Pagans and Bluegrass and Gospel! Oh My!

I was volunteering at a bluegrass festival in my town and I’m running a bit behind in getting this post out. Which is great because I want to talk a bit about it!

For the first time ever just standing on the town square I casually met another Pagan, who encouraged me to join a local women’s choir that sings gospel music. I’m seriously considering it. Bluegrass gospel is the soundtrack of my childhood. My grandparents often took me to gospel “singings” growing up and the sound of a banjo and fiddle speaks of home to me.

Bluegrass, along with jazz and rap, are uniquely American expressions of music, yet sorely lacking in the Pagan community. Kenny Klein has a great bluegrass album available on CD Baby and Murphey’s Midnight Rounders have an Americana twang to their music, but otherwise there simply isn’t a lot of Paganism expressed through uniquely American genres.

Joining this interfaith and unaffiliated gospel group is part of my journey to embrace and reclaim my Southern Appalachian heritage as a Witch. My ancestors came to this land, and a few were Native to this country, for a particular reason. They created a beautiful and vibrant culture that I was raised in. The greenness of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales are part of my heritage, but they are a part of my heritage my ancestors made the difficult decision to leave behind. Instead of reconstructing something so far removed, I’m beginning to consider it more important to reclaim and embrace the culture of my parents and their parents before it is lost forever.

This summer I’m going to spend time exploring Southern Appalachian culture, music and worship from a Witchcraft perspective. I might write about it on occasion.

What uniquely American culture is part of your heritage, and how does it relate to your spirituality?