We know that as early as the civil war, soldiers used their canteens to make a banjo and from their they would create music. Music produced during the Victorian period were typically parlor or religious songs. These songs would reach mountain people through printed forms, like newspaper poetry or even hymn books.

A major factor that impacted the significance role of music, especially during this time, was the creation and expansions of the railroad. The railroad called for many opportunities for Appalachian people such as public work. It expanded so far, it called for establishments of new towns like Bristol, Bluefield, Fries and more. Mountain people too contributed and benefited from this new innovation. Ballads and event songs were then created and used to portray specific events and interpret different experiences. For example, there was a man killed on a railroad in West Virginia which musician Ernest Stoneman “made reference to the Johnson law, a statue that exempted corporations from the consequences of accidents that occurred on their property”.
Music plays such an important role because it shared real life everyday moments people were experiencing during the flourishing time of the railroad. As the railroad expanded so did the moments and remembrance of things around it. Overall, “mountaineers… were fully integrated during these years into the nation’s urban-industrial culture”.