Tag: Storytelling

James Froemel Learns The Art Of Lying

James Froemel‘s journey into storytelling has taken a lifetime. Last year, he worked with author, Liars Competition champ and professional storyteller Bil Lepp to hone his craft. Folkways Reporter Margaret McLeod Leef spoke with Froemel.

This conversation originally aired in the Jan. 26, 2025 episode of Inside Appalachia.

From reciting Emily Dickinson in sixth grade to becoming “the biggest liar in West Virginia,” James Froemel’s journey as a storyteller has been shaped by pivotal moments and mentors. After studying theater and taking a break to focus on family, Froemel discovered professional storytelling through the award-winning performances of Bil Lepp. This sparked a new creative path, leading Froemel to win the Vandalia Gathering’s Liars Competition with his first tale.

Now a seasoned storyteller himself, Froemel recently worked closely with Lepp to hone his craft. It’s not the only thing the two have in common. Last year, Froemel received an invitation to perform at the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, Tennessee. It’s a milestone Lepp knows well — his own career took off after his first invitation to perform there in 2000. Now, 24 years later, Froemel is following in his mentor’s footsteps.

Froemel recently spoke with Folkways Reporter Margaret Leef about his evolution as a performer and his mentorship under Lepp.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Leef: How did your love of performing start? 

Froemel: In the sixth grade, we had to recite a poem for the class. I asked to recite Emily Dickinson’s “I’m Nobody. Who are you?” It was only eight lines. The teacher said I could do it, but she could clearly tell I was just trying not to memorize much. She said if I was only going to do an eight-line poem, I had to make it a really special eight lines. I got up and did a whole scene based on those eight lines, and I got a wonderful response from the teacher and the class, which kind of gave me the theater bug.

Leef: What caught your attention when you first saw Bil Lepp perform as a storyteller?

Froemel: It was probably the first time I heard of someone being a professional storyteller. I thought, what is this? So, I looked into what Bil was doing and watched some videos. It looked like a lot of fun.

Leef: How did that experience inspire you? What did you do after seeing Bil perform?

Froemel: In 2014, I wrote my first liar’s tale and went down to the Vandalia Gathering. I jumped up and told my five-minute tale, and at the end, I was announced as the biggest liar in West Virginia.

Leef: What is a liar’s tale? And what is the Liar’s Contest?

Froemel: The Liar’s Contest is a contest that happens every year at the Vandalia Gathering in Charleston, West Virginia. Anybody can come out and tell a tale. It’s really great in that folklife tradition of making art forms accessible. You just show up and sign your name on a piece of paper, and then they call you up, and you tell your tale.

Liar’s tales present something fantastic as though it were true. Most liar’s tales are told in the first person. Often, they’ll start with something really believable. A fun thing about it is that I always try to figure out where the lie begins when I listen to Bil’s tales. Some of my tales are close to true life, but everything is made up. People tell me they believe me until a particular point in the story. I tell them no, as soon as I opened my mouth, I was lying to you. None of that happened.

Leef: Can you tell me more about the first time you saw Bil perform?

Froemel: I first saw him live at the Liar’s Contest. Bil just had such a great way of engaging the audience. He told funny stories about West Virginia that dealt with culturally authentic quirks but in really positive ways. He was very comedic, and he was also such a great ambassador of the state. I really liked seeing that combination.

Leef: How did you end up meeting Bil?

Froemel: Our mentorship was through the West Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Program. Bil and I would most often meet through Zoom. Bil lives in South Charleston, and I’m in Morgantown. Much of our conversations were about why we tell these stories. I figured out what my voice was within storytelling—why was I telling stories, and what did I want to achieve out of those stories?

Bil was a really great sounding board when it came to working with me on my stories. He would point out technical issues and areas that were confusing or needed further exploration. I would go back and rewrite and then tell the tale again, and he would give more feedback.

He was a great guy to bounce ideas off of. He’s also a great laugher. Bil doesn’t laugh for free. You have to earn your laughs with him. You know you’ve got something good when you can get him going.

Leef: You mentioned that Bil sometimes acknowledges West Virginians’ or Appalachians’ quirks but in a positive way. I wonder if you also challenge Appalachian stereotypes in your stories and, if so, how you do that?

Froemel: I talk a lot about small town life and accepting differences. In the story I worked on with Bil, we wrote about a sign maker who made beautiful signs but was terrible at spelling. Every sign is beautiful but misspelled. It was about this idea that everybody in a small town finds their place, and you don’t have to be perfect. You can still get a positive reaction or experience if your community supports you. 

The character is a wonderful sign maker. It’s just that he doesn’t spell very well. That’s the running gag, and it presented a lot of jokes within that one story. But it also conveyed that everybody in the town is accepted, no matter how different they are, and everybody is excited about anything happening there.

Something I loved about small town life was the participation. If we want a community, we all have to pitch in and make it. We must get excited about the Fourth of July festival and the Main Street parade, where we’ll get the same bubble gum thrown at us for the millionth time. We have to engage in these things.

Leef: What does it mean to you to be a storyteller? And speaking of Appalachia, a second question would be, what does it mean to you to be a storyteller in Appalachia?

Froemel: It is a very minimalistic art form. Being a storyteller in Appalachia is exciting because it is an area where folk arts are genuinely appreciated. It’s an amazing experience to be in the room with people who are so talented. Within West Virginia is a small community of storytellers. I’ve never been more than two degrees away from them. We know each other, and that’s common in folk art. You can go up to the greatest artist in a folk genre, and they’ll take the time if you ask them.

They will show you the banjo or the fiddle, for example. They want to work with you and share their art. They take that folk aspect of it, knowing that their art can only be passed down if we give it to someone else. There aren’t formal training programs for things like claw hammer banjo. It’s just people teaching one another this thing, and that’s true of storytelling. It’s just us going out and showing one another how to do this and engaging with one another in that way.

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This story is part of the Inside Appalachia Folkways Reporting Project, a partnership with West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s Inside Appalachia. Subscribe to the podcast to hear more stories of Appalachian folklife, arts and culture.

A Mine Wars Graphic Novel, Storytelling And W.Va. Life, Inside Appalachia

This week on Inside Appalachia, we speak with the author of a new graphic novel about the West Virginia Mine Wars. Also, professional storyteller James Froemel invents quirky characters, like a sign maker who can’t spell. And, one of the most common animals to get hit by cars are possums. But, there’s a kind of animal rescue called pouch picking. We talk with author Laura Jackson.

This week, Inside Appalachia speaks with the author of a new graphic novel about the West Virginia Mine Wars. The labor struggle culminated in the largest armed uprising since the Civil War.

Also, professional storyteller James Froemel invents quirky characters, like a sign maker who can’t spell. Froemel’s stories are drawn from small town life.

And, one of the most common animals to get hit by cars are possums. But, there’s a kind of animal rescue called pouch picking. We talk with author Laura Jackson. 

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

In This Episode:

Black Coal And Red Bandanas, A Graphic Novel

“Black Coal and Red Bandanas” retells the story of the West Virginia Mine Wars.

Courtesy

The West Virginia Mine Wars are an important but little known piece of American history. Coal miners in southern West Virginia had been trying to organize a union, while coal companies tried to stop them. Strikes and violent clashes ensued, culminating in the Battle of Blair Mountain in 1921. A version of the story is told in the new graphic novel “Black Coal and Red Bandanas: An Illustrated History of the West Virginia Mine Wars.”

Mason Adams spoke with its author, Raymond Tyler. 

Talking With Storyteller James Froemel

James Froemel continues in the long line of Appalachian storytellers.

Courtesy

James Froemel‘s journey into storytelling has taken a lifetime. Last year, he worked with author, Liars Competition champ and professional storyteller Bil Lepp to hone his craft. 

Folkways Reporter Margaret McLeod Leef spoke with Froemel.

Digging Under Ground Leads To Spoonmaking

Stan (L) and Sue (R) Jennings shape spoons on sanding machines in their Allegheny Treenware workshop in Preston County, West Virginia. Sue is pre-shaping while Stan is fine shaping on 40 grit sandpaper. These two stations are only used by the Jennings to shape each spoon by hand.

Photo Credit: Zack Gray/Allegheny Treenware

For 30 years, Sue and Stan Jennings have run Allegheny Treenware, a West Virginia company that makes wooden kitchen utensils. They started off as a couple of coal miners. And when they weren’t underground, they talked about what else they could be doing.

Last year, Folkways Reporter Capri Cafaro visited the Jennings, and brought us this story. 

Exploring And Explaining West Virginia

Humorist and essayist Laura Jackson’s book Deep & Wild explores and explains West Virginia — or some of it.

Courtesy

West Virginia writer and humorist Laura Jackson is an avid explorer of backroads and scenic byways. Inspired by her trips, she wrote a series of essays about what she saw in her home state. They became her 2023 book, “Deep & Wild: On Mountains, Opossums & Finding Your Way in West Virginia.”

Producer Bill Lynch spoke with Jackson.

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Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by Edd Snodderly, Jeff Ellis, David Mayfield Parade, Dinosaur Burps, Kaia Kater, Steve Earle, Sean Watkins and Blue Dot Sessions.

Bill Lynch is our producer. Abby Neff is our associate producer. Our executive producer is Eric Douglas. Kelley Libby is our editor. Our audio mixer is Patrick Stephens. We had help this week from folkways editor Nicole Musgrave.

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.

Honing Storytelling Skills And Our Song Of The Week, This West Virginia Morning

On this West Virginia Morning, the latest Inside Appalachia explores the craft of telling tales, and our Song of the Week from singer-songwriter Kim Richey.

On this West Virginia Morning, James Froemel’s journey into storytelling has taken a lifetime; from reciting Emily Dickinson in sixth grade to winning the Vandalia Gathering’s Liar’s Competition in West Virginia. From the latest episode of Inside Appalachia, Folkways reporter Margaret McLeod Leef spoke with Froemel about telling tales.

And our Song of the Week is “A Place Called Home” by Ohio University alum and Nashville singer-songwriter Kim Richey, from her 2002 album “Rise.”

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 Shepherd University and Marshall University School of Journalism and Mass Communications.

West Virginia Morning is produced with help from Bill Lynch, Briana Heaney, Caelan Bailey, Chris Schulz, Curtis Tate, Emily Rice, Eric Douglas, Jack Walker, Maria Young and Randy Yohe.

Eric Douglas is our news director. Teresa Wills is our host. Maria Young produced this episode.

Listen to West Virginia Morning weekdays at 7:43 a.m. on WVPB Radio or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode. #WVMorning

WVPB Staff Reads: A Visit From St. Nick

On Christmas Eve 1822, Clement Clarke Moore was hosting a holiday gathering, and at some point in the evening he cleared his throat and began reading a lighthearted poem titled “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” which he had jotted down as a Christmas gift for his six children.

West Virginia Public Broadcasting is wishing you and your loved ones a happy holiday season. As we reflect on this past year and make plans for the new year, we want to thank you for supporting the work at WVPB.

To show our thanks, our staff and board members would like to present a reading of A Visit from St. Nicholas, also known as The Night Before Christmas.

We hope you enjoy it. Click the “Listen” button above to hear it, and scroll below for additional goodies.

A Visit From St. Nicholas

By Clement Clarke Moore

‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;

The children were nestled all snug in their beds;
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;

Flip the pages below to read the 1862 version of the story.

And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap,
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.

Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow,
Gave a lustre of midday to objects below,

When what to my wondering eyes did appear,
But a miniature sleigh and eight tiny rein-deer,

With a little old driver so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment he must be St. Nick.

More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name:
“Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! on, Cupid! on, Donder and Blitzen!

To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!”

Flip the pages below to read the 1864 version of the story.

As leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky;
So up to the housetop the coursers they flew
With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too—

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;

A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a pedler just opening his pack.

His eyes—how they twinkled! his dimples, how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard on his chin was as white as the snow;

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke, it encircled his head like a wreath;

He had a broad face and a little round belly
That shook when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly.
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;

A wink of his eye and a twist of his head
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,

And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight—
“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!”

Clement Clarke Moore

Courtesy of the Library of Congress

A Visit From St. Nicholas  —  The Backstory

The following contains excerpts from an article Paul Hond wrote for the Columbia Magazine about Clement C. Moore.

On Christmas Eve 1822, Clement Clarke Moore, a newly minted professor of Greek and Hebrew literature at General Theological Seminary at Columbia University, permitted himself a flight of whimsy. He was hosting a holiday gathering in his three-story house and at some point in the evening he cleared his throat and began reading a lighthearted poem titled “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” which he had jotted down as a Christmas gift for his six children.

With guests and family assembled, Moore uttered what would become an immortal couplet: “’Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house / Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.” The poem describes the Christmas Eve antics of St. Nicholas, the beloved 4th century patron saint of children. 

As the story goes (and there are many stories), a Moore family friend, Harriet Butler of Troy, New York, heard Moore read the poem and asked to copy it down. A year later, at Christmastime, Butler’s friend Sarah Sackett submitted the unsigned poem to the Troy Sentinel, which published it anonymously. The poem, author unknown, spread to other papers, becoming an early 19th century viral sensation. 

It wasn’t until 1837 that poet and editor Charles Fenno Hoffman published the 28 rhyming couplets under Moore’s name in a collection called The New-York Book of Poetry. But Moore remained mum about his authorship and did not explicitly claim credit until 1844, when, after seeing the poem misattributed in the Washington National Intelligencer, he revealed himself as the author of “some lines, describing a visit from St. Nicholas, which I wrote many years ago … not for publication, but to amuse my children.”

That same year, he included “A Visit” in a book of his own poems.

Click here to read the full article.

Citations:

Moore, Clement Clarke, et al. A visit from Saint Nicholas. [New York: James G. Gregory, publisher, 1862] Pdf. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/24005582/>.

Moore, Clement Clarke, L. Prang & Co, and Marian S. Carson Collection. A visit from St. Nicholas. [Boston: Published by L. Prang & Co., 159 Washington St, 1864] Pdf. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/73169323/>.

Suicide Prevention And Community Storytelling, This West Virginia Morning

On this West Virginia Morning, a 2022 report from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs indicated that veterans remain more likely to die by suicide than their civilian peers.

In the Eastern Panhandle, advocates say this requires new conversations on mental health. Jack Walker stopped by the Martinsburg VA Medical Center to learn more.

Also in this episode, storytelling and the arts can help build community and that’s just one of the goals of a popular FestivALL Charleston program. Recently Us & Them host Trey Kay joined other guests to explain what inspires them. We’ll hear an excerpt from the latest Us & Them episode.

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 Shepherd University and Marshall University School of Journalism and Mass Communications.

Maria Young produced this episode.

Listen to West Virginia Morning weekdays at 7:43 a.m. on WVPB Radio or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode. #WVMorning

Record Your Stories with StoryCorps!

West Virginia Public Broadcasting (WVPB) is partnering with StoryCorps to record, preserve, and share your stories! You can record an interview with a loved one in-person and add your story to American history at the Library of Congress.

[Huntington, WV]— West Virginia Public Broadcasting (WVPB) is partnering with StoryCorps to record, preserve, and share your stories! You can record an interview with a loved one in-person and add your story to American history at the Library of Congress.

The StoryCorps Mobile Tour will be at Marshall University in Huntington from September 12 to October 4.

“We are so excited to have StoryCorps return to West Virginia to collect the stories of the people who live here”, said WVPB Executive Director Eddie Isom. “We all have stories to tell and share with our loved ones, and it’s great that these conversations will be preserved. I hope as many people as possible takes advantage of this great opportunity while StoryCorps visits us.”

There are a limited number of appointments available, so reserve your spot today!

StoryCorps is made possible in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.

About StoryCorps: Founded in 2003, StoryCorps’ mission is to help us believe in each other by illuminating the humanity and possibility in us all – one story at as time. They are committed to the idea that everyone has an important story to tell and that everyone’s story matters. 

About West Virginia Public Broadcasting:

The mission of West Virginia Public Broadcasting (WVPB) is to educate, inform and inspire people by telling West Virginia’s story. WVPB is an indispensable resource for education, news and public affairs, emergency services and economic development. Learn more at wvpublic.org or find us on Facebook and Instagram.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Amanda Rogers
Marketing Manager
304-556-4911
arogers@wvpublic.org

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