State Folklorist Pays Tribute to Appalachian Ballad Singer

On this West Virginia Morning, West Virginia lost one of its finest traditional musicians earlier this summer — ballad singer Phyllis Marks. State folklorist Emily Hilliard reads a tribute Marks and her legacy in Appalachia.

Also on today’s show, on Friday’s we like to preview Inside Appalachia episodes, and this morning, we have some exciting news to share. We have a new theme song — composed and recorded by West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s own Matt Jackfert. Inside Appalachia host Jessica Lilly sat down with Matt about his inspiration and concept behind the new theme song.

And our Mountain Stage Song of the Week comes from renowned acoustic guitarist Leo Kottke — we hear his song “From Pizza Towers to Defeat” recorded during his 10th appearance on Mountain Stage.

West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting, which is solely responsible for its content.

Support for our news bureaus comes from West Virginia University, Concord University, and Shepherd University. Our Appalachia Health News project is made possible with support from CAMC and Marshall Health.

West Virginia Morning is produced with help from Caitlin Tan, Jessica Lilly, Kara Lofton, Liz McCormick, Dave Mistich, Brittany Patterson, Eric Douglas, Cory Knollinger, Emily Allen and Roxy Todd.

Our news director is Jesse Wright, our producer is Glynis Board and our host is Teresa Wills.