Sep 4
by Beth Newberry
For many citizens and natives of Central and Southern Appalachia, watching the meteorologists on the Weather Channel pronounce the name of our mountain range is a cringe-worthy experience: “There’s a storm system making it’s way across the midwest and will hit the Appa-LAY-shun mountains of Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia.” Read more
By Niki King
This February, I had the honor of seeing Saro Lynch-Thomason, an Appalachian activist and musician, perform Blair Pathways, a traveling multi-media show at Berea College that she developed to bring attention to the historic and endangered Blair Mountain.
By Beth Newberry
“I am both insider and outsider,” says documentary photographer and Appalachian Roger May. Read more
by Parker Hobson
This past May 18, I made a 3-and-a-half hour trip in a rickety minivan, from my current home of Whitesburg, Ky. to my hometown of Louisville, Ky. I was traveling to represent my small, community radio station at Louisville Loves Mountains Day, a benefit for the grassroots citizens’ activism group Kentuckians for the Commonwealth. Read more
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.”
By Niki King
I came across a story NPR reported last year about a Seattle company that is creating scannable codes for burial markers. It said these codes can be placed on tombstones so visitors can learn about their departed, leave messages or record stories about them. A person needs only a smart phone and a free app to access the information.
I listened in rapt attention, imagining the possibilities for such technology at my own family cemetery. At this time of year especially, my mind turns to the dead there and their safe keeping.
By Niki King
I’ve been thinking a lot about social media lately. It’s a residual warm and cozy feeling leftover from the Appalachian Studies Association conference in Indiana, Pa., this March.
Beth Newberry and I hosted a panel about online Appalachia, where we invited several folks whose work we admire to talk about how they’re using the web and social media to extend and enrich conversation, build community and encourage social action in the region. Read more
by Marianne Worthington
Marianne Worthington, who reviewed the autobiography Satan Is Real: The Ballad of the Louvin Brothers by Charlie Louvin and Benjamin Whitmer for The HillVille, interviewed writer Ben Whitmer about his role in helping Charlie Louvin tell the story of the Louvin Brothers in Satan Is Real. Read more
Did you miss our appearance on DJ Michael Young‘s radio show “Roots ‘n’ Boots” on WFPK last Sunday?
Fear not, the segment is now posted online for you to hear over and over again. Do we sound like you thought we would? Michael was a gracious host and led us in a great conversation about the similarities between our two platforms and our shared audiences. We also met The Country Gentleman, an icon of bluegrass radio programming, Mr. Berk Bryant who has hosted the program “Sunday Bluegrass” for more than two decades. We stopped short of asking for his autograph (Dude has a pompadour!).
Check out the interview over on WFPK’s Website and hear why we started The HillVille and what topics and stories we have planned for you!
Also, remember if you live in a desert of good radio, you can stream live both these good fellas’ shows from wfpk.org. “Roots ‘n’ Boots” is on each Sunday from 5-8pm and “Sunday Bluegrass” is on from 8-11pm.
We’re plum tickled to be appearing this Sunday, March 11, 2012, on the Roots ‘N ‘ Boots radio show, which airs from 5-8 p.m. (EST) on WFPK (91.9) out of Louisville, Ky. Fear not, friends who live outside of the Louisville listening area, you can stream the program live via WFPK’s Web site. Read more
The HillVille 