History | The HillVille

Apr 12

A review of “Satan is Real: The Ballad of the Louvin Brothers”

by Marianne Worthington

The first distinctive quality about Satan Is Real: The Ballad of the Louvin Brothers, Charlie Louvin’s autobiography with Benjamin Whitmer, published just months after his death last year, is the physical book itself. Readers who study this volume on an electronic reader will be denied all the corporeal pleasures of holding this cleverly designed book, which resembles a 10-cent pulp fiction classic (jacketless hardback), complete with enticing endorsements and outrageous artwork. In this case the artwork is the same as the Louvin Brothers’ 1958 classic album Satan Is Real (more on that a little later). Read more

Mar 8

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Books for the Roots and Boots Buff

By Niki King

Here are a few fave rootsy music reads we’ve come across recently, loved well through the years and are looking forward to in the near future. Read more

Mar 1

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

Feb 27

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Chatting with Scholar, Author Emily Satterwhite

By Niki King

We here at The HillVille can’t get enough of Emily Satterwhite’s thought-provoking book Dear Appalachia: Readers, Identity, and Popular Fiction since 1878, in which she examines how readers receive best-selling Appalachian fiction. We recently caught up with Satterwhite for a quick, follow-up conversation about the new release. Read our review of the book here.

Jan 26

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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.

Jan 23

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Micropolitan Manifesto: A Journey from the Big Apple to Back Home

In 2008, Katie McCaskey made the decision to move from NYC, back home to Staunton, Va., where she could afford to own a house and open a business. Even though Staunton is small, she still enjoys downtown amenities, the town’s historic character and walkability, the same things she loved about urban living. Becoming an entrepreneur hasn’t always been smooth sailing, but the experience has made her a passionate advocate for small towns, ‘micropolitans’ as she calls them, and their potential. She’s written an inspiring manifesto encouraging others to invest in them as she has. She recently shared her discoveries with The HillVille.

Jan 19

Remembering Chicago’s “Hillbilly Problem”

By Niki King

This week chicagomag.com’s Whet Moser contemplated race relations and Southern migration to the Windy City in the years up to and following World War II, a time when millions of Appalachians were moving to Chicago and other Midwestern cities to find work.

Jan 16

Latinos Speak from Affrilachia: A Selection from PLUCK! The Journal of Affrilachian Arts and Culture

For five months, at the request of and via the introduction of Frank X Walker, editor of PLUCK! The Journal of Affrilachian Arts and Culture, four writers shared stories of food, land, home, race, sexuality and writing. In doing so, they illuminated the experience of being Latino in the United States and in Appalachia specifically. Read more

Jan 7

Knoxville Girl or The Scruff Dreams Are Made Of

By Marianne Worthington

The Henley Street Bridge in Knoxville, Tenn.—a stunning arched connector that spans the Tennessee River and joins the downtown area with south Knoxville— is being dismantled and rebuilt. Read more

Jan 3

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Town & Country: Two days in North Georgia

By Niki King

The family of a dear friend of mine recently finished the final touches on a lux, three-story cabin on a wooded lot overlooking Lake Lanier in North Georgia. It makes for the perfect get-away spot, so our group of friends from high school, still close after all these years, agreed to meet there for a two-day reunion.