Daniel Johnston recorded songs in his parents' basement in rural West Virginia that would eventually inspire artists such as Kurt Cobain, Beck, Wilco, and Sonic Youth. In this award-winning episode of Us & Them, host Trey Kay explores the life, art, and enduring legacy of the late singer-songwriter and visual artist whose creative genius and struggles with bipolar disorder made him one of America's most influential outsider artists.
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Jewish Food and Music, and the Struggle to Keep a Synagogue in Appalachia Alive
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The Jewish holiday of Hanukkah began December 6, and continues through December 14th at sundown. In light of Hanukkah, this week’s show features Jewish Appalachians, a group that’s not really talked about a whole lot.
Jewish communities across West Virginia are struggling to keep their traditions alive.
“It is actually kind of scary. I worry because a lot of people my age are moving away for, like, school or jobs and because of that the communities are getting smaller,” said Kirston Kennedy, a young Jewish Appalachian who inspired our show.
She recently sent a message to Inside Appalachia’s host, Jessica Lilly, wondering if we had ever done an episode about Jewish Appalachians. “I thought you may be able to let people know that we are here as well. We are small, but we are here.”
Jews now only make up .1% of West Virginia’s population.
Thanks to Kirston Kennedy’s inspiration, this week’s episode of Inside Appalachia features stories from an award-winning series, “Story of the Jews”, produced by West Virginia Public Broadcasting in 2014.
We’ll hear from two West Virginians who survived the Holocaust.
We’ll stop by the Temple Israel in Charleston to break bread for a traditional meal. People in Charleston, West Virginia, recently got a chance to taste some foods that might not have been familiar to them – like noodle Kugel and Matzoh ball soup.
Credit courtesy Joni Deutsch
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Joni Deutsch with her grandfather Stanley Deutsch, the first Jewish person to be elected in the W.Va. state legislature.
This week’s show also features Jewish music. For help with the episode’s soundtrack, Inside Appalachia’s Roxy Todd went to the Temple Israel to speak with Rabbi Jim Cohn. She found out that Rabbi Cohn’s collection of Jewish music is vast and varied.
Credit Scotty White/ Inside Appalachia
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Volunteer serving Matzo ball soup at The Taste of Jewish Cuisine
Music in today’s show was providedBen Townsend,, Rabbi Cohn, Josh Barrett, Mike Pushkin, Maccabeats, and Bela Fleck & Abigail Washburn as heard on Mountain Stage. Our Appetite Appalachia music is by the Carolina Sunshine Trio.
Daniel Johnston recorded songs in his parents' basement in rural West Virginia that would eventually inspire artists such as Kurt Cobain, Beck, Wilco, and Sonic Youth. In this award-winning episode of Us & Them, host Trey Kay explores the life, art, and enduring legacy of the late singer-songwriter and visual artist whose creative genius and struggles with bipolar disorder made him one of America's most influential outsider artists.
The late singer-songwriter Daniel Johnston grew up in West Virginia and came onto the indie music scene in the 1980s. Last year, Johnston was inducted into the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame and he’s featured in the next episode of Us & Them. In this award-winning show, host Trey Kay learns about Johnston’s legacy which was partly shaped by his challenges with mental illness.
The Public Service Commission of West Virginia is currently conducting public comment hearings concerning developer NextEra Energy’s application to construct a new 107.5-mile-long transmission line from Pennsylvania through West Virginia to Virginia. WVPB spoke with NextEra about the project.
Appalachia is home to many types of music: Old-time and bluegrass, of course, but also rock and hip hop, Americana and jazz, metal and hardcore — and dungeon synth. In fact, that genre, which spun out of black metal, will be showcased outside Whitesburg, Kentucky this weekend, June 13 and 14, at Appalachian Dungeon Fest.
