page_title: Music of Virginia
section_title: Birthplace of Southern shape note music
hierarchical_section_title: Music of Virginia / Birthplace of Southern shape note music
caption_attribution_description: English: By custom since 2013, singers convene following an all-day singing from the Shenandoah Harmony at the grave of Anaias Davisson to sing his composition "Retirement." Photo by the Clinton Davis, 7 June, 2015.
context_page_description: Virginia's musical contribution to American culture has been diverse, and includes Piedmont blues, folk, brass, hip-hop, and rock and roll bands, as well as the founding origins of country music in the Bristol Recording sessions by Appalachian Virginians.
  The origin of music from within the state is very diverse, including cities such as Richmond, college towns such as Charlottesville and Fredericksburg, and the rural areas of Southwestern Virginia along "The Crooked Road”
context_section_description: In 1816 Ananias Davisson of Rockingham County published a shape note tunebook containing folk melodies collected during his travels, entitled Kentucky Harmony. At a time when the musicians in the North were turning to Europe and ridiculing the composers of the First New England School, Davisson's focus on grassroots regional music was widely imitated in the South.
caption: Singing Davisson's "Retirement" at his graveside in Cross Keys, following an all-day singing from the Shenandoah Harmony (June 7, 2015).
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