Music played a key role in Appalachian labor struggles. In the example of Ernest Stoneman, music was another way to provide for his family. He was a carpenter first and foremost and would follow work up and down the Norfolk and Western Railway, but he was making enough to just get by. Williams states that Stoneman “developed… a pattern of shuttle migration, leaving his wife and children back on Iron Ridge while he worked as a carpenter anywhere he could along the N&W.” That was until he became a singer/musician and emerged as a star in the new genre of country music.
Music from almost every time period carries cultural undertones. For example, Stoneman wrote a song about a young man that died in a railroad accident, referencing the Johnson law. Blind Alfred Reed wrote a song that scorned women who wore pants and bobbed their hair. Both songs show that musicians used their talents to address the happenings of their time. Later, we see music from the late 60s/early 70s that protest the war in Vietnam, Fortunate Son by Creedence Clearwater Revival. Furthermore the gangster rap group N.W.A. released a multitude of songs in the 80s and 90s describing the harsh life in urban L.A. and led to mass protests.
Music plays a pivotal role in not only Appalachian culture, but American culture as well. It can be something that people relate to (which is why country music has been, and will continue to be popular) or it can shed light on social views/prejudices.