At home dances were one of the many ways neighbors opened their doors to each other, drawing people together to play, socialize, and exchange information. Such informal music gatherings remain the places where old time, country, and bluegrass traditions are active. The square dancing that has ebbed since the 1950s, some feel, is undergoing a resurgence. In communities as demographically diverse as Columbia, site of the state University, to Ellsinore, population 362, in the southern reaches of the Ozarks, multigenerational groups come together on a frequent basis to dance to the music of live fiddlers and family bands. Square dance is being relearned as people in their twenties and thirties turn to the elder generation, former practitioners of these skills, to learn the calls, dance sets, and tunes that used to be done in these communities.
Dancing is but one of many contexts for country music.
Common buildings set aside for gatherings draw people from miles around on a regular basis. Informal rules structure equitable turntaking and the determine the focus of music played, whether bluegrass, gospel, country, or old time, and the presence or absence of amplified instruments. Along with fiddles string bands and backup musicians play from a varied list of instruments determined in part by family and regional preferences. Musicians, now as ever, play on what is available, attainable, affordable and acceptable to their particular region and tradition. Piano, banjo, string bass, and guitar are common in bands, at contests, and at community sessions throughout the state.