Murder Ballads

On this West Virginia Morning, a recent episode of Inside Appalachia looked at folk ballads throughout history. Many of those ballads reflect poorly on women or have women being abused. We talk with ballad singer Suzanna Park on how her own history affects which songs she sings.

On this West Virginia Morning, murder ballads are a common part of folk and traditional forms of music. They were used to pass on the news, but also to provide morality lessons on how the community felt people — typically women — should act.