Big Jim Folsom and his Strawberry Pickers, c. 1946

Big Jim Folsom and his Strawberry Pickers, c. 1946

Gubernatorial candidate James E. “Big Jim” Folsom on the campaign trail with his Strawberry Pickers, c. 1946. The larger-than-life, two-time Populist governor made rural string-band music central to his folksy image, barnstorming the state with the band in a seemingly endless series of well-publicized small-town political-musical rallies. This tradition, begun in Folsom’s 1946 campaign, established country music as a staple of Alabama’s political campaign culture for much of the 20th century.

Photograph

Photograph