Traditional Arts Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Chair Caning And A Housing Fight, Inside Appalachia

This week, we visit the Seeing Hand Association. They bring together people who are visually impaired to learn the craft of chair caning. Also, corporate greed has been gobbling up newspapers for years. Now, some of those same companies are taking a bite out of mobile home parks. They’re raising rents and letting repairs slide. And, as the Mountain Valley Pipeline nears completion, people who live near it say government officials are ignoring their concerns about pollution.

This week, we visit the Seeing Hand Association. They bring together people who are visually impaired to learn the craft of chair caning.

Corporate greed has been gobbling up newspapers for years. Now, some of those same companies are taking a bite out of mobile home parks. They’re raising rents and letting repairs slide.

And, as the Mountain Valley Pipeline nears completion, people who live near it say government officials are ignoring their concerns about pollution.

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

In This Episode:

Seeing Hand Fixes More Than Chairs

Employees restore caned chairs at the Seeing Hand workshop in Wheeling, West Virginia.

*Photo Credit: Clara Haizlett/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

A lot of folks in Appalachia grew up with caned chairs in the house. Maybe your parents or grandparents had a set in the kitchen, but you don’t see the old caned chairs as much as you used to. Cane breaks down and needs to be replaced. Few people know where to go to fix their chairs. So, a lot of them are discarded or thrown away. But they don’t have to be.

At a workshop in Wheeling, WV, a community of skilled workers repair old chairs and show that not everything that looks broken has to be thrown out. Folkways reporter Clara Haizlett brought us the story.

Quilting In The New, Traditional Way

Shane Foster pictured with a quilt made by his great-grandmother.

*Photo Credit: Liz Pahl/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

Passing on traditional knowledge happens in different ways. Shane Foster is an optometrist in Ohio and an avid quilter. Quilting had been in his family for generations, but to learn this traditional craft, Foster chose a way that’s a little less traditional.

From 2022, Folkways Reporter Liz Pahl has this story.

David Vs. Goliath At A Mobile Home Park

After a new owner took control of a mobile home park in Mercer County, West Virginia, the rents went up, and it seemed like less was done to take care of problems. One resident started looking into exactly who this new owner was.

Mason Adams brought us the story.

West Virginia Flood Concerns

The floods of 2016 devastated several counties and it has taken seven years for them to be mostly returned to normal.

*Photo Credit: Kara Lofton/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

Flooding has always been a threat in Appalachia, but over the past few decades, severe floods have become more frequent.

Curtis Tate spoke with Nicolas Zegre, an associate professor of forest hydrology at West Virginia University, about why West Virginia is so prone to flooding.

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Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by John Blissard, John Inghram, Tim Bing, Gerry Milnes, Mary Hott, and Tyler Childers.

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.

Remembering Travis Stimeling And The Age Of Deer, Inside Appalachia

This week on Inside Appalachia, we remember Travis Stimeling. The author, musician and educator left a deep mark on Appalachian culture, and the people who practice and document it. And, grab your dancing shoes and learn about a movement to make square dance calling more inclusive. Plus, it’s not just you. There are more deer than ever these days. A writer explores the long, complicated entwinement of people and our wild kin.

Inside Appalachia remembers Travis Stimeling. The author, musician and educator left a deep mark on Appalachian culture, and the people who practice and document it.

And, grab your dancing shoes and learn about a movement to make square dance calling more inclusive.

Plus, it’s not just you. There are more deer than ever these days. A writer explores the long, complicated entwinement of people and our wild kin.

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

In This Episode:

Remembering Travis Stimeling, A Musician, Scholar And Mentor
Traditional Dance Callers Updating For Inclusivity
The Age Of Deer

Remembering Travis Stimeling, A Musician, Scholar And Mentor

Travis Stimeling, a WVU professor and noted scholar of traditional Appalachian music, died in their home on Nov. 14, 2023.

*Photo Credit: Ellen Linscheid*

Travis Stimeling carried the torch for bluegrass and traditional music in Appalachia.

It was a shock when the author, musician and West Virginia University (WVU) professor died abruptly in November at the age of 43. News of their passing prompted an outpouring of remembrances from colleagues, former students and friends.

Some shared their stories with Folkways Reporter Zack Harold, who brought us this remembrance.

Traditional Dance Callers Updating For Inclusivity

A multi-generational group of dancers follows Becky Hill’s calling at the Augusta Heritage Center in July 2023.

*Photo Credit: Lydia Warren/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

The use of they/them pronouns signals more than a change in language; it’s also a cultural change that allows for people to be identified as they see themselves. And, it’s happening even in the region’s dance halls.

Folkways Reporter Lydia Warren brought us the story.

The Age Of Deer

Erika Howsare explores our relationship to deer, which has been long and complicated.

*Courtesy Photo*

Few animals are as polarizing as the white tail deer. They’re graceful and majestic — and kind of cool to see up close. But they can also ravage gardens, and drivers hit countless deer every year.

Yet, there seem to be more deer than ever.

Erika Howsare is the author of The Age of Deer: Trouble and Kinship with Our Wild Neighbors.

Producer Bill Lynch spoke with Howsare.

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Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by Amythyst Kiah, Watchhouse, John Blissard, Yonder Mountain String Band and Larry Rader.

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, 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: The Love Of Competition, Inside Appalachia

Appalachians love to compete. Whether it’s recreational league softball, a turkey calling contest or workplace chili cook offs, Mountain folks are in it to win it. But there’s more to competing than just winning or losing. In this show, we’ll meet competitors who are also keepers of beloved Appalachian traditions.

Appalachians love to compete. Whether it’s recreational league softball, a turkey calling contest or workplace chili cook offs, Mountain folks are in it to win it.

But there’s more to competing than just winning or losing.

In this show, we’ll meet competitors who are also keepers of beloved Appalachian traditions.

In This Episode:

Musgrave Reports From The Mountain Mushroom Festival

Tina Caroland shows off a morel mushroom at the Mountain Mushroom Festival in Irvine, Kentucky. Caroland has demonstrated how to fry morels at the festival for about 15 years. She purchased morels for a recent year’s cooking demonstration because Caroland and her family were slow to find morels at the start of the season.

*Credit: Nicole Musgrave/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

Each spring, people take to the woods in search of morels, a seasonal favorite throughout Appalachia, and they inspire all kinds of competition.

Folkways Reporter Nicole Musgrave went to the Mountain Mushroom Festival in Irvine, Kentucky and found people looking for the most mushrooms — the biggest mushrooms — and the tastiest way to eat mushrooms.

An Accident Of Appalachian History Led To A New Style of Pizza

In Wheeling, West Virginia, people are passionate about their pizza. People there say that an accident of history led to a new style of pizza – Appalachia’s contribution to America’s great regional pizza traditions. Folkways Reporter Zack Harold visited DiCarlo’s Famous Pizza to find out more.

*Credit: Zack Harold/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

Ever live in a place where there’s a competition between two restaurants, and people sort of decide which team they’re on?

Folkways Reporter Zack Harold says people in Wheeling, West Virginia are passionate about their pizza. That’s because an accident of history led to a new style and who’s better/who’s best contest that’s been going on for decades.

Brave Kids Continue Eisteddfod Tradition

Eisteddfod is probably not a word that rolls off the tongue of everyone in Appalachia. But in Wales, it refers to a traditional music competition that goes back nearly 1,000 years. Immigrants brought the tradition to southern Ohio, where it has endured for generations. Thanks in part to some brave kids.

Folkways Reporter Capri Cafaro has this story.

Playing To Eat And Eating To Play

Jared Kaplan holds the game he designed with Chris Kincaid.

*Credit: Clara Haizlett/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

Another competitive tradition that’s endured for generations is weekly board game night. Whether with family or friends, we play Monopoly, Settlers of Catan, and sometimes even Candyland.

Folkways Reporter Clara Haizlett reported on a board game that matches West Virginia’s favorite cryptids with some of its favorite places to eat.

A Southern Ohio Town Honors The Appalachian Connection To The NFL

Appalachia’s connection to professional football has always been a little loose. Lots of pro players have come out of Appalachia, but there’s really only one Appalachian NFL team — the Pittsburgh Steelers, or two if you count the Atlanta Falcons, as a listener recently argued we should.

It turns out, at least one other professional team has Appalachian DNA — the Detroit Lions. That franchise began as the Portsmouth Spartans in Portsmouth, Ohio, just across the river from Kentucky.

Sports fan and WVPB Reporter Randy Yohe has this story.

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What about you? What kind of competitions are happening in your neck of the woods? Maybe you know about a sport or contest we’ve never heard about. Or someone there makes pizza like nobody else. Tell us about it. Email us at InsideAppalachia@wvpublic.org.

Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by Charlie McCoy, The Steel Drivers, Larry Groce, David Mayfield, and Dean Martin.

Bill Lynch is our producer. Our executive producer is Eric Douglas. Kelley Libby is our editor. Our audio mixer is Patrick Stephens. Zander Aloi also helped produce this episode.

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.

Mushroom Mania, Soul Food And Aunt Jeanie, Inside Appalachia

This week on Inside Appalachia, we head to the woods and take a master class in foraging for wild mushrooms. We also break bread and talk soul food with Xavier Oglesby. And we’ll hear about old-time music legend Aunt Jeannie Wilson.

This week, we head to the woods and take a master class in foraging for wild mushrooms.

We also break bread and talk soul food with Xavier Oglesby, who is passing on generations of kitchen wisdom to his niece, Brooklynn.

And we’ll hear about old-time music legend Aunt Jeannie Wilson. A marker has been set near the place where people used to hear her play.

These stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

In This Episode:

Fun With Foraging For Fungi

These chanterelles are about to be turned into a tasty treat. They were harvested the day before an unsuccessful mushroom hunt, and turned into a topper for vanilla ice cream.

*Credit: Wendy Welch/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

Mushroom hunting has always been a part of Appalachian culture, but in recent years especially, mushrooms have been having a moment.

Folkways Reporter Wendy Welch spent time with foragers in Virginia and West Virginia to learn more.

Sharing Soul Food

Xavier Oglesby cuts onions for a macaroni salad he is cooking inside Manna House Ministries’ kitchen. A pot of boiling water is behind him, cooking the pasta for the dish.

*Credit: Vanessa Peña/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

Soul food is associated with Black communities in the deep south, but the cooking style is traditional to Appalachia, too. Folkways Fellow Vanessa Peña talked with Xavier Oglesby, a master artist in soul food cooking from Beckley, West Virginia.

A full interview with Xavier and Brooklynn Oglesby by Jennie Williams is archived at West Virginia University Libraries.

Aunt Jeanie Gets Her Due

West Virginia recently paid tribute to one of its traditional music greats. Aunt Jeanie Wilson was a clawhammer banjo player who performed for governors and presidents. She helped to keep mountain music alive through the 20th century during the rise of jazz, rock n’ roll and electric music.

WVPB’s Briana Heaney went to a ceremony honoring Wilson at Chief Logan State Park in Logan County.

Jayne Anne Phillip’s “Night Watch”

The career of author Jayne Anne Phillips spans nearly 50 years. Her home state of West Virginia has often figured into her books, giving a glimpse of the different decades of Appalachian life. Her latest novel is Night Watch, which takes readers to the Trans Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in the town of Weston several years after the end of the Civil War.

Bill Lynch spoke with Phillips about her book and growing up near the old asylum.

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Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by Town Mountain, Noam Pikelny, Justice & Jarvis, Jesse Milnes, Mary Hott and Little Sparrow.

This week, producer Bill Lynch filled in for host Mason Adams. 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.

Encore: Wildflowers, Paddle Makers, Turkey Calls — And More Inside Appalachia

This week, we’re airing an encore episode of Inside Appalachia. We’ll meet a man who makes wooden turkey calls. We’ll also meet people who make wooden paddles by hand and custom-decorate each one, and a man who repairs cuckoo clocks. Finally, we’ll travel to some of the most beautiful spots in Appalachia to find wildflowers, like Dolly Sods and the Canaan Valley of West Virginia.

This week, we’re airing an encore episode of Inside Appalachia.

We’ll meet a man who makes wooden turkey calls, but these aren’t just any turkey calls. Painter Brian Aliff doesn’t call himself an artist, but he intricately paints his turkey calls, which are now collectors’ items.

We’ll also meet people who make wooden paddles by hand and custom-decorate each one, and a man who repairs cuckoo clocks.

Finally, we’ll travel to some of the most beautiful spots in Appalachia to find wildflowers, like Dolly Sods and the Canaan Valley of West Virginia. And we wonder — are these areas becoming too popular?

These stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

In This Episode:

Welder Keeps Old Clocks Ticking

When you need to check the time, where do you look? Most people turn to their phones or digital watches. These days, it seems like every electronic device has a clock function in addition to whatever it’s supposed to do, but it hasn’t always been this way. Not all that long ago, marking the passage of time was the job of one device — a clock.

Folkways Reporter Zack Harold spent some time with Carl Witt, a man in Fairview, West Virginia, who learned how to repair clocks after crossing paths with the late Charles Decker. Witt, a welder at the time, decided to retire and went on to start his own clock repair business — Curiosity Clockworks.

Dolly Sods Hosts Wildflower Pilgrimage

Dolly Sods is federally protected public land — full of rocky ridges, soggy bogs and beautiful views. It’s also the site of an annual nature walk called the West Virginia Wildflower Pilgrimage. The event attracts wildflower and birding experts from around the country and was most recently held in May of this year.

Inside Appalachia Host Mason Adams made the pilgrimage in 2021 from his home in Floyd County, Virginia to Dolly Sods in West Virginia’s Canaan Valley.

Paddlers Design Their Own Gear

Appalachia has several huge rivers: the Gauley, the Youghiogheny and the New River, just to name a few. Whitewater paddling is popular in the region, but it wasn’t that long ago modern paddlers first started exploring these rivers, designing their own gear and even building their own paddles. Some of those DIY paddle makers are now master crafters and their work is in high demand.

As part of our Inside Appalachia Folkways Project, Clara Haizlett learned more.

Handmade Turkey Calls

Like many Appalachian traditions, turkey calls go way back. Historically, they’ve been used as a hunting tool, but one West Virginia artist has taken it to the next level. Brian Aliff makes hand-crafted, prize-winning decorative turkey calls. These pieces are functional and they’re becoming collector’s items, but it took a while for Aliff to think of himself as an artist.

Folkways Reporter Connie Kitts talks with Aliff on this week’s episode.

Increase In Tourism Puts Strain On Local Infrastructure

Tucker County, West Virginia, has seen a surge of new visitors from Washington, D.C. in the years since US Route 48, also known as Corridor H, opened. The growing number of visitors is good for business, but it’s also straining the resources of a county with just one stoplight and 7,000 year-round residents.

Mason Adams visited the towns of Thomas and Davis in Tucker County, West Virginia and has this story about managing growth and resources against the backdrop of expansive natural beauty.

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Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by Dinosaur Burps, The Chamber Brothers, and Wes Swing. Bill Lynch is our producer, but Roxy Todd originally produced this episode.

Our executive producer is Eric Douglas. Kelley Libby is our editor. Our audio mixer is Patrick Stephens. Zander Aloi also helped produce this episode.

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: The Love Of Competition, Inside Appalachia

Appalachians love to compete. Whether it’s recreational league softball, a turkey calling contest or workplace chili cookoffs, Mountain folks are in it to win it. But there’s more to competing than just winning or losing. In this show, we’ll meet competitors who are also keepers of beloved Appalachian traditions.

Appalachians love to compete. Whether it’s recreational league softball, a turkey calling contest or workplace chili cookoffs, Mountain folks are in it to win it.

But there’s more to competing than just winning or losing.

In this show, we’ll meet competitors who are also keepers of beloved Appalachian traditions.

In This Episode:

Musgrave Reports From The Mountain Mushroom Festival

Each spring, people take to the woods in search of morels, a seasonal favorite throughout Appalachia, and they inspire all kinds of competition.

An Accident Of Appalachian History Led To A New Style of Pizza

Ever live in a place where there’s a competition between two restaurants, and people sort of decide which team they’re on?

Brave Kids Continue Eisteddfod Tradition

Folkways Reporter Capri Cafaro has this story.

Playing To Eat And Eating To Play

Another competitive tradition that’s endured for generations is weekly board game night. Whether with family or friends, we play Monopoly, Settlers of Catan, and sometimes even Candyland.

Folkways Reporter Clara Haizlett reported on a board game that matches West Virginia’s favorite cryptids with some of its favorite places to eat.

A Southern Ohio Town Honors The Appalachian Connection To The NFL

It turns out, at least one other professional team has Appalachian DNA — the Detroit Lions. That franchise began as the Portsmouth Spartans in Portsmouth, Ohio, just across the river from Kentucky.

Sports fan and WVPB reporter Randy Yohe has this story.

——

Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by Charlie McCoy, The Steel Drivers, Larry Groce, David Mayfield, and Dean Martin.

Bill Lynch is our producer. Our executive producer is Eric Douglas. Kelley Libby is our editor. Our audio mixer is Patrick Stephens. Zander Aloi also helped produce this episode.

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.