Eck Robertson at the Crossroads of American Fiddling (American Made Music Series) - Softcover

Goertzen, Chris

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1496857143 ISBN 13: 9781496857149

Publisher: University Press of Mississippi, 2025

Synopsis

The Texas Panhandle’s frontier days were fresh in memory when fiddler Eck Robertson (1887-1975) arrived. Cowboys still worked on ranches in the 1910s but barbed-wire fences abounded too. Robertson pursued a continually evolving strategy to profit from the feverish transformation of living history into marketable nostalgia. He adopted cowboy dress clothes for his first recording session in New York in 1922 and became known as a “Famous Cowboy Fiddler.” His stubborn vision spawned traditional-yet-transformed Texas fiddling.

Robertson criticized other fiddlers because their playing was “just the same thing over and over.” Robertson insisted that his fiddling―his balance of cleaving to tradition while adding new content―was the way of the future. Author Chris Goertzen traces Robertson’s story through detailed biography, music transcriptions, and careful musical analysis. Though Robertson struggled to attain consistent financial success as a performer, he cultivated a varied repertoire that allowed him to balance offering the comfort of shared recollection with fresh excitement. His biggest hit, “Sally Goodin,” was a game changer, both as played live and as the very first country music recording. With his undeniable talent and forward thinking, Robertson took a musical practice that already had a broad reach and a distinguished history in a direction that would guarantee a niche in modern American culture.

About this title

About the Author

Chris Goertzen (1952–2025) was professor emeritus of music history and world music at the University of Southern Mississippi. His books include Fiddling for Norway: Revival and Identity; Southern Fiddlers and Fiddle Contests; Made in Mexico: Tradition, Tourism, and Political Ferment in Oaxaca; George P. Knauff’s “Virginia Reels” and the History of American Fiddling; American Antebellum Fiddling; Rugs, Guitars, and Fiddling: Intensification and the Rich Modern Lives of Traditional Arts; and Eck Robertson at the Crossroads of American Fiddling, the latter six published by University Press of Mississippi.

Edition details

• Publisher: University Press of Mississippi
• Publication date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1496857143
• ISBN 13: 9781496857149
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 272