Includes bibliographical references (p. [359]-368) and index.
Contents
Introduction: Griots of Piedmont North Carolina and portrait of songster Will Baldwin -- Signifying at the crossroads : African-American traditions of the folk banjo -- The ritual of minstrelsy : some were buffoons, but others were apprentices -- Mountain echoes of the African banjo -- The banjo : its changing form, construction, and use -- The transmission of playing methods and tunings -- The banjo song genre : Dink Roberts' man-against-the-law songs -- "Garfield" : a man against the law, but a man with a community -- Conclusion.