Tag: Appalchian Music

EJ Henderson After The Flood And “Little Seed,” Inside Appalachia

After Helene, an Asheville guitar maker grapples with how to help her neighborhood when there’s so much need. 

A church in West Virginia is helping turn unwanted guns into garden tools.

And, for writer Wei Tchou, it took leaving her home in East Tennessee to start seeing herself in a new way.   

In This Episode

  • Catching Up With Luthier Jayne Henderson After The Flood
  • Gun And Garden
  • A Study Of Identity And Ferns In “Little Seed”

Catching Up With Luthier Jayne Henderson After The Flood

Elizabeth ‘Jayne’ Henderson in her workshop in Asheville, North Carolina before Hurricane Helene.

Credit: Janie Witte

Earlier this year, we visited the workshop of renowned guitar-maker Wayne Henderson, for a story about him and his daughter, Jayne Henderson.

Jayne lives in Asheville, North Carolina, and Wayne lives in Rugby, Virginia. Both places were wrecked by Hurricane Helene. Folkways reporter Margaret McLeod Leef caught up with Jayne in the days following the storm.   

Gun And Garden

Outside the Shepherdstown Fire Department, Craig Snyder runs a firearm through a power tool, dismantling it.
Photo Jack Walker.

Sometimes when people die, they leave behind guns, and their relatives don’t always know what to do with them. So a church in West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle is providing a way to dispose of old firearms – and find new uses for them. WVPB’s Jack Walker reported. 

A Study Of Identity And Ferns In “Little Seed” 

Author Wei Tchou explores nature and personal identity in her book, “Little Seed.”
Courtesy photo.

The book “Little Seed” by Wei Tchou (CHEW) is a hybrid of nature writing and memoir. Tchou’s parents migrated from China and raised her in eastern Tennessee. The book’s chapters alternate between stories of her passage into adulthood, and descriptions of ferns and closely related plants. Mason Adams spoke with Tchou several weeks before Hurricane Helene. 

Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by Amethyst Kiah, Wayne Henderson, Jane Kramer, Gerry Milnes, Steve Earle, John Blissard and Blue Dot Sessions.

Bill Lynch is our producer. Zander Aloi is our associate producer. Our executive producer is Eric Douglas. Kelley Libby is our editor. Our audio mixer is Patrick Stephens. You can find us on Instagram @InAppalachia.

You can send us an email: InsideAppalachia@wvpublic.org.

You can find us on Instagram, Threads and Twitter @InAppalachia. Or here on Facebook.

Sign-up for the Inside Appalachia Newsletter!

Inside Appalachia is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

Encore: Remembering Floods And Recovering From Disaster, Inside Appalachia

Flooding is a recurring problem across Appalachia. This week, we’re taking stock, and looking back on floods that have devastated parts of West Virginia and Kentucky.

We explore some of the reasons for floods, as well as the aftermath and the slow recovery that often follows disaster.

It’s not all gloom. Even in our hardest moments, there’s always hope. 

You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

In This Episode:

Revisiting The WV Flood Of 2016

In 2016, West Virginia saw 10 inches of rain in 12 hours. The resulting flooding led to 23 deaths. The governor mobilized hundreds of members of the West Virginia National Guard.

Jessica Lilly reported from the town of Richwood and told a story that went back decades.

Reclaiming Rand

Rand, West Virginia, is a town of about 900 people just outside Charleston. Flooding has been a regular problem for decades, partly because of longstanding issues with faulty storm sewers.

Tiara Brown reported this story.

Healing Comes From Alan “Cathead” Johnston’s Ballad 

Alan “Cathead” Johnston with his daughters Jessi and Stacey at the Wheeling Jamboree.

Courtesy Photo

Singer and songwriter Alan “Cathead” Johnston wrote the song, “Muddy Waters” about two horrific back-to-back 100-year floods that tore through McDowell County in 2001 and 2002.  

It’s been a couple of decades, but Folkways Reporter Connie Kitts found that people are still drawing strength and comfort from this ballad.

The Flood In Hindman, KY

It’s impossible to talk about flooding without acknowledging last year’s historic flooding in eastern Kentucky. The floods killed at least 38 people and damaged some of the region’s cultural centers, including Appalshop in Whitesburg and the Hindman Settlement School.

WFPL’s Stephanie Wolf visited Hindman just after the floods and took stock of what was lost. 

Coming Back From Disaster Through Faith And Music

Dean (Dino) McBee cleans old recording equipment damaged in the 2022 floods in Kentucky.

Credit: Nicole Musgrave/West Virginia Public Broadcasting

When you spend time in Appalachia and live through a few floods, you tend to notice a recurring theme: neighbors helping neighbors. In Millstone, Kentucky gospel musicians were cut off from participating in part of their culture after they lost instruments. Many found help reconnecting with their music.

Folkways Reporter Nicole Musgrave brought us this report.

A Poem For A Flooded Town

West Virginia poet Doug Van Gundy at the Hindman Settlement School in Kentucky for the Appalachian Writer’s Workshop in 2022 the night Troublesome Creek flooded.

He shared this poem with us, which was partly inspired by what he saw.

——

Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by Jackson Browne, The Dirty River Boys, Alan “Cathead” Johnston, Dino McBee and Yonder Mountain String Band.

Bill Lynch is our producer. Zander Aloi is our associate producer. Our executive producer is Eric Douglas. Kelley Libby is our editor. Our audio mixer is Patrick Stephens.

You can send us an email: InsideAppalachia@wvpublic.org.

You can find us on Instagram, Threads and Twitter @InAppalachia. Or here on Facebook.

Inside Appalachia is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

Cougars Football And EJ Henderson Guitars, Inside Appalachia

This week on Inside Appalachia, Alleghany and Covington high schools were rivals for decades. But now, they’ve merged. This week, we head to a home football game and learn how it’s going. Also, the daughter of a legendary guitar maker didn’t set out to take up her father’s craft — but she’s found it irresistible. And, we take a trip to the mushroom capital of the U.S.

Alleghany and Covington high schools were rivals for decades. But now, they’ve merged. This week, we head to a home football game and learn how it’s going. 

Also, the daughter of a legendary guitar maker didn’t set out to take up her father’s craft — but she’s found it irresistible.

And, we take a trip to the mushroom capital of the U.S.

You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

In This Episode:

Cougar Football

A consolidated school might be different, but student spirit remains the same.

Credit: Mason Adams/West Virginia Public Broadcasting

There’s nothing hotter than a high school sports rivalry. Host Mason Adams grew up in Alleghany County, Virginia and went to Alleghany High School. His school’s biggest football rival was the Covington Cougars, on the other side of the county.

The two schools consolidated this past year. Adams made a trip home to visit the new school during its very first homecoming to see what has changed and what hasn’t. 

A New Generation Of Henderson Guitars

Jayne Henderson builds her own future as a guitar and ukulele maker.

Credit: Janie Witte

Wayne Henderson has been making guitars since he was a teenager. The guitars he makes are prized by players who are willing to wait up to a decade to get their hands on one. 

His daughter, Elizabeth Jayne Henderson, never intended to follow in her father’s footsteps. She went to law school, but now Jayne is carrying on the family tradition in her own way.

Folkways Reporter Margaret McLeod Leef had this story.

Pennsylvania’s Mushroom Empire

Shiitake mushroom.

Credit: Keith Weller/United States Department of Agriculture

People have hunted wild mushrooms for generations — but did you know that Pennsylvania is the biggest producer of mushrooms in the U.S.?

WVIA’s Kat Bolus brought us this story about Pennsylvania’s mushroom farms and foraging clubs.

The Migration Of Frijoles Charros

A bowl of frijoles charros sits to the right of a bowl of refried beans. While refried beans are a standard side dish in most Mexican restaurants in Southern Ohio, frijoles charros often accompany the main meal at restaurants in northern Mexico and along the US-Mexico border.

Credit: Nicole Musgrave/West Virginia Public Broadcasting

A bowl of brothy pinto beans is comfort food for lots of folks here in Appalachia. There’s a similar tradition in rural Mexico — frijoles charros — or charro beans. Now, the dish has made its way north to the former coal town of Wellston, in southeast Ohio.

Folkways Reporter Nicole Musgrave has the story.  

——

Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by Joe Dobbs and the 1937 Flood, Mary Hott, The Sycomores, Anna and Elizabeth, The Carolina Chocolate Drops, John Blissard, and the Alleghany High School marching band.

Bill Lynch is our producer. Zander Aloi is our associate producer. Our executive producer is Eric Douglas. Kelley Libby is our editor. Our audio mixer is Patrick Stephens.

You can send us an email: InsideAppalachia@wvpublic.org.

You can find us on Instagram, Threads and Twitter @InAppalachia. Or here on Facebook.

Sign-up for the Inside Appalachia Newsletter!

Inside Appalachia is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

The Best of 2014: Raleigh County Group Works to Continue Appalachian Bluegrass Tradition

As we continue recapping our favorite stories of 2014, we return to Sophia in Raleigh County where a group of local musicians get together each week to play bluegrass. While most of the participants are from older generations, one Glenville State College student learned the basics from the group that eventually inspired him to study the music style in school.

Jessica Lilly brings us the sounds of the Sophia bluegrass jam band and discusses why this tradition is so important to Appalachia. 

Exit mobile version