Folk Music

In the early 1930s, the way for a story to go “viral” was by being sung about in a ballad. That’s what happened to Otto Wood, a real-life outlaw who grew up around Wilkesboro, North Carolina. He spent time with the Hatfields of southern West Virginia, became a famous moonshiner, and died in a shootout with police in 1930. Less than one year later, his story was told in the ballad “Otto Wood The Bandit,” recorded by Walker Kid and the Carolina Buddies.

There are many murder ballads from Appalachia — and most of them are about men killing women. Folkways reporter Zack Harrold is a musician himself. In fact, you can hear him playing guitar and banjo on a song called “Little Sadie” that appeared in the May 20, 2022 episode of Inside Appalachia. “Little Sadie” is a ballad about a man killing his sweetheart — exactly the kind of song Zack sought to understand in his reporting about murder ballads. What can they tell us about history? And is “true crime” the modern-day equivalent?

Suzannah Park is a ballad singer and teacher who lives in Asheville, North Carolina. She grew up singing all kinds of folk songs, but there are some ballads she just can’t bring herself to sing.

On this West Virginia Morning, in the spring of 1968, during the height of the Vietnam War and the folk music resurgence of the late 1960s, five guys at West Virginia University formed a band. They called themselves The Prior Five.

Like any traditional song that has endured through generations, there are lots of versions of “John Henry.” There are also many different interpretations of the song. For some people who grew up in Black communities in Appalachia, the song elicits a variety of feelings.

Appalachian old-time music is a confluence of many cultural traditions, including those of Africans and African Americans, Native Americans, and the Scots-Irish. Yet the contributions of Black and Indigenous musicians have often been denied and overlooked. In Floyd County, Virginia one man is working to amplify the participation of Black musicians in old-time music.

Robin Kessinger is a world champion flatpicking guitar champion, a style of music that transfers traditional fiddle tunes to steel string guitar. He learned much of his repertoire from his uncle Clark Kessinger, a renowned old-time fiddler.

This week’s episode of Inside Appalachia explores stories about families, friends, and how people on opposite ends of the political spectrum connect through music, food and conversations about tough topics. We’ll hear the story of one of the world’s best fiddlers, Clark Kessinger, from St. Albans, West Virginia. We’ll learn how he inspired his nephew, Robin Kessinger, to play the guitar.We’ll also talk about how East African immigrant communities in a small town in West Virginia are connecting back to their home traditions through coffee ceremonies.

If you’ve listened to Inside Appalachia, there’s a good chance you’ve heard LaPrelle’s music before, as one half of Anna & Elizabeth. That would be LaPrelle, who grew up in Rural Retreat, Virginia, and Anna Roberts Gevalt, who is now based in Brooklyn. Inside Appalachia co-host Mason Adams spoke with LaPrelle to learn more, beginning with LaPrelle’s roots as a ballad singer who took up the tradition of regional legends like Texas Gladden.

On this West Virginia Morning, we get an update on infrastructure proposals in Congress. Then, a story from 100 Days In Appalachia explores a new, cross-continental connection between Slavic and Appalachian folk musicians. Grammy and MacArthur award winner Rhiannon Giddens plays "Black is the Color," from her album Tomorrow Is My Turn, as our Mountain Stage Song of the Week.