HOMEMADE AMERICAN MUSIC (1980) is a 43-minute history of rural southeastern traditional American music, as told and played by Mike Seeger and Alice Gerrard. Mike and Alice recount their own involvement with this music, briefly trace its history and then accompany us as we meet their mentors: the late Tommy Jarrell, Lily May Ledford, Roscoe Holcomb and Elizabeth Cotten. Filmed in 1978 and 1979 in the states of Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, Washington and California, the film follows Mike and Alice home, and to folk music festivals where a new generation of musicians are picking up and passing on American traditional music. Also participating are musicians Dewey Balfa, Hank Bradley, Heath Curdts, Irene Herrmann, Don Minnerly, Stefan Senders, Jody Stecher, Suzy and Eric Thompson, Tracy Schwarz, Will Spires and others.

Having grown up with this rich and beautiful music, I wanted to share it with younger generations who might not be aware of it and its role in American cultural history. I addressed the question of how traditional culture has been transmitted by filming sessions between students Mike and Alice and their mentors, who learned their music in their rural communities. With the disappearance of most of these traditional cultures and musicians, the means of transmission have changed to the media and to folk festivals opening up the music to many more enthusiasts, so we also filmed Mike and Alice at Blackpoint Festival of Traditional Music (1978) near San Rafael, California and Fiddle Tunes Festival (1979) in Port Townsend, Washington.