In the early days of the recording industry, North Carolina was a hotbed of string bands playing traditional Appalachian folk-rooted music. This compilation collects 24 such recordings from the era immediately preceding and following the onset of the Depression, many of them quite obscure. Listeners with a general knowledge and appreciation of early American folk recordings might have heard of the Dixon Brothers and Mainer's Mountaineers, but for the most part, these performers will probably be unfamiliar to everybody except scholars and aficionados in the field. While they might have originated in the same region, this music shares many of the characteristics of early American recordings of what was then marketed as hillbilly music: plaintive heartfelt singing (and sometimes harmonizing); lively ensemble playing by varying combinations of guitar, fiddle, and banjo; and a repertoire growing out of traditional folk songs, even if the songs were sometimes written by the musicians (such as the one penned by Cranford & Thompson in honor of outlaw Otto Wood). The most renowned of these specific tracks by far is the first recorded version of "Tom Dooley" (by Grayson & Whitter in 1929), about 30 years before the Kingston Trio took it to the top of the charts, though both the tune and arrangement are much different in this early guise. Some other songs continue to echo as standards in the American popular music consciousness, such as "That Lonesome Valley" (here done by Carolina Ramblers String Band), "In the Pines" (here performed by "Dock" Walsh), and a variation of "In the Pines," "The Longest Train" (here presented by Mainer's Mountaineers). The 24-page booklet is of exceptional quality, with historical liner notes that comment upon each track and even offer a history of outlaw Otto Wood, as well as superb vintage photos of North Carolina folk musicians. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide