Log Cabin Pioneers is equally entertaining and informative

Log Cabin Pioneers is equally entertaining and informative

Book Review

Wayne Erbsen, founder and president of Native Ground Music, has spent the past thirty years studying and preserving traditional American music and folklore. His interest in rural American history and love for our musical heritage have led him to write books on subjects ranging from the songs of the Civil War to the crossing of this country by the railroads. The most recent addition to the Native Ground collection is Log Cabin Pioneers “Stories, Songs & Sayings,” a book that has come out of Wayne’s own experiences with finding and restoring an historic log home in Western North Carolina.

The reader is taken on a trip through the history and significance of the log cabin in the forging of the American frontier. All along the way, Mr. Erbsen keeps things lively with humorous anecdotes, bits of pioneer wisdom, lots of pioneer insults, traditional songs, and hilarious one-liners, such as “nostalgia ain't what it used to be.” There is not a dull moment to be found as stories of famous Americans of yore (Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett, and Thomas Jefferson) abound throughout these pages.

Just as fascinating are the personal accounts that Wayne offers from his own experiences in finding and restoring an old log cabin. He includes details about how folks used to build and maintain these log structures, and explains his own attempts to refurbish a log cabin, using the same techniques and tools. The reader learns how to go about making an outhouse, how to properly split puncheons, and what in the world a chink-eating cow is.

Mr. Erbsen has written a book that is equally informative and entertaining and extremely hard to put down.

In Asheville you can find it at Malaprop's Bookstore and Books a Million.

Native Ground Music is also located in Asheville.
Phone: 828/299-7031.
E-mail: banjo@nativeground.com. Web address: www.nativeground.com.