because it was easy to play for long periods of time.
Preservation efforts
Cultural groups in North Carolina have helped keep the Piedmont blues alive. The Piedmont Blues Preservation Society, based in Greensboro, has worked with musicians like Max Drake and many public schools in North Carolina to offer performances, displays, and learning activities.