I believe that the "Old and Weird" title came from music writer Greil Marcus. The music is old in the sense that it comes from a long tradition -- some of the Appalachian songs have roots in Scottish music from 300 or 400 years old. Every generation interpreted it in its own way, though, and the songs spread through the oral tradition. That evolutionary process led to some strange lyrics as people misheard things or as some details became less relevant. Hence the 'Weird'. Its great music, but sometimes the lyrics really do make you scratch your head.

I think that Marcus also called the music weird because a lot of it really sounded like it came from another world to people raised on popular recorded music. If all you've heard is classical music and Perry Como, "John the Revelator" would certainly come as a shock.

I do wish the clip had more Son House and less Nick Cave. Blueshammer -- ouch, and true.

Cat and Girl predicted the new memes for 2007 sometime last fall: http://catandgirl.com/view.php?loc=437