A photographer’s “love letter to Appalachia”: Interview with Roger May
By Beth Newberry
“I am both insider and outsider,” says documentary photographer and Appalachian Roger May. Read more
Posts from the ‘Art’ Category
Apr 17
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Bristol Builds From Its Music History Up
By Niki King
BRISTOL Tenn./Va. – The moment the Gentleman of the Road tour announced that it would stop in Bristol this August, I emphatically decided I would go. It appealed to me for about a dozen reasons. Read more
From the Hollers to City Streets: A Review of 2/3 Goat’s EP “Stream of Conscience”
By Beth Newberry
The video for the title track of 2/3 Goat’s EP Stream of Conscience features members of the New York City-based band standing knee-deep in a stream in the mountains of Central Appalachia. Lead singer and mandolin player Annalyse McCoy belts: “Stream of conscience hear my cry / I don’t want my hills to die.”
Oscar Parsons: City Boy with a Country Sound
By Niki King
In honor of our Roots ‘n Boots music issue, ex-App Oscar Parsons shares his story of how he got to be a fiddler in a bluegrass band in a flat, almost mid-western city miles away from his mountain south home. Read more
Hillbilly Artifacts: Berea College Documents Stereotypes
by Beth Newberry
Old school Mountain Dew cans. Miniature moonshine jugs. Outhouse-themed ceramics. Are these mass-produced items of hillbilly, pop culture kitsch or valued items in a museum collection? Read more
Making Mountain Music: Sam Shinault is Back Home Proud
Welcome to another installment of our “Back Home Proud” series, a re-occurring feature in which Apps and Ex-Apps tell us, in their own words, what their Appalachian identity means to them. Today we hear from Sam Shinault, a photographer, guitarist and mandolin player for the Two Dollar Bill Band, an old-time, bluegrass and newgrass band in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia. Read more
Kudzu Forever: Photographer captures beauty and malice of ‘Mile-a-Minute’ Vine
By Beth Newberry
The beauty and strength of kudzu was not lost on me when I first moved to Harlan Co., Ky. as a child. At the bottom of the mountain where we lived was a no-name convenience store. From its parking lot, I could toss my head back and see the skyscraper-high trees covered with long braids of Kudzu. Read more
Appalachian Poets Confront “StereoType”
This week we explore not only mass media portrayal of Appalachians, but the ways Apps respond to stereotyping. Contributor Abby Malik reports on how six writers dismantle stereotypes and misconceptions through their creative work and public art.
John Haywood is Back Home Proud
This is the first installment of our “Back Home Proud” series, a re-occurring feature in which Apps and Ex-Apps tell us, in their own words, what their Appalachian identity means to them. In keeping with our “Rural Retreat” issue, we hear from John Haywood, a painter and musician, who moved from Eastern Kentucky to Louisville and back again. He now operates his own tattoo parlor on Main Street in Whitesburg, Ky.
Rockers and Authors Showcase Common Cause in Kentucky
by Beth Newberry
On Thursday night, Dec. 29, hundreds of people—city and country folk—crowded the lobby of the Brown Theatre in downtown Louisville, Ky. waiting for the doors of the theatre to open to grab the best of the general admission seats for the sold out show featuring rock ‘n’ roll powerhouse Yim Yames (a.k.a. Jim James) of My Morning Jacket, solo artists Ben Sollee and Daniel Martin Moore, percussionist Dan Dorff, banjo player Joan Shelley and writers Silas House and Jason Howard. Read more
The HillVille 