Jean Ritchie and her ballad repertoire
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
John Knopf said "One thing I've noticed is how many of these songs dealt with disasters, death, sickness, loss of dear ones, etc."
Isn't that what a lot of current "pop" music lyrics are about? Only today it is sung in the first person, not the third.
"Today I hoed an acre of beans and split a cord of wood, I'd do the same tomorrow if the good lord said I could," isn't particularly entertaining.
In addition to ballads, they also sang "play party songs," common hymns, etc.
Many collectors were seeking "old ballads" which "proved" connection to Elizabethan England and seldom notated the other stuff. There was political bias in the collection process.