this doesn't have to do with much of anything, but i've been thinking more and more lately that indigenous "american" music all pretty much is descended from irish music (country, folk, most of the "white" half of rock and roll that's not from england) and african music (this needs no explanation -- pretty much all the rest of what we call "american" music).
what's interesting is that these were probably the two most historically downtrodden groups of americans struggling to assimilate (ironically, these two groups have clashed time and time again throughout american history, competing for that precious second-to-last rung of the american social system). the third group that i can think of -- jewish immigrants -- has had a profound impact on culture as well, although the impact of traditional jewish music on the american songbook is far more limited; most jewish american songwriters gravitated toward african music (gershwin) or irish music (zimmerman). the cultural impact of jewish immigrants is felt far more in literature, a result, perhaps, of the emphasis in judaism on the power of the written word versus the oral and musical cultures of irish and african laborers.
i'm a quarter irish, but as far as i know, i don't have any jewish or african ancestry.
