Task: Question Answering
Input (English): Context: Merle Robert Travis (November 29, 1917  October 20, 1983) was an American country and western singer, songwriter, and guitarist born in Rosewood, Kentucky. His song's lyrics often discussed both the lives and the economic exploitation of American coal miners. Among his many well-known songs are "Sixteen Tons," "Re-Enlistment Blues," "I am a Pilgrim," and "Dark as a Dungeon." However, it is his unique guitar style, still called Travis Picking by guitarists, as well as his interpretations of the rich musical traditions of his native Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, for which he is best known today. "Travis Picking" is a syncopated style of guitar fingerpicking rooted in ragtime music in which alternating chords and bass notes are plucked by the thumb while melodies are simultaneously plucked by the index finger. He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970 and elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1977., "Dark as a Dungeon" is a song written by singer-songwriter Merle Travis. It is a lament about the danger and drudgery of being a coal miner in an Appalachian shaft mine. It has become a rallying song among miners seeking improved working conditions., Kennedy Jones or Jonesey ( 1 August 1900 -- 6 September 1990 ) was an American guitarist and music writer . He was a pioneer of the `` thumb picking '' style often associated with Merle Travis ... He was born on a farm in Muhlenberg County , Kentucky . He received his inspiration from his mother Alice who played several instruments . He married Irene Hicks , a pianist , and they performed together early in his career . He claimed to be the first guitarist to play using a thumbpick - at a square dance in 1918 . Previously thumbpicks had been used only for the banjo or hawaiian guitar . He also played the fiddle and declined to join Merle Travis 's band The Drifting Pioneers . Jones composed the thumbpickers anthem `` Cannonball Rag '' , but when Travis recorded the tune in the 1940s , the latter received the credit . In 1939 Jones moved to Chicago . He played in several bands , one which included his sons , Donald and Kennedy Jr. His daughter Farre Lee too was an accomplished guitarist / singer , who regularly performed on radio station WLW . In the 1950s Jones moved to Cincinnati close to his daughter . Travis , Mose Rager and Ike Everly all claim to have been influenced by Jonesey . All four men were honored by the construction of The Four Legends Fountain in Drakesboro , Kentucky . He is buried at Bridgetown cemetery , Cincinnati , Ohio . His youngest son Donald E. Jones , along with his eldest son Kennedy , played alongside each other on the TV program The Midwestern Hayride ., Ragtime  also spelled rag-time or rag time  is a musical genre that enjoyed its peak popularity between 1895 and 1918. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated, or "ragged", rhythm. The genre has its origins in African-American communities like St. Louis years before being published as popular sheet music for piano. Ernest Hogan (18651909) was a pioneer of ragtime music and was the first to compose ragtime into sheet music. The composition was called "LA Pas Ma LA" and it was released in 1895. Hogan has also been credited for coining the term "ragtime". The term is actually derived from his hometown "Shake Rag" in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Ben Harney, who is also a Kentucky native has often been credited for introducing the music to the mainstream public. His first ragtime composition "You've been a good old wagon but you done broke" helped popularize the musical genre. The composition was published in 1895 but released in 1896. Ragtime was also a modification of the march made popular by John Philip Sousa, with additional polyrhythms coming from African music. The ragtime composer Scott Joplin ("ca." 18681917) became famous through the publication of the "Maple Leaf Rag" (1899) and a string of ragtime hits such as "The Entertainer" (1902), although he was later forgotten by all but a small, dedicated community of ragtime aficionados until the major ragtime revival in the early 1970s. For at least 12 years after its publication, "Maple Leaf Rag" heavily influenced subsequent ragtime composers with its melody lines, harmonic progressions or metric patterns., Muhlenberg County is a county located in the U.S. Commonwealth of Kentucky. As of the 2010 census, the population was 31,499. Its county seat is Greenville. The county was founded in 1798 and named for General Peter Muhlenberg, a colonial general during the American Revolutionary War., "Sixteen Tons" is a song about a coal miner, based on life in coal mines in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky. It was written and first recorded by Merle Travis at the Radio Recorders Studio B in Hollywood, California on August 8, 1946. Cliffie Stone played bass on the recording. It was first released by Capitol on the album "Folk Songs of the Hills" (July 1947). The song became a gold record., Subject: kennedy jones , Relation: occupation, Options: (A) cardinal (B) coal miner (C) composer (D) general (E) guitarist (F) major (G) pioneer (H) revolutionary (I) singer (J) songwriter
Output (English): songwriter