Folkways Highlights Of 2023, Inside Appalachia

Since 2019, Inside Appalachia has brought you stories from our Folkways Reporting Project. 

Folkways was created to boost awareness of Appalachian folk traditions and how they’re passed between people. In 2023, we added 25 stories to our growing archive that explore diverse arts, culture, food and people of Appalachia. 

This week, look back at some of the past year’s Folkways highlights. 

In This Episode:

• Flat Five Studios Fame And Future
• Mushroom Hunting In VA And WV
• Taxidermy In Yadkin County
• A Family Connection To Face Jugs

Flat Five Studios Fame And Future

Flat Five Studio was a small recording studio in Salem, Virginia. For years, the studio thrived recording local bands and a lot of bluegrass acts. Then, the Dave Matthews Band in eastern Virginia began looking for a quiet place to record its first album.

Host Mason Adams brought us this story. 

Mushroom Hunting In VA And WV

Wild food foraging has been a staple of Appalachian folk culture for generations. In recent years, mushroom hunting has taken off with fungi enthusiasts heading to the woods to seek out their favorites.

Folkways Reporter Wendy Welch spent time with some of them in Virginia and West Virginia and brings us this story. 

Taxidermy In Yadkin County

A lot of people are fascinated by the results of taxidermy — whether it’s a stuffed skunk on display at a park’s visitor’s center, or a big buck on a friend’s wall. The preservation and mounting of dead animals have been around since at least the middle ages.

Folkways Reporter Margaret McLeod Leef has the story of one expert practitioner in Yadkin County, North Carolina.

A Family Connection To Face Jugs

You’ve probably seen pottery with a face on it somewhere. There are lots of examples of this type of art out there — from cheap souvenir shop knick-knacks to museum-quality pieces that can sell for millions of dollars.

Some are connected to African Face Jugs, an art that enslaved people brought with them to America.

Folkways Reporter Zack Harold traced the story of face jugs, beginning in the basement pottery studio of West Virginia artist Ed Klimek.    

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Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by The Dirty River Boys, Noam Pikelny, Carolina Chocolate Drops, Carpenter Ants and Allan Cathead Johnston.

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.

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Inside Appalachia is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting.