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Music, George E., Jr., (1960-)

 Person

Bio

The only living member of his family that worked in the turpentine woods, Music was born in 1960 on the same piece of land where he currently resides on the rural outskirts of Waycross, Georgia. Music began working turpentine in 1967, when he chipped his first tree at the young age of seven. He used to follow his father, George Music, Sr., and grandfather around in the woods before he was old enough to do any real labor, and he would pretend to be working. Music says that he always wanted to be “just like daddy” when he was a boy. However, by the time he was 17 years old, he thought he had had enough of the hot and arduous labor involved in turpentine production. He headed off to get married, residing and working as an auto mechanic in Jamestown, Georgia. But “something always brings you back home,” he says. “You just get to missing it.” He returned to the massive expanse of timber at his home in Waycross after divorcing his first wife, and he is passionate about never leaving home again.

Music has only worked in turpentine on his own land and has never experienced life in a turpentine camp, a typical situation for many white, working class South Georgians. There are approximately three thousand trees on Music’s land that were used for turpentine production. His grandfather Louis worked and lived on the same 10 property even before the current Music home was built in the very early years of the 1900s. At any given time that he and his father were working in the woods, they kept in between 1,800-2,500 faces in production. George Music, Sr., however, supposedly once worked five thousand boxes at one time. Today, Music works as a locomotive mechanic and is a talented fiddle player and harmony vocalist in a local bluegrass band Tri-County.

Found in 5 Collections and/or Records:

ADS-1002-03: George E. Music Jr., July 12, 2002

 File — Box 1: Series Series 1, Folder: 3
Collection number: Folder 3
Scope and Contents

Group or Organization Name:

County of Residence: Ware

Occupation:Turpentiner

Notes:Occupational folklife, Tape-recorded interview with detailed index made at George Music Rd., Waycross, GA 07/12/02. Part of Tim Prizer's initial volunteer internship with SGFP.

Keywords:Turpentine, Mayday, Echols

Genres (Controlled Vocabulary):Turpentine, Personal experience narrative, occupational folklife, naval stores

Dates: July 12, 2002

CAS-1002.4.1 George E. Music, Jr., July 12, 2002

 File — Box 1: Series Series 1, Folder: 26
Collection number: Folder 26
Scope and Contents Equipment Used:Timothy C. PrizerInformant Name:Timothy C. PrizerFieldworker:Front porch of house at 5250 George Music Rd. (mother's home), Waycross, GAEngineer:Fieldworker's tape #: 02.1 (First tape of interview)Location:Fieldworker's tape #: 02.1 (First tape of interview)Content Summary:Music's voice recorded much quieter than that of the fieldworker. The interview took place on the porch of Music's...
Dates: July 12, 2002

CAS-1002.14.1 George E. Music, Jr., July 12, 2002

 File — Box 1: Series Series 1, Folder: 38
Collection number: Folder 38
Scope and Contents Equipment Used:Timothy C. PrizerInformant Name:Timothy C. PrizerFieldworker:Ware County (mother's home), Waycross, GAEngineer:Original tape number 02.1.Location:Original tape number 02.1.Content Summary:Music's voice recorded much quieter than that of the fieldworker. The interview took place on the porch of Music's mother's home, and the sounds of birds, insects, dogs, wind and his mother's voice may at times be heard. These sounds do not...
Dates: July 12, 2002

CAS-1002.14.2 George E. Music, Jr., July 12, 2002

 File — Box 1: Series Series 1, Folder: 39
Collection number: Folder 39
Scope and Contents Equipment Used:Timothy C. PrizerInformant Name:Timothy C. PrizerFieldworker:Ware County (mother's home), Waycross, GAEngineer:Location:Content Summary:Music's voice recorded much quieter than that of the fieldworker. The interview took place on the porch of Music's mother's home, and the sounds of birds, insects, dogs, wind and his mother's voice may at times be heard. These sounds do not lessen the sNotes:occupational...
Dates: July 12, 2002

Interview with George E. Music Jr., July 12, 2002

 File — Bag \folklife\prj1014\: Series PRJ1014, Folder: 064_music-george
Collection number: PRJ1014-064
Scope and Contents Oral history interview with George E. Music Jr., July 12, 2002. Waycross (Ga.). Fieldworker: Timothy C. Prizer. Audio file digitized from 2 cassette tapes. Part of the South Georgia Folklife Project at Valdosta State University Archives and Special Collections. Topics include Turpentining and the turpentine industry and trade.Fieldworker notes: Music's voice recorded much quieter than that of the fieldworker. The interview took place on the porch of Music's mother's home, and the...
Dates: July 12, 2002

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Audiocassettes 3
Naval Stores Industry 1
Oral history 1
Satilla River (Ga.) 1
Sound recordings 1