# Passing for Traditional: The New Lost City Ramblers and Folk Music Authenticity

The New Lost City Ramblers were pioneers in the old-time music revival that paralleled the great folk music boom of the 1960s. Mike Seeger, John Cohen, and Tom Paley (later replaced by Tracy Schwarz) were city-born and suburban-bred folk musicians who specialized in recreating the sounds of rural southern stringband and early bluegrass music at a time when the folk music scene was dominated by commercial singers and political singer/songwriters. The Ramblers raised key questions over what constituted authentic folk music, encouraging city musicians to concentrate on instrumental and vocal performance styles gleaned from recordings rather than depending on words and melodies learned from written collections. But as cultural "outsiders" their own status as authentic practitioners of southern mountain music would be challenged by academics and governments folklorists.

- Kind: Talk
- Year: 2011
- By: American Folklife Center
- Genres: Music
- Archive: [Library of Congress](https://www.loc.gov/item/2021688725/)
- Licence or status: Rights statement at the Library of Congress (as the archive states it)
- Credit: Library of Congress
- Who can watch: Tweens profiles and older (the archive gives no rating; placed by Invisible Network from its collection and subjects)

[Watch now](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/watch/archive/loc/2021688725?play=1)