There’s a lot of discussion about what “old time” music is, and how it’s differentiated from bluegrass. When it comes to instrumentation, there are several things to point to (clawhammer style on an open back banjo, versus 3-finger on a resonater banjo, fiddle bowing styles, guitar backup style, structure of the songs, etc). However, with respect to the song repetoire, there’s quite a lot of overlap with early country and even bluegrass. I’ve done my best to create a songlist that’s somewhat unique to the old-time community, but took some liberties here and there. I’ll probably further differentiate these pages over time.
- A Distant Land To Roam
- A Few Old Memories
- Across The Blue Sea
- Adieu False Heart
- Ain’t No Grave
- Am I Born To Die
- Amazing Grace
- Aragon Mill
- Are You From Dixie
- Are You Missing Me
- Arkansas Traveler
- Balo’s Song
- Barbara Allen
- Battle Of New Orleans
- Bed By The Window
- Been All Round This World
- Better Late Than Never
- Better Times A-Coming
- Big Ball In Boston
- Big Midnight Special
- Big Rock Candy Mountain
- Bile Them Cabbage Down
- Bitter Green
- Black Eyed Susie
- Blackest Crow
- Bonaparte’s Retreat
- Bravest Cowboy
- Bring Back My Blue-Eyed Boy To Me
- Bringing In The Georgia Mail
- Brown’s Ferry Blues
- Buffalo Gals
- Bully Of The Town
- Bummin’ An Old Freight Train
- Bury Me Beneath The Willow
- Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie
- By The Mark
- Can’t You Hear Me Calling
- Careless Love
- Casey Jones
- Catfish John
- Charmin’ Betsy
- Chittlin’ Cookin’ Time In Cheatham County
- Cindy
- Cluck Old Hen
- Corina Corina
- Crawdad
- Cripple Creek
- Custom Made Woman Blues
- Darlin Nellie Gray
- Deep River Blues
- Didn’t Leave Nobody But The Baby
- Down Among The Budded Roses
- Down To The River To Pray
- Down To The Valley To Pray
- Dying Californian
- Dying Mother, The
- Faded Coat Of Blue
- Fair And Tender Ladies
- Falling Leaves
- Farewell Nellie
- Fly Around My Blue-Eyed Gal
- Foggy Mountain Top
- Fox On The Run
- Free Little Bird
- Go Tell Aunt Rodie
- Goin Where I’ve Never Been Before
- Going ’round This World
- Going Across the Mountain
- Going To The West
- Going to Write Me a Letter
- Gonna Lay Down My Old Guitar
- Greenlight On The Southern
- Gum Tree Canoe
- Handsome Molly
- Happy Sunny Side Of Life, The
- Hard Luck in Heaven
- Hard Rocking Chair
- Hard Times Come Again No More
- He Will Set Your Fields On Fire
- Hello Stranger
- High On A Mountain
- Home
- Honey Babe Blues
- Hop High My Lula Gal
- Hot Corn, Cold Corn
- Hush Little Baby
- I Don’t Love Nobody
- I Have No Mother Now
- I Haven’t Seen Mary In Years
- I Saw a Man at the Close of Day
- I’m Going Across The Sea
- I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry
- I’ve Endured
- I’ve Got a Bulldog
- I’ve Waited As Long As I Can
- In The Highways
- In The Jailhouse Now
- Innocent Road
- Jordan Am A Hard Road To Travel
- Julianne
- Just A Few More Days
- Just Ain’t
- Keep On The Firing Line
- Kickin’ Mule
- Last Train From Poor Valley
- Lazy John
- Letter From My Darlin
- Little Liza Jane
- Little Sadie
- Little Satchel
- Lone Pilgrim
- Lonesome
- Long Time Travelin’
- Look Up Look Down That Lonesome Road
- Love Will Roll the Clouds Away
- Lover’s Return
- Lowest Valley, The
- Man Of Constant Sorrow
- Matty Groves
- My Deceitful Heart
- My Love Lies in the Ground
- My Love Lies in the Ground
- New River Train
- Ninety and Nine
- Oh Death
- Oh Suzanna
- Old Bill Miner
- Old Black Choo Choo
- Old Dan Tucker
- Old Joe Clark
- Old Man Below
- Old River
- Omie Wise
- One Day I Will
- One Morning in May
- Only the Leading Role Will Do
- Over Yonder in the Graveyard
- Peg and Awl
- Police
- Poor Old Dirt Farmer
- Pretty Saro
- Rebel Soldier
- Red Rocking Chair
- Red Sails In The Sunset
- Rock About My Saro Jane
- Rose of Alabama
- Rove Riley Rove
- Sal’s Got A Meatskin
- Say Darlin Say
- See That My Grave Is Kept Clean
- Seven Years Blues
- Shady Grove
- Short Life Of Trouble
- Sing Me a Song
- Six Feet of Earth Makes Us All of One Size
- Some Old Day
- Southern Railroad Line
- Sunny Side Of Life
- Sweet Sunny South
- Sweetheart, You’ve Done Me Wrong
- Teardrops In My Eyes
- The Bramble And The Rose
- The Butcher Boy
- The Cuckoo Bird
- The Green Rolling Hills Of West Virginia
- The Greenville Trestle
- The Legend Of The Rebel Soldier
- The Lost Soul
- The Train That Carried My Girl From Town
- The Waves On The Sea
- Thinking About You
- This Little Sparrow
- This Old Song
- Those Brown Eyes
- Those Two Blue Eyes
- Throw Down Your Earthly Crown
- Times Are Getting Hard
- Tiny Broken Heart
- Tom Dooley
- Train on the Island
- Trials Troubles Tribulations
- Trouble In Mind
- Twilight is Stealing
- Uncle Joe
- Uncloudy Day
- Walk On Boy
- Water Bound
- Waterbound
- Watermelon On The Vine
- Wayfaring Stranger
- When I Can Read My Titles Clear
- When The Roses Bloom In Dixieland
- Where the Wild Wild Flowers Grow
- Whiskey Deaf Whiskey Blind
- Who Killed Poor Robin
- Who’s Going Down To Town
- Who’s Gonna Shoe Your Pretty Little Foot
- Will You Be Loving Another Man
- Willie Moore
- Winter’s Night
- You Are My Flower
- You Are My Sunshine
- You Lead Me to the Wrong
- You’ve Been A Friend To Me
- Your Greedy Heart
- Your Lone Journey