Musical Holdouts

This is a short preview trailer. You can watch the entire film at no charge on the Folkstreams website. Folkstreams is a nonprofit whose mission is to find, preserve, contextualize, and stream documentary films on American folklife.

Watch the entire film at Folkstreams

This classic, entertaining documentary on American traditional music features varied individuals and groups who have not become part of the “melting pot” of American society. From front porch banjo pickers in Appalachia and the Bluegrass Festival circuit to black children on the Carolina sea islands, cowboys, and Cheyenne and Comanche Indians, they have all retained their cultural identities despite pressures from the mass media and popular culture.

  • Film by: John Cohen
  • Produced by: John Cohen
  • Sound: Thomas Ahrens, Chris Strachwitz
  • Editor: John Cohen, Paul Justman
  • Funding: National Endowment for the Arts
  • Original Format: Film: 16mm
  • © 1975 John Cohen
  • 49mins, Color