MetaFilter posts tagged with Appalachian

The Banjo Ninja

bwg — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 06:49:34 -0800

A few days back I was introduced to the Banjo Ninja [via Boingboing] and found myself instantly hooked to the 'gritty hard edge Appalachian claw-hammer and Scruggs style banjo with punk rock intensity'. The more I watched video and listened to streaming tracks on Phillip Roebuck's web site, the more I liked it, particularly Summons Song, which blew me away. Other great tunes include Little Bo Peep and Monkey Fist. The downside to my newfound musical interest is that being in Hong Kong I can't buy any of the tracks via iTunes or Amazon, which sucks royally because I would love to send Phillip some money for my favourite tracks. After searching MeFi all I could find was one brief mention in the green back in 2007 (which I missed as I don't always visit Ask MeFi), and couldn't believe Roebuck hasn't been introduced via the blue, so I hereby rectify that situation. It may not suit everyone's tastes, but I defy you not to tap your feet.

The First Thru-HIker

Miko — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 10:28:48 -0800

In 1948, WWII veteran Earl Shaffer decided to "walk the Army out of his system" by hiking the full length of the Appalachian Trail, Georgia to Maine, in one season. At the time, no one had attempted it, and the Appalachian Trail Conference didn't think it could be done. Not only did he complete it, setting the standard for generations of thru-hikers to follow, but he did the walk twice more in his life, the last time at the age of 79.

Mountain Bluegrass

netbros — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 08:51:57 -0800

Music in the Digital Library of Appalachia provides an unprecedented resource for study of repertoire, technique, lore, and the musical interchanges among the region's traditional musicians. Once you know what you like, it's easy to find the music live with Blue Ridge Music Trails. Meet musicians who have grown up with that music, visit settings in which Blue Ridge folk music thrives, see traditional dancing, and in many cases, take part in the festivities. The Crooked Road, Virginia’s Heritage Music Trail, winds through the mountains of Southwest Virginia. Along the trail, the Bluegrass, Old Time, and Traditional Country music is as beautiful and rugged as the landscape itself. [previous 1, 2]

Jimmy Smith Park

xorry — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 21:26:05 -0800

Jimmy Smith Park. Breadcrumbs so you can find your way back: Jimmy Smith Park -> About -> Rivers Park -> Dreams about Drunks -> The evolution of previously.

"We were on our own resources and we knew it. And that's what this business is all about."

A dead Quaker — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 17:52:27 -0800

So you've finished hiking the Appalachian Trail, just came down from Mount Katahdin, and you're wondering what to do now. Well, there's always the International AT, which goes through the Chic-Choc Mountains on the Gaspé Peninsula before crossing over to Newfoundland. Then you'd have hiked the tallest mountains in Quebec, right? Wrong. 800 miles to the north, on the border of Quebec and Newfoundland, lie the Torngats. The name "Torngat" comes from the local Inuit for "spirits". The tallest of them, Mount Caubvick/Mont d'Iberville, was first climbed in 1973 by a group of kayakers who paddled up the Labrador coast, trekked 40 miles inland looking for runnable streams, and finding none decided to climb some of the mountains. To protect (slightly) against the steepness of the climb, they belayed each other using towlines from the kayaks. Of their experience at the summit, one of the hikers, Christopher Goetze, had this to say: "It was 5:00 P.M. when we got to the summit and the air was getting colder. We had nothing to eat and dinner was a long way off. Would bears have cleaned out our campsite while we were gone? ... Perhaps our boats were being destroyed this very minute by some arctic rodents. ... for the moment we put (these thoughts) out of our minds and leaned contentedly against the small cairn we had hastily built. To the east Bruce was a small red speck beyond the minarets. To the northeast we could see the ocean, covered with pack ice to the horizon. North of us were the calm shadowed waters of a large fiord 5,500 feet below us. To the west mountains became gentler, petering out to the ocean again beyond the horizon, while to the south we could follow the route we had walked through the interior rolling lowlands. It was a vast and beautiful land." Other stories and some beautiful pictures are here. Peakbagger.com has some more information about Mount Caubvick.

Jean Ritchie, "Mother of Folk Music"

ethel — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 02:57:20 -0800

Jean Ritchie, Mother of folk music. Abigail and Balis Ritchie of Viper, Perry County, Kentucky had 14 children, and Jean was the youngest... In the summer of 1946, she [more old timey from the Florida Memory Project] moved to work in the Henry Street Settlement in New York. There she met Alan Lomax,* Oscar Brand, Leadbelly, and Pete Seeger and started singing her family songs again. In 1948 she shared the stage with The Weavers, Woody Guthrie and Betty Sanders at the Spring Fever Hootenanny. By 1952, she was traveling on a Fulbright Fellowship to trace and document the roots of her heritage in the British Isles. In 1955, her first book, Singing Family of the Cumberlands, was hailed as an American classic. Her many recordings and appearances at major folk festivals, including the early Newport Folk Festivals, cultivated a revival of interest in Appalachian music and culture. She also became known as an insightful [realplayer required] songwriter, penning such classics as Blue Diamond Mines, Black Waters, and The L & N Don't Stop Here Anymore, about life in eastern Kentucky coal country. Her itinerary page hasn't been updated in a while, but she is an active, performing musician, playing 10-15 shows per year. *there are several other songs before Ritchie's under this link, and the player makes it so you have to listen through to get to track 4, her beautiful version of "The Cuckoo." also of note: at least a few of the YouTube links come from her filmmaker husband George Pickow's YouTube account

Down with the old folks at... MySpace.

flapjax at midnite — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 01:04:35 -0800

Each of the following MySpace Music pages features bios and/or photos and/or videos and/or miscellaneous related materials and/or up to four songs by each of the following Old Time, Traditional, Appalachian folk (and related) artists: Lowe Stokes, Clarence Ashley, Charlie Poole, Gid Tanner and the Skillet Lickers, Roanoke Jug Band, Roscoe Holcomb, Hobart Smith, The Weems String Band, Burnet & Rutherford, Bascom Lamar Lunsford, John Masters, Dock Bogg s, Tampa Joe & Macon Ed, William Stepp, Buddy Thomas, Buell Kazee, Isidore Soucy, John Salyer, Cousin Emmy, Luther Strong, Elizabeth Cotten, Fred Cockerham, G.B. Grayson, Melvin Wine, Lewis Brothers, Uncle Dave Macon, George Lee Hawkins and Wilmer Watts. And here's some general Old Time (etc.) pages, featuring various artists: Dust To Digital, Traditional Music of Beech Mountain and North Carolina Folklife Institute. And though they present all kinds of old music (not only Trad/Old Time and such), I'd like to include a link here to the Venerable Music MySpace: they are a wonderful resource for historic music of many kinds. And they have some wonderful old photos on their page.

"Tiny shrunken heads peering down."

GrammarMoses — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 06:38:58 -0800

Originally made by Native American tribes, applehead dolls are now considered a form of downhome Appalachian folk art. The late Mary Winsheimer won numerous awards for hers, which can still be purchased online from her son. You can easily learn to make them yourself; apparently one can even earn a living at it.

The New Tribal Revolution

Foci for Analysis — Sat, 14 Jul 2007 16:57:13 -0800

Is Neo-tribalism [rand.org, PDF, 297 KB] humanity's future? An ideology influenced by the Ishmael series by Daniel Quinn and that predicts the collapse of society and the necessity of ”walking away”, it's growing globally with neo-tribes already established. The Anthropik Tribe's goal is to ultimately form a "functional hunter-gatherer tribe in the future". Anthropik is part of The Appalachian Confederation, a /neo-tribal league/tribe of tribes/rhizome/ with it's own council, annual festival and plans for an army. Also, check out this movie about modern tribalism.

Hot Hot HOT!

XQUZYPHYR — Fri, 09 Dec 2005 09:38:01 -0800

Appalachian State University is HOT, HOT, HOT. An analysis of a promo video for Appalachian State University that was apparently intended to make students want to come to their school.

Appalshop

PrinceValium — Thu, 08 May 2003 08:46:57 -0800

The Appalshop, nestled in the hills of coal-stained eastern Kentucky, was founded in 1969 as a War on Poverty project designed to train young people in Appalachia for jobs in film and television. Today, it flourishes as one of the premier cultural outposts of a proud and struggling swath of America. Its projects include documentary films, a record label, and one of the best public radio stations in the country.

Secret Life of Gravy — Tue, 08 Oct 2002 08:15:00 -0800

The Appalachian Trail is a continuous marked footpath that goes from Katahdin in Maine to Springer Mountain in Georgia, a distance of about 2160 miles. It passes through 14 states and takes about 5 to 7 months to hike through. Hey, if a blind man could do it, so can you. If you are not actually up for hiking right this moment, you could always...(more inside)