January 2025 From The Editor
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Welcome to 2025! I bet you didn't know:
*Only 15% of Americans spend New Year’s Eve at a party or public event.
*45% of people ring in the New Year with friends and family, while 24% prefer to stay at home, and 3% don’t celebrate at all.
*Lots of people make New Year’s resolutions. But only 31% of people stick with the promises. A whopping 81% fail by February. 43% of us do not make any resolutions at all.
*Probably as a sign of our economic times, the most popular resolution for 2025 is to save money. Of course, eating healthier, exercising, and losing weight are still annual favorites.
In January, a little closer to home:
*Dolly Parton was born on January 19th, 1946 in Pittman Center, Tennessee.
*On January 17th, 1864 Confederate General Longstreet fought General Sturgis in and around Dandridge in Jefferson County, forcing the Union troops to leave the area. Less than 2 months earlier, on November 29th, 1863, Longstreet was defeated at the battle of Fort Sanders in Knoxville by Union General Burnside.
Music History
The Music History page has a January theme, with three tunes that have dates in January as their titles.
The first is “8th of January” which was originally known as “Jackson’s Victory.” This was penned to celebrate General Andrew Jackson’s defeat of a vastly superior British force at New Orleans during the War of 1812. Due to the popularity of a song written to this tune, the melody is now better known as “The Battle of New Orleans.”
Then comes “9th of January” which is attributed to the playing of Missouri fiddler Bob Holt. But, we find that this is a popular variation of “8th of January” that has been around for quite a while.
Then we have “28th of January,” which is attributed to the playing of Frank George from West Virginia. This tune is not related to “8th of January” at all, but is thought to be a minor key version of “Miller’s Reel.” But as it happens, an alternate title for this tune is “22nd of February,” which is Washington’s birthday. Folklorists think this was confused over the years with “Jackson’s Victory” on the 8th of January - giving us “28th of January.”
Stay tuned for Presidential tunes in February!
Events
The pace of events picks up to start the year, with Laurel Theater appearances by Blind House, Nora Brown, Ed Snodderly, Stillhouse Junkies, Roux du Bayou, The Local Honeys, and in February, Cody Bauer and Jonathan Maness as “Fiddles and Flatpicks.” More info on the Calendar page. As a reminder, while shows are updated on the site as info becomes available, due to touring schedules and weather, please verify all events with the provided website links and/or directly with the venue.
Happy New Year to everyone!
Mark
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