Appalachian History

A prolific composer, South Carolinian Lily Strickland (1884-1958) published 395 musical works for popular, church, and children’s performances. Her early works displayed the influences of life in the Jim Crow South, incorporating numerous elements of African American spirituals and folk music and the rhythms of Southern speech. Lily was the only daughter of Charlton Hines [...]

The following article by L. Scott Miller appears in the Spring 2011 issue of Fiddler magazine. Miller is a freelance musician, writer and educator. He is the 2010 Grand Master’s Traditional Fiddle Champion and is passionate about the fiddling from his native Ohio River Valley. Roger Cooper is a link to the past for what [...]

Please welcome guest author Eric Dixon, a sophomore in philosophy at the University of Tennesse/Knoxville. The following piece of his ran February 28, 2011 in the ‘Appalachian Outlook series’ published regularly in the school newspaper, The Daily Beacon. Appalachian mountain music is a tradition that traces some of its most distinct roots back to East [...]

Although she never gained the national recognition or recording status that other banjo-playing women in Kentucky achieved, Dora Mae Wagers (1927-1998), was—as the title to her self-produced cassette proclaimed—“A Legend in Her Own Time.” For forty years she played banjo on the stage of the Renfro Valley Barndance, and was often billed as one of [...]

Native West Virginian Dr. Patrick W. Gainer dedicated the balance of his life to a personal crusade to revitalize folk traditions, and to elevate the image and self-esteem of the Appalachian people at a time when derogatory stereotypes flourished. His Appalachian folklore course at West Virginia University, where he taught in the English Department from [...]