Menu Expand Menu Close
Back to Top
Filter Search Expand Close Filter
Search Expand Search Close
["Jenny Smith is an old-time fiddler, dulcimer player, banjo musician and clog dancer from Lost Creek, West Virginia. I interviewed her with her mother, Dee Cogar Bright, from Sutton, West Virginia. When she was young, Smith apprenticed with fiddler Melvin Wine through the former Augusta Heritage Apprenticeship Program. In this interview, they speak about their family lore, and the old-time music and square dance traditions, mainly in Braxton and Webster counties."]%

1. Transcript of oral history of Dee Cogar Bright and Jenny Smith

Identifier:
4224.BrightDeeJennySmith.IntTranscript.12.19.17
Title:
Transcript of oral history of Dee Cogar Bright and Jenny Smith
Date:
2017-12-19
Creator:
Smith, Jenny, Bright, Dee Cogar
Contributor:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
Banjo, Folk music--West Virginia, Fiddling, Wine, Melvin, Appalachian dulcimer and autoharp music, Square dance music--United States, Apprenticeship programs, Folk music festivals, Old-time music, Hammons (Family : W. Va.), Fiddle tunes
Location:
Weston (W. Va.)
["Frank George (October 6, 1928 November 15, 2017), a Bluefield native, was a banjo player, fiddler, and piper, who also played piano, organ, hammer and lap dulcimer, and was a walking compendium of West Virginia traditional music history and jokes. He was the recipient of the 1994 Vandalia Award, West Virginias highest folklife honor. Jane George (November 11, 1922 February 19, 2018) helped launch the craft revival in the Mountain State through extensive fieldwork with traditional artists, educational programming, and by co-founding the Mountain State Art & Craft Fair at Cedar Lakes. She also hosted Mountain Heritage weekends and Kanawha County Parks Mountaineer Day Camps to teach young mountaineers about their cultural heritage, founded two Scottish dance troupes, and served as a 4-H agent in multiple counties. She was the 1993 Vandalia Award recipient. "]%

2. Transcript of oral history of Frank and Jane George

Identifier:
4224.GeorgeFrankGeorgeJane.IntTranscript.4.19.16
Title:
Transcript of oral history of Frank and Jane George
Date:
2016-04-19
Creator:
George, Franklin, George, Jane Taylor
Contributor:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
Fiddling, Walker, John Homer, 4-H clubs, Craft festivals, Old-time music, Folk music--West Virginia, Banjo, Fiddle tunes
Location:
Roane County (W. Va.)
["Trevor Hammons is a 17-year old banjo player and fiddler from Pocahontas County, and a member of the legendary musical Hammons Family. He is the only member of the Hammons Family who still actively plays music in the familys old-time tradition."]%

3. Transcript of oral history of Trevor Hammons

Identifier:
4224.HammonsTrevor.IntTranscript.4.19.18
Title:
Transcript of oral history of Trevor Hammons
Date:
2018-04-19
Creator:
Hammons, Trevor
Contributor:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
Old-time music, Fiddling, Hammons (Family : W. Va.), Fiddle tunes, Banjo, Folk music--West Virginia
Location:
Marlinton (W. Va.), Pocahontas County (W. Va.)
["Sam & Joe HerrmannJoe Herrmann (b.1949) and Sam Herrmann (b. 1949), both Maryland natives, are traditional musicians who play together as part of Critton Hollow String Band. They have been a couple since the mid-1970s when they moved to Hampshire County, West Virginia. Joe is a fiddle and banjo player, and Sam is a guitar and hammer dulcimer player. Sam is also a knitter, hand yarn spinner, and owns the knitting kit company Samspun. They live on a piece of land in Paw Paw, WV where they keep sheep.Interviewers note:Interview with Sam and Joe Herrmann of Critton Hollow String Band on the back porch of their home in Critton Hollow, Paw Paw, West Virginia. Sam was knitting a childs sweater during the interview."]%

4. Transcript of oral history of Joe and Sam Herrmann

Identifier:
4224.HerrmannJoeHerrmann.IntTranscript.7.19.16
Title:
Transcript of oral history of Joe and Sam Herrmann
Date:
2016-07-19
Creator:
Herrmann, Sam, Herrmann, Joe
Contributor:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
Folk music--West Virginia, Fiddle tunes, Sheep farming, Dulcimer, Banjo, Critton Hollow Stringband, Old-time music, Fiddling, Appalachian dulcimer and autoharp music, Rizzetta, Sam, Knitters (Persons)
Location:
Hampshire County (W. Va.)
["Kim Johnson and Cody Jordan were participants in the 2020-2021 West Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Program. Kim Johnson, a resident of South Charleston led an apprenticeship in banjo traditions of central West Virginia with apprentice Cody Jordan of Charleston. Johnson began playing with fiddler Wilson Douglas in 1979 and has played with and learned from many acclaimed West Virginia old-time musicians including Frank George and Lester McCumbers. She has taught both locally and nationally, at Augusta Heritage Center, Allegheny Echoes, The Festival of American Fiddle Tunes, and the Berkeley Old-time Music Convention. Jordan plays guitar in The Modock Rounders with Johnson, touring across the state and region, and is looking forward to expanding his knowledge of central West Virginia old-time banjo traditions.See our feature on Johnsons apprenticeship with Jordan here: https://wvfolklife.org/2020/09/04/2020-folklife-apprenticeship-feature-kim-johnson-cody-jordan-banjo-traditions-of-central-west-virginia/The West Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Program offers up to a $3,000 stipend to West Virginia master traditional artists or tradition bearers working with qualified apprentices on a year-long in-depth apprenticeship in their cultural expression or traditional art form. These apprenticeships aim to facilitate the transmission of techniques and artistry of the forms, as well as their histories and traditions.The apprenticeship program grants are administered by the West Virginia Folklife Program at the West Virginia Humanities Council in Charleston and are supported in part by an Art Works grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. West Virginia Folklife is dedicated to the documentation, preservation, presentation, and support of West Virginias vibrant cultural heritage and living traditions."]%

5. Transcript of oral history of Kim Johnson and Cody Jordan

Identifier:
4224.JohnsonKimJordanCody.IntTranscript.8.19.20
Title:
Transcript of oral history of Kim Johnson and Cody Jordan
Date:
2020-08-19
Creator:
Jordan, Cody, Johnson, Kim (Banjoist)
Contributor:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
Folk music festivals, Folk music--West Virginia, Old-time music, Fiddling, Fiddle tunes, Apprenticeship programs, Banjo
Location:
Charleston (W. Va.), Spring Hill (South Charleston, W. Va.), Kanawha County (W. Va.)
["Thomas Alan Cathead Johnston (b. 1952) is a bluegrass and country musician from McDowell County, WV. He is a former bassist in Mel Streets band The Swing Kings and his songs have been recorded by Del McCoury, Tommy Webb, and others."]%

6. Transcript of oral history of Alan "Cathead" Johnston

Identifier:
4224.JohnstonAlan.IntTranscript.4.14.16
Title:
Transcript of oral history of Alan "Cathead" Johnston
Date:
2016-04-14
Creator:
Johnston, Alan
Contributor:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
Fiddling, Fiddle tunes, Banjo, Folk music--West Virginia, McCoury, Del, 1939-, Bluegrass music, Goins, Melvin, 1933-, Street, Mel, Old-time music, Country music radio stations, Country music, Bowed stringed instruments
Location:
Welch (W. Va.), McDowell County (W. Va.)