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Boll Weevil
Boll Weevil
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About
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"Boll Weevil" is a movement from "Mountain Songs" (a work for choir, bluegrass band, and strings) now available for choir, fiddle, and piano. About "Mountain Songs:" Bluegrass music grew out of the Appalachian mountains, blending the folk traditions of Irish immigrants with African American musical influences to create a style rooted in storytelling, rhythm, and community. With driving banjo lines, soulful fiddles, and high lonesome singing, bluegrass speaks both to hardship and to joy, to loss and to celebration. "Mountain Songs" brings three traditional bluegrass tunes into conversation with the voices of the choir, the soaring colors of the strings, and the fire of a bluegrass band. The arrangement begins with "Boll Weevil," a lively tale of resilience against the destructive beetle that plagued Southern crops. It turns tender and haunting in "He’s Gone Away," a song of farewell and longing. The journey concludes with "Cumberland Gap," a raucous and virtuosic romp that bursts with fragments of beloved bluegrass standards—Shady Grove, Ain’t Nobody Gonna Miss Me, The Cuckoo, I’ll Fly Away—woven together in playful counterpoint, including a “bluegrass fugue.” At once honoring tradition and exploring new textures, "Mountain Songs" celebrates the vitality, grit, and joy of the Appalachian spirit. |
| Instrumentation | SATB Choir, Fiddle (violin), and Piano |
| Duration | 3:00 |
| Year Completed | 2025 |
| Commissioner | East Tennessee State University. Dr. Alan Stevens, Director of Choral Activities. |
| Text |
Boll Weevil Boll weevil told the farmer: "You better treat me right. I'll eat up all of your cotton, sleep in your grain rail tonight.” Boll weevil told the farmer: "You don't need no Ford machine. I'll eat up all your cotton, can't buy no gasoline.” Yonder comes the spider, crawled up and down the wall, he must've been goin’ to get his hash's haul. I don't see no water, but I'm about to drown. I don't see no fire, but I'm burning down. |
| Donations | A portion of the proceeds from this work will be donated to Appalachian Voices, helping to protect the land, air, water, and communities of Appalachia. |