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![["On the evening of Wednesday, January 16, 2019, The West Virginia Folklife Program hosted a showcase of their Folklife Apprenticeship Program, featuring master gospel and blues musician Doris Fields (aka Lady D) with apprentice Xavier Oglesby, and master old-time fiddler John D. Morris with apprentice Jen Iskow. The free event was held from 5:30-7:30pm at the historic MacFarland-Hubbard House, headquarters of the West Virginia Humanities Council (1310 Kanawha Blvd. E), in Charleston. The evening included musical performances by the two pairs and a question-answer session, followed by a reception.Doris Fields, who performs as Lady D, is known as West Virginias First Lady of Soul. A West Virginia native, she began singing in church choir as a child and has performed original and traditional blues, gospel, R&B, and soul across the state and country, including for the Obama for Change Inaugural Ball. Xavier Oglesby grew up singing in the black Pentecostal church and has performed in local a capella and theatre groups. He recently recorded voiceovers for the New River Gorge African American Heritage Auto Tour. Both Fields and Oglesby reside in Beckley.John D. Morris, of Ivydale, is an acclaimed West Virginia fiddler and tradition bearer who has been honored by the Augusta Heritage Center, the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame, the West Virginia Fiddler Award, and a National Heritage Fellowship for his role in sustaining the tradition. Jen Iskow, of Thomas, is a West Virginia University alumni, community organizer, artist, and designer at Beartown Design Studio. She has studied with numerous masters of Appalachian old-time fiddle.The West Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Program offers a 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. 2018 was the first year of the biennial Folklife Apprenticeship Program.Read more about the apprenticeship pairs on the West Virginia Folklife blog:https://wvfolklife.org/2018/12/03/2018-master-artist-apprentice-feature-doris-fields-aka-lady-d-xavier-oglesby-blues-black-gospel/https://wvfolklife.org/2018/11/09/2018-master-artist-apprentice-feature-john-morris-jen-iskow-old-time-fiddling-and-stories-of-clay-county/"]](/thumb/4224ApprenticeshipShowcaseVideo00211619 "Folklife Apprenticeship participants Jen Iskow and John Morris discuss Clay County doctor and musician Doc White and play one of his fiddle tunes")
- Identifier:
- 4224.ApprenticeshipShowcase.Video.002.1.16.19
- Title:
- Folklife Apprenticeship participants Jen Iskow and John Morris discuss Clay County doctor and musician Doc White and play one of his fiddle tunes
- Date:
- 2019-01-16
- Creator:
- Hilliard, Emily
- Subject:
- Folklore, Folk music--West Virginia, Clay County (W. Va.), Fiddle tunes, Concerts, Old-time music, Apprenticeship programs, and Fiddling
- Location:
- Charleston (W. Va.) and Clay County (W. Va.)
![["On the evening of Wednesday, January 16, 2019, The West Virginia Folklife Program hosted a showcase of their Folklife Apprenticeship Program, featuring master gospel and blues musician Doris Fields (aka Lady D) with apprentice Xavier Oglesby, and master old-time fiddler John D. Morris with apprentice Jen Iskow. The free event was held from 5:30-7:30pm at the historic MacFarland-Hubbard House, headquarters of the West Virginia Humanities Council (1310 Kanawha Blvd. E), in Charleston. The evening included musical performances by the two pairs and a question-answer session, followed by a reception.Doris Fields, who performs as Lady D, is known as West Virginias First Lady of Soul. A West Virginia native, she began singing in church choir as a child and has performed original and traditional blues, gospel, R&B, and soul across the state and country, including for the Obama for Change Inaugural Ball. Xavier Oglesby grew up singing in the black Pentecostal church and has performed in local a capella and theatre groups. He recently recorded voiceovers for the New River Gorge African American Heritage Auto Tour. Both Fields and Oglesby reside in Beckley.John D. Morris, of Ivydale, is an acclaimed West Virginia fiddler and tradition bearer who has been honored by the Augusta Heritage Center, the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame, the West Virginia Fiddler Award, and a National Heritage Fellowship for his role in sustaining the tradition. Jen Iskow, of Thomas, is a West Virginia University alumni, community organizer, artist, and designer at Beartown Design Studio. She has studied with numerous masters of Appalachian old-time fiddle.The West Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Program offers a 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. 2018 was the first year of the biennial Folklife Apprenticeship Program.Read more about the apprenticeship pairs on the West Virginia Folklife blog:https://wvfolklife.org/2018/12/03/2018-master-artist-apprentice-feature-doris-fields-aka-lady-d-xavier-oglesby-blues-black-gospel/https://wvfolklife.org/2018/11/09/2018-master-artist-apprentice-feature-john-morris-jen-iskow-old-time-fiddling-and-stories-of-clay-county/"]](/thumb/4224ApprenticeshipShowcaseVideo00411619 "John Morris reads a Clay County poem about a \"young girl from Booger Hole\" at the West Virginia Humanities Council")
- Identifier:
- 4224.ApprenticeshipShowcase.Video.004.1.16.19
- Title:
- John Morris reads a Clay County poem about a "young girl from Booger Hole" at the West Virginia Humanities Council
- Date:
- 2019-01-16
- Creator:
- Hilliard, Emily
- Subject:
- Concerts, Old-time music, Fiddle tunes, Clay County (W. Va.), Folk music--West Virginia, Folk poetry, American, Fiddling, Folklore, and Apprenticeship programs
- Location:
- Charleston (W. Va.)
Listen to Audio
- Identifier:
- 4224.HairstonBill.AudioInt.001.9.10.19
- Title:
- Oral history of Bill Hairston, 1 of 2
- Date:
- 2019-09-10
- Creator:
- Hairston, Bill
- Contributor:
- Hilliard, Emily
- Subject:
- Hairston, Bill, African Americans--Appalachian Region, Appalachian dulcimer and autoharp music, Fiddling, Storytelling, Fiddle tunes, Folk music--West Virginia, Racism, Old-time music, Banjo, Saint Albans (W. Va.), Big Coal River Valley (W. Va.), 4-H clubs, School integration, and Folklore
- Location:
- Charleston (W. Va.)
Listen to Audio
- Identifier:
- 4224.HairstonBill.AudioInt.002.9.10.19
- Title:
- Oral history of Bill Hairston, 2 of 2
- Date:
- 2019-09-10
- Creator:
- Hairston, Bill
- Contributor:
- Hilliard, Emily
- Subject:
- Folklore, Saint Albans (W. Va.), African Americans--Appalachian Region, Old-time music, Folk music--West Virginia, Walker, John Homer, School integration, Appalachian dulcimer and autoharp music, Fiddle tunes, Banjo, Racism, Fiddling, 4-H clubs, Big Coal River Valley (W. Va.), Hairston, Bill, and Storytelling
- Location:
- Charleston (W. Va.)
![["W.I. Bill Hairston, 71, is a storyteller, old-time musician, and pastor (Westminster Presbyterian Church) living in Charleston, West Virginia. He was born in Phenix City, Alabama, and his family moved to Saint Albans, West Virginia in 1960 when he was 11. Through his storytelling, Hairston, as he says in the interview, combines the Appalachian culture that he was exposed to on the Coal River, to the African-American culture that he is a part of. For 35 years, he served as music coordinator at the Stonewall Jackson Jubilee, and is currently the coordinator of the Vandalia Gatherings West Virginia Liars Contest. Hairston is an active member of the West Virginia Storytelling Guild, the Kentucky Storytelling Association, and the Ohio Storytelling Network, the National Association of Black Storytellers, and serves as the West Virginia liaison to the National Storytelling Network. He has performed in concerts, festivals, libraries, corporate meetings, conventions and schools throughout the region and the country. In this interview, Hairston speaks about growing up in one of three Black families in the Lick Skillet area of Saint Albans along the Coal River, his interest in and work with rural West Virginia old-time musicians and 4-H camps, his friendship with Frank and Jane George, experiences with racism in West Virginia, and his work and mission as an Appalachian storyteller."]](/thumb/4224HairstonBillIntTranscript91019 "Transcript of oral history of W.I. Bill Hairston")
- Identifier:
- 4224.HairstonBillIntTranscript9.10.19
- Title:
- Transcript of oral history of W.I. Bill Hairston
- Date:
- 2019-09-10
- Creator:
- Hairston, Bill
- Contributor:
- Hilliard, Emily
- Subject:
- Racism, Old-time music, School integration, Hairston, Bill, Appalachian dulcimer and autoharp music, Folk music--West Virginia, 4-H clubs, Storytelling, Folklore, African Americans--Appalachian Region, and Walker, John Homer
- Location:
- Charleston (W. Va.)
