After reading chapter twenty three in Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath, it is clear that the music of the okies is rooted in old-time music or classic American folk music. This type of music appeared out of the Appalachian mountains in West Virginia and has flourished all over the United States since the beginning of the 1920's. As seen in the Grapes of Wrapth, music wasn't just a way to be entertained; music preserved the culture. As the okies began to move west to Californa in the 1930's, the old-time music began to evolve as the okies found themselves entrenched in the migrant work camps. This exhibit is an attempt to illuminate the inclusion of okies within the migrant camps in California and how their old-time music eventually produced what is known today as the Bakersfield sound. In respect to the Grapes of Wrath, one may believe that the evolution of the Bakersfield sound precisely reflects the preservation of culture through music.
Credits
Michael Kenney