Herbalist Leenie Hobbie & apprentice Jon Falcone discuss their West Virginia Folklife traditional Appalachian herbalism apprenticeship, which took place during COVID-19
Date:
2021-02-19
Creator:
Hobbie, Leenie and Falcone, Jon
Subject:
Traditional medicine, Herb products, Herbalists, Herb gardening, COVID-19 (Disease), Apprenticeship programs, Herbs--Utilization, Forage plants, Herbs--Therapeutic use, foodways, and Gardening
Location:
Hardy County (W. Va.) and Hampshire 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."]](/thumb/4224HerrmannJoeHerrmannSamVideo71916 "Joe and Sam Herrmann play \"Old Rip\" by Lynn Morris on their back porch")
![["Joe Herrman (master artist, b. 1949) of Paw Paw in Hampshire County and Dakota Karper (apprentice, b. 1992) of Capon Bridge are participants in the 2020-2021 West Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Program, studying old-time fiddle. Herrmann is a founding member of the Critton Hollow String Band and has taught old-time fiddle to many private students and at the Augusta Heritage Center. Dakota Karper, a Hampshire County native, has been playing old-time fiddle for 20 years and runs The Cat and the Fiddle Music School. Herrmann and Karper apprenticed together previously in 2004 (when Karper was 11) through Augusta Heritage Centers former Apprenticeship Program.See the West Virginia Folklife Program feature on Herrmann and Karper: https://wvfolklife.org/2020/12/03/2020-folklife-apprenticeship-feature-joe-herrmann-dakota-karper-old-time-fiddle/"]](/thumb/4224HerrmannJoeKarperDakotaVideo001061720 "Joe Herrmann and Dakota Karper play the fiddle tune \"Rocky Mountain Goat\" from Mose Coffman")
![["Leenie Hobbie of Rio in Hampshire County and Jon Falcone of Lost River in Hardy County were participants in the 2020-2021 West Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Program. Hobbie led an apprenticeship in traditional Appalachian herbalism with Falcone. Hobbie has been a family herbalist for over 30 years, originally learning the tradition from her grandmother, who used both garden-grown and wild harvested plants at her home in the mountains of Southwestern Virginia. She has studied with acclaimed herbalists across the country and has taught the tradition within her community in Hampshire County. Falcone is a novice herbalist who hopes to apply his skills to his future homestead in West Virginia.In this video, Hobbie & Falcone discuss the topic and scope of their apprenticeship and adaptations they made in order to continue to teach and learn during the COVID-19 pandemic. See our feature on Falcones apprenticeship with Hobbie here: https://wvfolklife.org/2020/10/26/202...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."]](/thumb/4224HobbieLeenieFalconeJonVideo00121921mp4 "Herbalist Leenie Hobbie & apprentice Jon Falcone discuss their West Virginia Folklife traditional Appalachian herbalism apprenticeship, which took place during COVID-19")