Jeremy Marre's Chase the Devil: Religious Music of the Appalachians

Jeremy Marre's Chase the Devil: Religious Music of the Appalachians (Beats of the Heart, 1983) gives us a glimpse of various interrelated religious, music and social scenes circa 1980. Like others in the Beats of the Heart series, it's got a lot of raw and exciting up-close footage set within the broader contexts of place and cultural outlook.     

In Chase the Devil, one can see the inflow and outflow of musical ideas, with Nashville as a sort of Mecca to some and "Devil's shrine" to others residing in proximate mountain pockets. There's gospel, bluegrass, folk blues, country and holy roller types of music, and mixtures of them all. You want coal miner protest songs? They're there. Snake handlers and poison drinkers and those drunk in the fruits of the holy ghost, speaking in tongues? They're there.  Well worth checking out?  Why, a big YES! Can I get a witness?  Amen, brothers and sisters!

Today's Rune: Opening.