Glory in the Meetinghouse

A fiddle piece performed by Kentucky mountain fiddler Luther Strong (1892-1962) and recorded by Alan Lomax for the Library of Congress in 1937. Strong claimed “I won $500 on that tune” at the end of his field recording, referencing his success with it at fiddle contests. The tune was often played in EDAE tuning and was known to other eastern Kentucky fiddlers including Hiram Stamper and Bev Baker, who had played it in the 1919 Berea fiddle contest. Despite its religious-sounding title, the tune has no connections with hymnody, though musicologist Jeff Titon notes that parts of it suggest the excitement of “shouting” (getting happy, feeling the Spirit) in a church. The piece functioned not as a dance number but as an instrumental tune for listening.