In a message dated 3/20/99 3:17:39 AM !!!First Boot!!!, swvaroot@swva.net writes: << Bluegrass music evolved out of hillbilly music. >> I read somewhere that the music and customs of the mountain people of SWVA is very close to the music from the old country. This is due to the fact the area was so remote it didn't become a "melting pot" of customs, language and music until the 1900s. Has anyone read the series of books "Foxfire"...we have books one, two and three. I don't know if there were more or not. The books are full of drawings, photos, stories and events as told by the mountain people to high school students of Eliot Wigginton. The books are "dedicated to the people of these mountains in hope that, through it, some portion of their wisdom, ingenuity and individuality will remain long after them to touch us all"