{"id":79272,"date":"2025-04-07T18:03:33","date_gmt":"2025-04-07T22:03:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/?p=79272"},"modified":"2025-04-07T18:08:19","modified_gmt":"2025-04-07T22:08:19","slug":"book-feature-southern-mountain-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/arts\/book-feature-southern-mountain-music\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Feature:<\/em> Southern Mountain Music"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wayne Erbsen, Author<\/em><\/p>\n

Musician, professor and writer Wayne Erbsen\u2019s newest book, Smoky Mountain Music<\/em>, contains a compilation of writings on Appalachian old-time and bluegrass music spanning decades.<\/p>\n

\"\"Early on, Erbsen discovered a natural aptitude for music. After playing guitar for six months, he began giving lessons to others. While teaching banjo in the 1970s, he wrote the lesson book he needed for his class, printing enough extras to sell at music stores. \u201cI ended up writing seven different books on playing the banjo, four books on playing the fiddle and five books on playing the mandolin,\u201d he says. \u201cBefore I knew it, 40 years flew by and I had written about 38 books!\u201d<\/p>\n

He has also written around 70 articles throughout the years, and these are the writings contained in the book. \u201cOne of the things that makes my new book unique is the fact that I was able to interview many of the legends of bluegrass music,\u201d Erbsen says. \u201cIn many cases, I was the first, and often the only one to interview them during their lifetime. These interviews are indispensable because they reveal the true, deep roots of bluegrass music.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to the musicians\u2019 stories, the book contains an appendix of shorter narratives. \u201cHere is where I put some lighthearted and humorous facts, jokes, tales and whimsy,\u201d he says. \u201cThis book is for readers who share a love of old-time and bluegrass music and Appalachian culture.\u201d<\/p>\n

Southern Mountain Music, February 2025, Appalachian studies, softcover $39.95, eBook $25.99, by Wayne Erbsen, and published by McFarland, Jefferson, NC.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Musician, professor and writer Wayne Erbsen\u2019s newest book, Smoky Mountain Music, contains a compilation of writings on Appalachian old-time and bluegrass music spanning decades.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":79274,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47,110],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-79272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts","category-literature"],"yoast_head":"\nBook Feature: Southern Mountain Music - The Laurel of Asheville<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Musician, professor and writer Wayne Erbsen\u2019s newest book, Smoky Mountain Music, contains a compilation of writings on Appalachian old-time and bluegrass music spanning decades.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/arts\/book-feature-southern-mountain-music\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Book Feature: Southern Mountain Music - The Laurel of Asheville\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Musician, professor and writer Wayne Erbsen\u2019s newest book, Smoky Mountain Music, contains a compilation of writings on Appalachian old-time and bluegrass music spanning decades.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/arts\/book-feature-southern-mountain-music\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Laurel of Asheville\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/thelaurelofasheville\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-04-07T22:03:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-04-07T22:08:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Book-Feature-2-Southern-Mountain-Music-Erbsen_978-1-4766-9646-1-copy-2-e1744063378586.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1120\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"660\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Amy Pryor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@AshevilleLaurel\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AshevilleLaurel\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Amy Pryor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/arts\\\/book-feature-southern-mountain-music\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/arts\\\/book-feature-southern-mountain-music\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Amy Pryor\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13d76582350fe4093b37d2b69174af00\"},\"headline\":\"Book Feature: Southern Mountain Music\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-07T22:03:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-07T22:08:19+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/arts\\\/book-feature-southern-mountain-music\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":259,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/arts\\\/book-feature-southern-mountain-music\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/Book-Feature-2-Southern-Mountain-Music-Erbsen_978-1-4766-9646-1-copy-2-e1744063378586.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Arts\",\"Literature\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/arts\\\/book-feature-southern-mountain-music\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/arts\\\/book-feature-southern-mountain-music\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/arts\\\/book-feature-southern-mountain-music\\\/\",\"name\":\"Book Feature: Southern Mountain Music - The Laurel of Asheville\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/arts\\\/book-feature-southern-mountain-music\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/arts\\\/book-feature-southern-mountain-music\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/Book-Feature-2-Southern-Mountain-Music-Erbsen_978-1-4766-9646-1-copy-2-e1744063378586.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-07T22:03:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-07T22:08:19+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13d76582350fe4093b37d2b69174af00\"},\"description\":\"Musician, professor and writer Wayne Erbsen\u2019s newest book, Smoky Mountain Music, contains a compilation of writings on Appalachian old-time and bluegrass music spanning decades.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/arts\\\/book-feature-southern-mountain-music\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/arts\\\/book-feature-southern-mountain-music\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/arts\\\/book-feature-southern-mountain-music\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/Book-Feature-2-Southern-Mountain-Music-Erbsen_978-1-4766-9646-1-copy-2-e1744063378586.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/Book-Feature-2-Southern-Mountain-Music-Erbsen_978-1-4766-9646-1-copy-2-e1744063378586.jpg\",\"width\":1120,\"height\":660},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/arts\\\/book-feature-southern-mountain-music\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Book Feature: Southern Mountain Music\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Laurel of Asheville\",\"description\":\"The Arts and Culture of Communities Across the Mountains\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13d76582350fe4093b37d2b69174af00\",\"name\":\"Amy Pryor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4afbb9c963c7a0e8f027aafb31772d626615a03db2472868007f1e429a48cc2f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4afbb9c963c7a0e8f027aafb31772d626615a03db2472868007f1e429a48cc2f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4afbb9c963c7a0e8f027aafb31772d626615a03db2472868007f1e429a48cc2f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Amy Pryor\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Book Feature: Southern Mountain Music - The Laurel of Asheville","description":"Musician, professor and writer Wayne Erbsen\u2019s newest book, Smoky Mountain Music, contains a compilation of writings on Appalachian old-time and bluegrass music spanning decades.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/arts\/book-feature-southern-mountain-music\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Book Feature: Southern Mountain Music - The Laurel of Asheville","og_description":"Musician, professor and writer Wayne Erbsen\u2019s newest book, Smoky Mountain Music, contains a compilation of writings on Appalachian old-time and bluegrass music spanning decades.","og_url":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/arts\/book-feature-southern-mountain-music\/","og_site_name":"The Laurel of Asheville","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/thelaurelofasheville","article_published_time":"2025-04-07T22:03:33+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-04-07T22:08:19+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1120,"height":660,"url":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Book-Feature-2-Southern-Mountain-Music-Erbsen_978-1-4766-9646-1-copy-2-e1744063378586.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Amy Pryor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@AshevilleLaurel","twitter_site":"@AshevilleLaurel","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Amy Pryor","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/arts\/book-feature-southern-mountain-music\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/arts\/book-feature-southern-mountain-music\/"},"author":{"name":"Amy Pryor","@id":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/#\/schema\/person\/13d76582350fe4093b37d2b69174af00"},"headline":"Book Feature: Southern Mountain Music","datePublished":"2025-04-07T22:03:33+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-07T22:08:19+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/arts\/book-feature-southern-mountain-music\/"},"wordCount":259,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/arts\/book-feature-southern-mountain-music\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Book-Feature-2-Southern-Mountain-Music-Erbsen_978-1-4766-9646-1-copy-2-e1744063378586.jpg","articleSection":["Arts","Literature"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/arts\/book-feature-southern-mountain-music\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/arts\/book-feature-southern-mountain-music\/","url":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/arts\/book-feature-southern-mountain-music\/","name":"Book Feature: Southern Mountain Music - The Laurel of Asheville","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/arts\/book-feature-southern-mountain-music\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/arts\/book-feature-southern-mountain-music\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Book-Feature-2-Southern-Mountain-Music-Erbsen_978-1-4766-9646-1-copy-2-e1744063378586.jpg","datePublished":"2025-04-07T22:03:33+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-07T22:08:19+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/#\/schema\/person\/13d76582350fe4093b37d2b69174af00"},"description":"Musician, professor and writer Wayne Erbsen\u2019s newest book, Smoky Mountain Music, contains a compilation of writings on Appalachian old-time and bluegrass music spanning decades.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/arts\/book-feature-southern-mountain-music\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/arts\/book-feature-southern-mountain-music\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/arts\/book-feature-southern-mountain-music\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Book-Feature-2-Southern-Mountain-Music-Erbsen_978-1-4766-9646-1-copy-2-e1744063378586.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Book-Feature-2-Southern-Mountain-Music-Erbsen_978-1-4766-9646-1-copy-2-e1744063378586.jpg","width":1120,"height":660},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/arts\/book-feature-southern-mountain-music\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Book Feature: Southern Mountain Music"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/#website","url":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/","name":"The Laurel of Asheville","description":"The Arts and Culture of Communities Across the Mountains","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/#\/schema\/person\/13d76582350fe4093b37d2b69174af00","name":"Amy Pryor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4afbb9c963c7a0e8f027aafb31772d626615a03db2472868007f1e429a48cc2f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4afbb9c963c7a0e8f027aafb31772d626615a03db2472868007f1e429a48cc2f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4afbb9c963c7a0e8f027aafb31772d626615a03db2472868007f1e429a48cc2f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Amy Pryor"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79272"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79272\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79275,"href":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79272\/revisions\/79275"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}