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From the Vault: Without a Yodel – The Manuscripts of W. E. Myer and His Lonesome Ace Label

Collections History Music & Songs

July 14, 2019

Posted on July 14, 2019October 19, 2021 by Rene Rodgers

Yodeling? Maybe for Jimmie Rodgers, but not for the little-known W. E. Myer.

William Evert Myer (1884—1964) was an entrepreneur from Richlands, Virginia, who tried his hand at producing a successful record label called Lonesome Ace. Sadly he felt the crushing blows dealt by the Great Depression instead. A man of many interests and talents, Myer taught school, studied law, and worked on the accounts of a coal company before following his musical dream. He sold phonographs and records in his store and also wrote several songs – or “ballets” as he called them – preserving them in a set of manuscripts that were recently donated to the Birthplace of Country Music Museum’s collections.

Black-and-white portrait of W. E. Myer as a young man -- dark hair, dark suit, high collar and striped tie. — William Evert Myer. Gift of Dwight Dailey and Robyn Raines, in memory of their great-grandfather W. E. Myer

Unlike much of the rest of the listening public at this time, Myer didn’t like Jimmie Rodgers’ popular yodeling sound. Indeed, he immortalized his thoughts on this subject with his Lonesome Ace record label. Each record was blazoned with Charles Lindbergh’s plane The Spirit of St. Louis and bore the motto “WITHOUT A YODEL”! Lonesome Ace’s promotional material also declared: “Every song has a moral,…and all subjects are covered without the use of any ‘near decent’ language which is so prevalent among many of the modern records.” Myer’s quirky label and his work to release records were the culmination of all of his hopes: a removal of yodeling from the lexicon of American popular music and a desire to shares his musical loves.

Myer’s strong opinions led him to seek out more well-known musicians as a way to market his own songs. Most of all, he wanted his songs to be performed by musicians he liked, and one of his grandest notions was to have the famed country-blues musician Mississippi John Hurt set lyrics that Myer wrote to music. He sent Hurt several of his compositions, and Hurt set three of them to music he chose: “Waiting for You” and “Richlands Woman” set to his own melodies and “Let the Mermaids Flirt with Me,” ironically set to Jimmie Rodgers’ “Waiting for a Train.” This last song was a wild mixture of country, blues, and legendary sea creatures that was later recorded by musician Tom Hoskins in 1963.

Typed lyrics to "Let the Mermaids Flirt With Me," including copyright date of 1929 and the note "By William E. Myer." The lyrics included 6 verses and a chorus, and there is a pencil-written number 15 at the bottom of the page. — “Let the Mermaids Flirt with Me” tells the sad tale of a man who is unhappy in his home life and missing a sweetheart so he looks to burial at sea as sweet respite amongst the mermaids. Gift of Dwight Dailey and Robyn Raines, in memory of their great-grandfather W. E. Myer

Myer also approached traditional musician Dock Boggs, a banjo-frailing, hard-drinking coal miner from a musically inclined family in West Norton, Virginia. Boggs had recorded with The Magic City Trio, led by Fiddlin’ John Dykes, with New York’s Brunswick Records in March 1927, the same year as the Bristol Sessions. During the succeeding years, he did well playing in his local community for various dances and events, much to the chagrin of his wife. And In 1929 Boggs recorded with the Lonesome Ace label, producing four sides of Myer’s “ballets” with his own choice of tune, but following Myer’s advice with “False Hearted Lover’s Blues” by setting it to Myer’s suggestion of Boggs’ “Country Blues.” Even with Boggs’ skill and Myer’s entrepreneurship, the Great Depression led to the decline of the record label and Dock’s career as a musician. Myer declared bankruptcy in 1930 after releasing only three records, and Dock pawned off his banjo to make ends meet.

However, this was not the end of Dock Boggs or of W. E. Myer’s music. During the folk revival of the 1960s, Boggs was rediscovered by folk musician and folklorist Mike Seeger, who traveled to Virginia and located Boggs at his home near Needmore. Boggs had recently purchased another banjo, and after Seeger heard him play it, he convinced Boggs to perform at various folk festivals and clubs. This rediscovery brought a renewed love by the American public for the music of Dock Boggs, which continues through today.

Myer, though not revitalized by the folk revival, continues to be known because of his association with Boggs and other important musicians. The stories told to us by his family underline what a remarkable character Myer was, and his manuscripts, which are now part of the museum’s collection, highlight this even further. With song titles like “Old Rub Alcohol Blues” and “Milkin’ the Devil’s Billy Goat” – and one of my personal favorites “The New Deal Won’t Go Down,” which supported President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal program – it is clear that Myer’s songs reflected a wide range of interests and stories! And while Myer’s Lonesome Ace may not be well-known or prolific, it certainly played a noteworthy role in the folk music of Southern Appalachia – even “without the yodel”!

The typewritten lyrics to "Milkin' the Devil's Billy Goat," including the copyright date of 1929 and "By William E. Myer" at the top of the page. The song consists of 7 verses and the chorus. — The lyrics of “Milkin’ the Devil’s Billy Goat” chastises and judges “tattlers.” Gift of Dwight Dailey and Robyn Raines, in memory of their great-grandfather W. E. Myer

Along with the William E. Myer manuscripts, the donors generously gave the museum several other items related to their great-grandfather, including the collector’s edition of The Rise and Fall of Paramount Records Vol. 2 (1928-32), which contains the duets by Emry Arthur and Della Hatfield of the two Myer’s songs they recorded.

Radio Bristol Book Club: Will You Miss Me When I’m Gone?

1927 and 1928 Bristol Sessions History

July 5, 2019

Posted on July 5, 2019October 19, 2021 by Rene Rodgers

Welcome to Radio Bristol Book Club! Originally inspired by Reading Appalachia: Voices from Children’s Literature, a recent special exhibit at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum, readers from the museum and the Bristol Public Library came together from March to June to explore books featured in the exhibit.

But we just loved this program so much that we decided to make it a permanent Radio Bristol show! And so each month we will be live on-air discussing books related to the museum’s content, regional music heritage and music history further afield, and Appalachian culture and stories. We invite you to read along and then listen in on the fourth Thursday of each month at 11—11:30am when we will dig deep into the feelings and questions raised by the books, learn more about the authors, and celebrate the joys of being a bookworm!

For our first book within this new focus, we chose a book about some of the main players in the story of the 1927 Bristol Sessions: Will You Miss Me When I’m Gone? The Carter Family & Their Legacy in American Music by Mark Zwonitzer with Charles Hirshberg. We will be discussing this book on July 25 at 11am live on Radio Bristol.

Will You Miss Me When I’m Gone? serves as both history and biography. It shares the story of the Carter Family as musical pioneers, tracing their journey from the hills and mountains of Virginia to the 1927 Bristol Sessions to national recognition via border radio and a large catalog of influential and iconic recordings. The book explores their musical impact, along with the various routes A. P., Sara, and Maybelle took after they were no longer performing together and their continuing legacy. Not only does Zwonitzer and Hirshberg’s meticulously researched but eminently readable book give readers a deep understanding and appreciation of the Carters’ as a potent musical force, but the book also shines a light on the early commercial country music industry.

The cover of Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone has an old publicity photograph of the Carters -- A. P. standing, Sara with her autoharp, and Maybelle with her guitar. On the bottom left of the cover a vintage record label-style graphic bears the title and subtitle of the book. — *Will You Miss Me When I’m Gone? The Carter Family & Their Legacy in American Music* was published in 2002. It was a finalist in the National Book Critics Circle awards for biography/autobiography, a *New York Times* Notable Book of the Year, and an American Library Association’s Booklist Editor’s Choice.

Mark Zwonitzer is a writer, director, and producer, who has worked on numerous documentaries including American Experience, Freedom Riders, The Supreme Court, and The Irish in America. In 2016 he published his second book, The Statesman and the Storyteller: John Hay, Mark Twain, and the Rise of American Imperialism. Charles Hirshberg is a journalist and sportswriter, with articles appearing in numerous publications such as Time, Sports Illustrated, Life, the Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times. In 2004, he also wrote a history of television sports journalism, ESPN 25. Reflecting some interesting scientific connections in his family – his mother is astrophysicist Joan Feynman and his uncle is physicist Richard Feynman – Hirschberg was once editor of Popular Science magazine.

We cannot wait to bring this story of The Carter Family to Radio Bristol Book Club! We hope that you can read Will You Miss Me When I’m Gone? too and then join us at 11am on Thursday, July 25 as we discuss the book on air. You can tune in locally at 100.1 FM or listen via the website or app. Many of the Radio Bristol Book Club books will be available at the Bristol Public Library or The Museum Store at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum so stop by to borrow or buy a copy. The BPL librarians or the museum’s frontline staff will be happy to help you find the book.

You can listen to archived book club discussions from previous shows here.

The Ballad – From There to Here with Wayfaring Strangers

History Museum Music & Songs

June 25, 2019

Posted on June 25, 2019October 19, 2021 by Rene Rodgers

There is a book on the shelves in the museum’s Blue Stocking Club Learning Center that I come back to time and time again – Wayfaring Strangers: The Musical Voyage from Scotland and Ulster to Appalachia by Fiona Ritchie and Doug Orr. This wonderful book chronicles the history of the ballad from its origins to its place in our very own Appalachian Mountains. Beautifully written, with equally beautiful artwork and photographs, it tells the story in a meandering manner, taking the reader down old and new roads, mimicking the ballad journey itself.

The story of ballads is greater than what can be covered in a blog post, but I want to share what I have learned from Wayfaring Strangers, giving readers a small glimpse into that history in a fairly simplistic and straightforward manner. However, I encourage you to also read this book to learn more; it captured my heart – and it is sure to capture your heart too!

Ballads go further back in pre-recorded history than initially thought, to the seafaring civilizations sharing cultures via storytelling and music. There is no one single point of ballad origin; rather points as disperse as Scandinavia, Germany, Western Europe, Scotland, Ireland, England, and the Mediterranean all had a role to play. For example, there is an old-style epic narrative performed in Connemara, Ireland that is nearly identical to a Bedouin style.

Scottish poet, folklorist, and songwriter Hamish Henderson called the ballad journey the “carrying stream,” a perfect analogy for its meandering ways through ages, cultures, and configurations. Ballads were an oral tradition for disparate, often illiterate populations wherein stories, news, commerce, commentary, protest, and dance could be part of the delivery. As they traveled, ballads were subject to many influences and variations, both to their words and music, and often the same ballad may have different tunes or one tune may be associated with several different ballads. Over time and space, it was the best lyrics and tunes that continued along the carrying stream.

The title page of David Herd's book shows the title and publication information, along with a lithographic illustration of a shepherd with his flock on a hillside. — This edition of David Herd’s *Ancient and Modern Scottish Songs, Heroic Ballads, &c* is from 1973, but the original book was published in 1776. It was on loan from Jack Beck and Wendy Welch during *The Appalachian Photographs of Cecil Sharp, 1916 to 1918* special exhibit in 2018.

As to the Scots-Irish ballad tradition that is quite familiar in the Appalachians, it begins with a Nordic-Baltic influence arriving early on the Scottish shores. Northeast Aberdeenshire is considered the cradle of Scottish balladry with distinct language, customs, and folklore created out of isolation and seafaring influences. Western Scots and Irish people shared their traditions as well via the short sea route between them, and the Scottish and English border counties added further influences, all contributing to the oral-to-written evolution.

The ramifications of politics and palace intrigue over the course of the ballad history were many and varied, and the resulting diaspora impacted the story. One such dispersing was the Scots to Ulster Ireland and then on to the American colonies. It is this carrying steam that brought the ballad tradition to our mountains. The majority of these immigrants arrived at various ports northward and traveled down the Wilderness Road to the Appalachian Mountains. The pioneers settled in valleys and coves throughout the mountains, bringing their musical heritage with them – a heritage that merged with other traditions, styles, and songs found in the Appalachians including those of Native Americans, enslaved peoples from Africa, and other ethnic groups. It is this mixing that eventually evolved to be recognized as old-time country music.

A visitor looks at a photograph of Cecil Sharp and his assistant recording the words/lyrics of an Appalachian woman on her porch. A small child stands in the doorway with her. — The 2018 Cecil Sharp special exhibit featured photographs of the many singers Sharp met on his Appalachian song-collecting trip in 1916 to 1918. He transcribed the lyrics and music of numerous ballads and songs that still had strong ties to their Old World origins. © Birthplace of Country Music

As Wayfaring Strangersnotes: “Music provided the social fabric, creating a sense of community amid isolation and reinforcing identity. That said, while the Scots-Irish origin is clearly the dominant one, it is the braiding and weaving of European, African and indigenous American influences that creates the unique tapestry of Appalachian music.”

The long tradition and the evolution of ballads is further underlined by Bascom Lamar Lunsford, western North Carolina Minstrel of the Mountains, when he tells us “… that though the words changed from country to country, and generation to generation, even from valley to valley in the same range of hills, the essence of the music changed not at all. It formed a link, unbroken, back through time, tying to the past.”

Music was – and still is – reward at the end of a long day’s work, something to share in front of a winter fire or on a summer porch, and an act of community as voices are raised together at barn raisings, harvests, market days, and other events and occasions. And, of course, this included the teaching of these traditions to succeeding generations of children and grandchildren.

Left: The cover of the Carter Family songbook bears a photograph of them with their instruments and a drawn rural image. Right: Elizabeth LaPrelle, wearing a red dress, plays the banjo and sings into the mic on the museum's Performance Theater stage. — The museum’s Carter Family exhibit in 2014 showcased The Carter Family’s songbook of Smokey Mountain ballads. The ballad tradition is honored and continued by musicians like Elizabeth LaPrelle, who performed at the January 2019 *Farm and Fun Time* and in concert in March 2019 at the museum. Left: © Birthplace of Country Music; Right: © Birthplace of Country Music; photographer: Billie Wheeler

This ballad heritage was found at the Bristol Sessions in some of the songs, which were then shared through the recordings on a much wider scale. This music was a continuation of the carrying stream, and that musical migration continues through today’s carriers and tradition bearers – they too are immersed in the carrying steam. And old-time country music and the storytelling it is a part of, along with music festivals the world over and our museum visitors from every state and over 44 countries, all testify to that continuing journey.

From the Vault: A Father’s Photographs

Collections History Museum

May 7, 2019

Posted on May 7, 2019October 19, 2021 by Rene Rodgers

When you think of a specific site associated with country music, the first place that comes to mind is more than likely the Grand Ole Opry. In 2018, Lawrence Inscho, one of our regular contributors to Radio Bristol, donated a personal connection to this iconic venue to the Birthplace of Country Music Museum.

But first some background: Lawrence’s father William Lawrence Inscho Sr. served in World War II as a staff sergeant. After Pearl Harbor, he was stationed in Fairbanks, Alaska – with the Alaskan Aleutian Islands as early targets of the enemy, the US military’s position there played a strategic role in the defense of the country. He was eventually stationed in Memphis, Tennessee, and during his service, he went to Nashville for a needed surgery. He met a young woman there and later married her.

Left: Portrait of William Lawrence Inscho Sr. in his military uniform. Right: Picture of Inscho Sr.'s Leica camera. — Left: Staff Sgt. William Lawrence Inscho Sr. Right: The camera used by Lawrence’s father in the 1940s. Courtesy of Lawrence Inscho

The Grand Ole Opry has played host to so many greats of country and bluegrass music over the years, almost too many to count. In the summer of 1945, Inscho Sr. took a series of photographs at the revered Grand Ole Opry stage. The younger Lawrence likes to imagine that these photos were from his parents’ honeymoon.

For us, the photos taken by Inscho Sr. are a true treasure trove, documenting performances from the heyday of the Grand Ole Opry and country music. Some of the most well-known musicians that played at the Opry, like Bill Monroe and Uncle Dave Macon, have their likenesses preserved in these images. Others not quite as famous, like Zeke Clements, are remembered here as well. It’s a real thrill to see these important musicians as we take a gander at some of the photograph collection!

One of the lesser known monuments of country music and the Grand Ole Opry was Pee Wee King, seen here on the far left. Despite his Polish-German musical heritage (he was born Frank Julius Anthony Kuczynski), he co-wrote “The Tennessee Waltz,” which became a standard of the country music genre, and toured and made movies with Gene Autry. King joined the Opry in 1937, and he brought a rebellious side to this traditional venue by defying the Opry’s ban on drums, horns, the accordion, and electrical instruments. In doing so, he was one of the first people to introduce those instruments to country music at the Grand Ole Opry. He also wore the flamboyant, rhinestone-covered suits of Nudie Cohn, introducing this style to many country music artists. These suits became very popular within the genre, and the likes of Elvis Presley also later wore them. Pee Wee King was truly one of the great pioneers of country music.

Several musicians and background people on the stage with a Prince Albert tobacco advertisement hung on the wall behind them. The Duke of Paducah is center stage, dressed as a woman. — The Duke of Paducah (center). Photo credit to William Lawrence Inscho Sr.

One of the more unusual musicians featured in these photos was Benjamin Francis “Whitey” Ford, known on stage as The Duke of Paducah. A banjo picker, he founded the Renfro Valley Barn Dance stage and radio show with two other musicians. But he was also a well-known country comedian whose tagline “I’m goin’ back to the wagon, boys, these shoes are killing me!” became a standard. His jokes also influenced the classic country TV show Hee Haw. The Duke later shared the occasional show bill with none other than Elvis Presley.

Eight musicians and background people on the Opry stage, playing a variety of instruments. Zeke Clements is front and center playing the guitar at the mic. — Zeke Clements (third from right in white shirt and hat). Photo credit to William Lawrence Inscho Sr.

Zeke Clements, also known as “The Dixie Yodeler,” had some fascinating ventures during his lifetime. One of the bands he was in, Otto Gray and his Oklahoma Cowboys, was the first nationally famous cowboy western band. And one of his most prominent successes was writing the song “Smoke on the Water.” Clements also took acting roles as singing cowboys in multiple B-Western films in the 1930s and 1940s. He even voiced one of the yodeling dwarfs in the 1937 Disney movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. He was quite the character in early country music!

Four musicians, all wearing hats of various styles, on the Grand Ole Opry stage, gathered round the central mic. Far left: mandolin player, near left: Curly Bradshaw playing harmonica, near right: Bill Monroe playing guitar, and far right: Stringbean playing banjo. — Photo credit to William Lawrence Inscho Sr.

When people think of bluegrass, they think of Bill Monroe, one of the greatest bluegrass musicians that has ever been. This rare early photo of Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys is significant for a few reasons. First, it shows the group before Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs joined. It also shows Monroe playing his Gibson F7, an instrument he played before he turned to his iconic 1923 Lloyd Loar-signed Gibson F5. Further, this is the only known performance photo of the man playing the harmonica, Curly Bradshaw. He only performed shortly with Monroe, and before the discovery of these photos, the only known photo of him with Monroe was a 1944 publicity photo.

At this time, the man on the right, David Akeman, better known as Stringbean, was also a member of the Bluegrass Boys. A banjo player and in the cast of the Hee Haw television series, Akeman was later famously murdered, along with his wife, in his home near Ridgetop, Tennessee, due to a hidden sum of money that was rumored to be in the home. This photo is one of the most fascinating in the Inscho photograph collection.

The Opry stage decorated with a backdrop for Purina Chows for Poultry and Livestock. Four musicians, plus a man in the background, are seen, including Dorris Macon on guitar and Uncle Dave Macon on banjo. — Photo credit to William Lawrence Inscho Sr.

This last photo shows an old-time element of the show Inscho Sr. saw at the Grand Ole Opry in 1945. It features Dorris Macon playing the guitar and Uncle Dave Macon sitting in the middle with his banjo. A vaudeville performer, Uncle Dave Macon was known for his lively and lengthy performances, which led to him becoming the first star of the Grand Ole Opry.

These photographs by Inscho Sr. reveal a once-in-a-lifetime experience where he and his wife got to see a great show with musicians of huge talent and fabled status perform. This experience was special to Inscho Sr., and the memories and record of them are now special to his son. We feel very privileged that Lawrence chose to share these photographs with us – it is personal stories and objects like these that make up a truly special part of the museum’s collections.

* If you want to hear more from Lawrence Inscho, check out Kris Truelsen’s On the Sunny Side show on Wednesdays. From 10:00 to 11:00 AM every Wednesday, Lawrence shares music primarily from his personal collection, a significant portion of which came from his father.

Songs of Our Native Daughters: A Note from a Native Daughter

History Music & Songs

February 22, 2019

Posted on February 22, 2019October 19, 2021 by Rene Rodgers

A little over a year ago I was asked by Rhiannon Giddens, co-founding member of the groundbreaking and Grammy-Award winning group The Carolina Chocolate Drops, if I was available to be part of a project with other black female songwriters that focused on the banjo and slave narratives. It is possible that these three concepts had never even been in a sentence together at any time in recent human history.

Rhiannon has been studying slave narratives and the history of the banjo for many years, and her inspiration for the project came from the idea of centering the story of the African diaspora with the voices of black women – voices that have been historically left in the background. Taking a cue from James Baldwin’s Notes of a Native Son, which inspired this project’s namesake, the stories of struggle and resistance come in the form of music. “It is only in his music…that the Negro in America has been able to tell his story. It is a story which otherwise has yet to be told and which no American is prepared to hear.”

The album cover has all four women standing facing the camera, holding their banjos. Amythyst, in black hat and black and white striped tee, is to the far right of the picture. — Album cover to *Songs of Our Native Daughters*. Photograph by Terri Fensel

Songs of Our Native Daughters aims to contribute to preserving the history of the African diaspora in the Americas through an eclectic mix of folk styles. Rhiannon’s vision for the project centered on the banjo, an instrument descended from the West African lute family, incorporating it into folk music arrangements to tell the stories of ancestors who were brought to the Americas against their will. We today, as descendants, continue to thrive and heal with the power of music despite the adversity that has been endured.

My career was just beginning to blossom when Rhiannon reached out to me about being part of Songs of Our Native Daughters. One year prior she had invited me to open a string of shows for her Freedom Highway album release tour. This new project was certainly an intriguing opportunity, not only from a historical and educational perspective, but also on a deeply personal level.

The album collaborators come from varying backgrounds: Rhiannon and I are both from the American Southeast, Allison Russell is from Montreal, Canada, and Leyla McCalla is a first-generation Haitian-American from New Jersey. We all have our unique perspectives and experiences as black women in North America, and our individual approaches to folk music are very eclectic, bringing so much dynamism to the music on the record.

Rhiannon cast the room well, calling upon Dirk Powell to record and co-produce the record with her at his studio in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana. She also invited Jamie Dick to perform drums and percussion, and Jason Sypher joined on upright and electric bass. Dirk, Jamie, and Jason have been touring and recording with Rhiannon on her previous solo work, so the template for the sound and process was already set.

The four musicians sit in a small circle in studio, playing their banjos with mics and other equipment around them. — Making music together in studio. Photograph by Terri Fensel

The nature of four black women playing banjo and writing songs about the stories of our North American ancestors and their struggle was in and of itself a remarkable experience – truly inspiring and healing. There is an emotional and mental aspect to writing such heavy material; I have always been interested in using Southern Gothic style to convey concepts of human nature, and this project by far is the heaviest and most emotionally stirring work I have done. And it has changed me. Today I feel even more convinced in my pursuit of music as one of the best forms of communication, healing, and understanding of each other and our place in the world.

The entire concept of Songs of Our Native Daughters has simply never been done before. Rhiannon is truly one of the most driven and imaginative people I have ever met. To have the courage to dig into some of the subject matter she has tackled and to want to create a medium that relays these stories is simply remarkable. In order to deal with this kind of material – to know the pain and anguish my ancestors went through, to see the shoulders on which I stand, and to appreciate the people that survived and lived to tell their stories – is something that requires much patience and understanding. It was an enormous blessing to be part of this project and to be given the wonderful opportunity to help make these narratives come to life musically.

* Songs of our Native Daughters is released today, February 22, 2019 on Smithsonian Folkways Records as part of their African American Legacy series, which introduces a new way to celebrate black voices during Black History Month. The album is an eclectic folk record, with music styles ranging from minstrelsy, contemporary folk, blues, Appalachian string band, and more. Several publications and media outlets – including NPR, Rolling Stone, The Guardian, and DownBeat – have reached out to Rhiannon, Allison, Leyla, and me about our new project. Check out my website here to learn more about this and other projects I am working on.

Album promotional photograph showing the four musicians on a cabin porch, faces to the sun and eyes closed. — Photograph by Terri Fensel

Yodeling and Wounded Animals

1927 and 1928 Bristol Sessions History Music & Songs

February 3, 2019

Posted on February 3, 2019October 19, 2021 by Rene Rodgers

I was booked to play and sing at an outdoor music festival in Indiana shortly after I learned to yodel. This was probably around 1983. I recall wandering around under the trees in a sparsely populated section of the festival grounds, practicing my yodeling prior to a performance on the stage. After a while I became aware that I was being watched by a young woman. She eventually spoke.

“What is that you are doing?” she asked. “You sound like a wounded animal.”

While “wounded animal” was not the effect I was going for, I was glad for some female attention. We smiled and had a conversation about yodeling.

Any conversation about yodeling – at least any conversation with me about yodeling – will inevitably get around to Jimmie Rodgers. Rodgers was a tubercular railroad worker who began a career as an entertainer in the late 1920s. No, Rodgers did not invent the yodel – that distinction probably goes to some wounded animal – but he went a long way toward defining and popularizing it.

He made his first recordings in Bristol, Tennessee, on August 4, 1927, and he brought his yodel with him. His recording of “Sleep, Baby, Sleep” – a sweet, traditional lullaby that had been recorded and performed many times previously – was infused with a stunningly high and clear yodel that launched his career and, by extension, launched the early country music recording industry. Bristol is now known as the Birthplace of Country Music largely as a result. His first “official” yodel song – his “Blue Yodel No. 1” – was released 91 years ago today on February 3, 1928.

A wounded animal, a lullaby, and a sick railroad worker. Who knew that such an unlikely combination of elements would lead to an internationally respected and financially fruitful style of entertainment!

Jimmie Rodgers was so popular and influential that he is commonly known as the “Father of Country Music.” He, along with Hank Williams, became the first two performers to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame when that institution was formed in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1961. After his death from consumption, or TB, in 1933, his musical style lived on for many years. An entire generation of singers – men and women – did their best “Jimmie” to please a seemingly insatiable public appetite for Rodgers’ Blue Yodel. Ernest Tubb, Hank Snow, Jimmie Davis, Gene Autry, Bill Carlisle, Bill Monroe, and Lefty Frizzell were just a few of his many followers.

Once that trend faded in the late 1930s, fortunes were made embellishing and elaborating on the Rodgers yodel. Roy Rogers and the Sons of the Pioneers were among the first and most successful artists to take Rodgers’ simple and plaintive “yodel-ay-hee-tee” and turn it into a syncopated, multisyllabic Rubik’s Cube of vocalization. The imagination and vocal agility required to master this newer style of country yodeling made stars out of many singers. Elton Britt, Patsy Montana, Hal Lone Pine, Montana Slim (Wilf Carter), the Girls of the Golden West, and Slim Whitman were just a few of these.

Two sisters from rural Minnesota, Carolyn and Lorraine DeZurik, developed a unique yodeling style in the late 1930s that drew its inspiration from the animal sounds they grew up with on their family’s farm. Calling themselves the Cackle Sisters, they honed their complex and near-perfect duet yodeling along with hen cackles and other animal sounds to form a memorable, if somewhat whimsical, musical statement that must be heard to be believed.

The world changed forever after World War II, and the popularity of yodeling seemed to be a casualty of that war. Sure, yodeling lingered through the late 1940s, but it took on the mantle of nostalgia. This changed in 1949 when Hank Williams scored a huge hit with an old Tin Pan Alley song called “Lovesick Blues.” That song introduced the world to a man who was arguably the greatest country music singer and songwriter of all time. And he introduced the world to a new approach to the yodel. Rather than treating the yodel as a stand-alone passage of music separate from the rest of the song, Hank Williams incorporated the yodel into the song lyrics. “I got a feeling called the blu-OO-ues, since my baby said good-bye,” etc. The effect was electrifying!

That was 70 years ago. Today, country music yodeling is again viewed as a vestige of a bygone era, even as we wait patiently for the next wave of yodel-mania. There are certainly some fine yodelers out there – the Riders in the Sky, Wiley and the Wild West, Wanda Jackson, and a young singer from North Dakota and a recent graduate of East Tennessee State University named Kristi Galdade, also known as “The Yodeling Songbird of North Dakota.”

And I do my part. A song I wrote in 1984 called “A Little Yodel Goes a Long Way” remains my unofficial theme song. Even if it makes me sound like a wounded animal!

Making a Living Living Your Passion: How Lefty Frizzell and 10-Cent Records Inspired a Dream

History Technology & Sound

December 10, 2018

Posted on December 10, 2018October 19, 2021 by Rene Rodgers

Anyone who knows me, knows how important music is in my life. This not only includes my experiences as a musician and audio engineer, but also includes my longtime passion for collecting and listening to music on vinyl records. When I think back to how it all started, I can trace my love of vinyl records to two specific memories.

The first memory: A secondhand box of 45rpm singles from my grandparents that contained “Always Late with Your Kisses” by Lefty Frizzell, “Cathy’s Clown” by The Everly Brothers, and “Downtown” by Petula Clark. I still love all of the songs, but the signature voice of Lefty was “the one” for me. My 12-year-old mind was never the same, and I have been a fan of classic country-and-western music from that day forward.

The second memory is tied to my parents and their hobby of getting up very early and going to flea markets. When I was around 10 years old, I began pet-sitting, shoveling snow, and babysitting for extra money. This was in the mid-1980s and CDs were becoming THE musical format. Folks were dumping their vinyl and selling off records for 10-25 cents each at local flea markets. With five dollars, I could come home with STACKS of records and explore anything and everything I desired. One day I brought home the album After the Goldrush by Neil Young and was floored. The artwork and music blew me away, and I knew I had to keep looking for that next great album.

Fast forward 35 years. I now own two businesses devoted to records. One is called Well Made Music, where we cut master discs for the vinyl record industry. Records are pressed from PVC plastic, and the discs we create are coated with metal and formed into stampers that can press pucks of plastic into playable records. Prior to about 1948, this same process was used to make records out of shellac, a brittle and less durable compound from which 10” 78rpm records were made. These old, interesting records remain in demand for collectors of pre-WWII music.

The second business is The Earnest Tube, a recording studio devoted to recording artists in much the same fashion as Ralph Peer did on his fateful trip to Bristol in 1927. My business partner Dave Polster and I use a cutting lathe made around 1945 to cut audio onto blank lacquers discs. This technique is called “direct-to-disc” recording and was the way almost all recordings were made prior to about 1950. To be completely fair, Ralph Peer probably used actual wax to carve the grooves during the 1927 Bristol Sessions, but that technique went by the wayside in the 1930s and lacquer discs have been a staple in the industry up to, and including, today.

The picture to the left shows the author brushing a cut record as it spins on the lathe; the picture to the left shows a man peering into the inner workings of the machine cutting the record master. — Clint Holley records direct to disc on a vintage Rek-O-Kut recording lathe (left); Dave Polster watching a master being cut (right). © Clint Holley, The Earnest Tube

Recording direct-to-disc is totally different from modern computer recording. On a computer, the artists can record, edit, and manipulate the sounds they record in an infinite amount of ways. Rarely is any of the music you hear a complete performance. It is most likely many performances edited together to create the illusion of a complete song.

A large lit up sign reading "Recording" in front of the recording equipment at The Earnest Tube. — When the recording light comes in, it’s time to play! © Clint Holley, The Earnest Tube

Direct-to-disc recording is a “one take” process that leaves no room for the artist to hide. We place one, possibly two, microphones in the room with the artist or ensemble; we move the microphone (and musicians!) around the room until the desired “mix” is achieved; and then, we lower a sapphire cutting needle (stylus) onto the surface of a blank disc. The “Recording” light is turned on, and in the following moments, the artist performs the entire song – carving the grooves into the surface of the disc as he or she sings and plays, a direct representation of that performance – magical, personal, one-of-a kind, warts and all!

This raw energy is what gives music from the pre-war period, and especially the Bristol Sessions, that “special something” that draws in new fans almost 100 years later. “Single Girl, Married Girl” by The Carter Family is as urgent today as it was on those hot days of 1927, and the conviction of Alfred G. Karnes makes you want to join in with him as he sings “I Am Bound for the Promised Land.”

Although there are some people who think music recorded in this fashion is quaint or outdated, we have found quite the opposite. The artists who have recorded at The Earnest Tube have approached the process with an open mind and heart. A great example is Tim Easton’s Paco and the Melodic Polaroids. Easton, a repeat performer at the Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion (BRRR), recorded this entire album after BRRR 2017 at The Earnest Tube with one vintage RCA microphone. Easton has had great success with this album – indeed, it has been named a top album on many “Best of” lists of 2018.

The long road from Lefty Frizzell to Bristol and The Earnest Tube has been personal and long, but it has been more than worthwhile. I love the history of recorded music, and I love the place that Bristol, Tennessee-Virginia has in that story. It is my hope that The Earnest Tube can help continue to tell that story – as a humble witness and participant alongside others who have a passion for music and history, and with great institutions, such as the Birthplace of Country Music Museum.

The Great Golden Gathering: African-Americans Living History through School Traditions

Exhibits History Museum

November 19, 2018

Posted on November 19, 2018October 19, 2021 by Rene Rodgers

The Great Golden Gathering celebrates the 14 former African-American elementary and high schools in upper East Tennessee, Southwest Virginia, and the surrounding areas that all closed for integration in 1965. Formed in 2015, the Great Golden Gathering reunites all of the alumni, bringing them together every two years to relive friendships, camaraderie, and their shared heritage.

Two alumni hold a large white banner with gold lettering announcing the Great Golden Gathering 2015. — Banner welcoming the participants to the first Great Golden Gathering in 2015. Photograph courtesy of Calvin Sneed

The 14 former African-American schools are:

Austin High School, Knoxville, Tennessee
Arty-Lee High School, Dante, Virginia
Bland High School, Big Stone Gap, Virginia
Douglass High School, Bristol, Virginia
Douglas High School, Elizabethton, Tennessee
Douglass High School, Kingsport, Tennessee
George Clem High School, Greeneville, Tennessee
Langston High School, Johnson City, Tennessee
Morristown West High School-Morristown College, Morristown, Tennessee
Nelson-Merry High School, Jefferson City, Tennessee
Prospect Elementary School, Gate City, Virginia
Slater High School, Bristol, Tennessee
Swift High School-Swift College, Rogersville, Tennessee
Tanner High School, Newport, Tennessee

While many of the individual school alumni associations occasionally hold their own get-togethers, the idea of a universal mega-reunion was introduced in 2015 as a way to celebrate former football and basketball rivalries between schools in the all-black former Tri-State Athletic Conference. Through those competitions, young African-American children got to know their neighbors in nearby cities pretty well. The rivalries quickly grew to include academic competitions like spelling bees, art competitions, and high school band and choral concerts.

The relationships forged years ago live on during the Great Golden Gathering, as alumni celebrate their connected histories and the legacies of the schools they attended.

“After all, we have always been really good friends,” says Langston High School graduate Bill Coleman. “By attending the Great Golden Gathering, we are celebrating the opportunity to come together one more time while we still can.”

The first Great Golden Gathering was held in Bristol, Virginia in 2015 on the 50th anniversary of the schools closing for integration. Alumni came from several states to renew friendships, laugh, joke, and rekindle – with good humor – old rivalries. It was also a chance to share displays from the alumni associations and to recognize achievements.

Calvin Sneed poses with the Reverend Jesse Jackson, who holds a clear plaque honorarium. — Great Golden Gathering President Calvin Sneed presenting an honorarium to Reverend Jesse Jackson. Photograph courtesy of Calvin Sneed

The Reverend Jesse Jackson, noted statesman and founder of Rainbow/PUSH, sent a video message to the group banquet, commemorating the Gathering’s purpose and congratulating the participants for keeping the spirit of their schools alive. The 2015 guest speaker was Ms. Gloria Sweet-Love, president of the Tennessee NAACP. Both received honorariums from the alumni for their service to the cause of civil rights. Enthusiasm was so high among the alumni at the inaugural event, that they all agreed to schedule a Gathering every other year, as many individual African-American school alumni associations do.

Purple Great Golden Gathering 2017 banner with yellow lettering including the names of the schools and a map of upper east Tennessee and southwest Virginia. — Welcoming banner for the 2017 Great Golden Gathering. Photograph courtesy of Calvin Sneed

The Great Golden Gathering 2017 was held in Kingsport, Tennessee, with the goal of “keeping all of the visiting alumni so busy, that they would forget they were tired”! After many activities, alumni were spellbound by the banquet speech of Tennessee State Representative Johnnie Turner of Memphis, a soldier in the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1950s for which she was also given an honorarium from the group. Her speech on the struggles of African-Americans during segregation and integration was a familiar story, one that everyone identified with and understood.

“Each Great Golden Gathering is a good fellowship with people that you love,” says Douglass-Kingsport graduate Douglas Releford. “We’d had folks on walkers, in wheelchairs, and on canes attending the Gatherings, and some of them bring their grandchildren and great-grandchildren with them. We always have activities for them, and through displays, they can learn about the heritage of the schools their ancestors attended.”

“It’s not just our history,” he continues. “It’s their history, too.”

Several tables filled with alumni at the Great Golden Gathering banquet in 2017. — The second Great Golden Gathering in 2017 in Kingsport, Tennessee. Photograph courtesy of Calvin Sneed

Many Gathering attendees have lamented the fact that their collective histories are vanishing with the passing of alumni, and when that history is gone, it could be gone forever.

Larry Bell, who graduated from Slater High School, told the Bristol Herald Courier at the first Gathering reunion that in the past, many younger African Americans would respond in disbelief when he told them he “grew up in an era when blacks and whites attended separate schools. They could not understand that at one point in our history, blacks could not sit at the same lunch counters as whites, use the same restrooms, or drink from the same water fountains.”

A line of alumni hold hands as they gather together in prayer at the Great Golden Gathering. — School alumni forming a Prayer Chain after the Great Golden Gathering’s Memorial Prayer Service. Photograph courtesy of Calvin Sneed

I know that how we overcame those inequities is wrapped in the histories and legacies of these wonderful schools that taught us that we are people too. It is the single most important thing that we as alumni can pass on to our descendants through the Gathering. Along with reading, writing and arithmetic, life itself was taught to us in our schools, as integration loomed ahead. We were taught how to survive outside segregation.

And so there is an urgency to the Great Golden Gathering mega-reunions. Our numbers are deteriorating fast, and we don’t want to not be able to see each other – and of course, there’s going to be a time when we want to see each another and cannot. That’s why we have got to enjoy each other now, the hugs and laughter as we once did, right now, because tomorrow is not promised.

Three alumni post for a selfie together. — School alumni saying goodbye after the Great Golden Gathering Memorial Prayer Service in 2017. Photograph courtesy of Calvin Sneed

The next Great Golden Gathering is scheduled for Johnson City, Tennessee, in 2019. The idea is to rotate each Gathering among the schools’ alumni bases. You can learn more about a few of the African-American schools in this area at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum’s current special exhibit, For All the World to See: Visual Culture and the Struggle for Civil Rights, which includes a supplementary display on Slater and Douglass schools in Bristol, Tennessee-Virginia.

The Devil Has All the Best Tunes

History Museum Music & Songs

October 22, 2018

Posted on October 22, 2018June 17, 2021 by Emily Robinson

You may have heard that A. P. Carter could play the fiddle, but refused to do so on record because it was “the devil’s box.” And just about everyone knows Charlie Daniel’s 1979 hit song “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” about a demonic fiddling contest. But here’s the question: Out of all the instruments, why is the devil so taken with the fiddle? Why not the accordion? The saxophone? I mean, surely the kazoo was born from hellfire, right?

Close up of fiddle in its case. — This fiddle from our collection looks pretty free of fire and brimstone… © Birthplace of Country Music; Photographer: Haley Hensley. Gift of Ruth Roe

Where there is fiddle music, though, there is often dancing, and where there is dancing, the devil is surely at play. I have stories of this in my own family – my grandmother’s Uncle Willard was very musical, but Grandma and her sisters would only dance to his music when their very religious Aunt Eugie wasn’t around to see them. The link between dancing and the devil is an old one in fact. Way back in the 4th century, St. John Chrysotom said that “where dance is, there is the devil.” Countless preachers over the centuries have espoused the same.

While the fiddle and its link to dancing was seen by many as the devil at play, the devil’s prowess with a fiddle and bow also brought inspiration. In the early 18th century, the Italian composer and violinist Giuseppe Tartini claimed that his most famous work, the “Devil’s Trill Sonata,” was delivered to him by the devil in a dream. This, of course, led to some imaginative depictions of what that might have looked like…

Illustration of the legend behind Guiseppe Tartini’s “Devil’s Trill Sonata.” Public domain image from Wikimedia Commons

Scotland’s favorite poet, Robert Burns, wrote “The Deil’s Awa Wi’ The Excise Man” a few decades later, in which the devil fiddles into town and dances off with the tax collector. The townsfolk react thusly:

We’ll mak our maut, and we’ll brew our drink,

We’ll laugh, sing, and rejoice, man,

And mony braw thanks to the meikle black deil,

That danc’d awa wi’ th’ Exciseman.

In case your Scots dialect is a bit rusty…basically everyone extends their grateful thanks to the devil, for with the tax man gone, they can booze it up all they want and have a big time!

With that rollicking party in mind, here are a handful of the most devilish tunes I know:

“The Devil’s Dream”

“The Devil’s Dream” is a standard Appalachian fiddle tune. Laura Ingalls Wilder remembers hearing this tune as a child in the 1870s, so it’s probably safe to assume that it was also a familiar one to fiddlers in our region at the time of the Bristol Sessions. It originated in Scotland as “The De’l Among the Tailors,” and it was also noted in an English folk tale from the early 1800s. It is played here by the Whitetop Mountain Band (featuring Radio Bristol DJ Martha Spencer and family).

“Did You Ever See the Devil, Uncle Joe?”

“Did You Ever See the Devil, Uncle Joe?” is another good fiddle tune. Fiddlin’ Cowan Powers and his family, who play it here, were the first family string band to record commercially…three years before the 1927 Bristol Sessions! I learned this tune as “Hop High Ladies,” and some may know it as “Miss MacLeod’s reel” – another import from the British Isles. Click on this link for an extra treat: Pipe Major Willie Ross playing both of these tunes in the early 20th century!

“Never Let the Devil Get the Upper Hand”

Speaking of the 1927 Bristol Sessions, here’s another devil-fueled tune recorded a decade later by Bristol Sessions artists The Carter Family: “Never Let the Devil Get the Upper Hand” – which just seems like good all-round advice! Spoiler alert, however: the devil DOES get the upper hand of the young man in this song and convinces him to murder his lover. This story might sound familiar if you’ve ever heard the old murder ballad “Knoxville Girl.” It’s basically the same tale, though the latter adds a lot more gruesome detail.

“The Old Lady & the Devil”

In contrast, a woman gets the upper hand of Old Scratch – and her husband! – in “The Old Lady & the Devil,” recorded by Johnson City Sessions artists Bill & Bell Reed. In this tune, a farmer happily lets the devil carry off his wife, but she raises so much hell in Hell that the devil brings her back home again. Dave Rawlings included a fantastic version of this song on his 2017 album Poor David’s Almanack… though he shortens the chorus and leaves out the bit where the woman whacks her husband with the dasher from the butter churn.

That gives you just a few of the devilish tunes out there, but I hope the music and the links between the devil and the much-loved fiddle get you in the mood for a very Happy Halloween!

Appalachian Ghost Tales and Stories to Help You Get Your Halloween On!

History

October 13, 2018

Posted on October 13, 2018October 19, 2021 by Rene Rodgers

The Appalachian Mountains are some of the oldest mountains on Earth – and if these mountains and valleys could talk, one can only imagine what stories they could tell!

The rich history and culture of the region is also home to many supernatural tales and folklore that stem from a culture that for many years was geographically isolated from the outside world. Long before settlers found their way into the Appalachian region, only dense, uncharted and rugged mountain wilderness was found. Being located in such an isolated and difficult-to-reach area resulted in the formation of a unique style of people, culture, and heritage – including storytelling.

A story’s origin is often taken from one’s own experiences, and for mountain folk, daily life had its own hardships that played into the creation of their tales. They often lived a self-sustaining lifestyle, which is represented in symbols and archetypes – like the mountaineer, who represents individualism and self-reliance. This way of life is featured in countless songs and stories to this day. At the same time, the isolation in the Appalachian Mountains also inspired its residents to carry on and create stories focused on the strange and the supernatural.

Let’s take a step back in time: Imagine you are living in rural Appalachia over 100 years ago, and one of your main forms of entertainment was storytelling – you might hear stories of a ghostly experience or something spooky that might not be able to be fully explained! Over time tales are passed down from generation to generation, and the subject matter in these early ghost stories was often said to have been inspired by personal experiences with the unexplained. After all, it’s human nature to relate something you can’t fully explain to something you understand, even if it is supernatural!

And so, with Halloween approaching, what better time to dive into some of these strange tales of Appalachian ghost stories? Today I’m featuring a few tales and mysteries that are sure to leave you in spooky spirits. Once your appetite has been whetted, check out this link for more on Appalachian history and culture.

The hills of the Appalachians are seen in this image, full of green trees and layers of fog. — Fog on the mountains is beautiful — but it’s also spooky! Courtesy of Toni Doman

The Brown Mountain Lights

“In the days of the old covered wagon
When they camped on the flats for the night
With the moon shinin’ dim o’er the old canyon rim
They watched for that brown mountain light.

High on the mountain
And down in the valley below
It shines like the crown of an angel
And fades as the mists come and go”

(Partial lyrics to “Brown Mountain Light,” courtesy of BluegrassLyrics.com)

Our first tale is one of mystery. The odd and alluring “Brown Mountain Lights” are known as a supernatural phenomenon and have been the inspiration for many songs in folk music. The mysterious lights can be found in Burke County, North Carolina, in the Pisgah National Forest. For centuries tales of these lights have been recorded, but no one has yet to uncover what is causing the puzzling event.

There have been multiple versions of the lights’ origin story throughout the years. For instance, one legend stems from the native Cherokee people where it’s told that the lights are actually the souls of women who are searching for the men they had lost in a war on Brown Mountain. In the 19th century, another version of the story claims that the lights were the spirt of a young woman who was murdered by her husband. And in a country music song of the early 1950s, a version of the story tell us of a man who went hunting on the mountain and never returned home. In this legend, a slave was sent to search for the missing man, but neither were ever seen again, and the lights are said to be the light of the lantern used to continue the search beyond the grave (today this version in song is problematic with its romanticization of slavery).

Even the U.S. Geological Survey investigated the myths surrounding the lights, and in 1922 they published an extensive report concluding that the lights were a combination of automobile and locomotive lights, light from natural brush fires, or light emitted from other explainable sources. While the study might be correct for the time, the legend does date back much further than the time of automobiles, and the lyrics in the song state “In the days of the old covered wagon,” leading one to believe the mystery may have been around much longer.

Even though sightings of the lights are now a rarity, many people still flock to the mountain to try to catch a glimpse of the strange occurrence. Check out the Country Gentlemen’s version of “Brown Mountain Light” below. I’ll leave it up to you to decide the true origins of this mystery!

The Bell Witch

What’s October without tales of witches? Arguably the most famous witch to come out of the state of Tennessee is the Bell Witch, now a familiar tale in American folklore. The story takes place in the early 1800s when John Bell and his family moved from North Carolina to Tennessee. Bell was a very successful farmer, but his family was burdened with strange and unexplainable occurrences that ended up haunting and terrorizing the family and children for several years. The first notable events began in 1817 when Bell saw a strange creature in the fields. During this time unfamiliar noises in the house occurred and the family began to experience terrifying hauntings, including voices, various afflictions, being pinched or hit by an invisible entity, and more. All of these activities were blamed on what became known as the Bell Witch, who seemed particularly focused on father John Bell and daughter Betsy – eventually Bell died from what was claimed to be a poisoning by the witch and Betsy broke her engagement to a young man based on the witch’s entreaties and actions. Check out this link for more details of this well-known Tennessee tale.

The First Ghost of Bristol

Bristol, Tennessee-Virginia, like many southern and Appalachian towns, has a fair share of unique and strange tales. The town exists primarily because of railroads, bringing people and trade to the region for decades. The book Ghosts of Bristol: Haunting Tales from the Twin Cities by V. N. Bud Phillips features ghost stories and lore of the local region and relates an intriguing tale of an early ghost in Bristol.

The story is set in 1854 and features a man by the name of John H. Moore who owned a store and a small smokehouse located near Lee and Moore Streets in Bristol. While in preparation for opening the new store, the family made arrangements to dig a new well. One morning Mrs. Moore went to the smokehouse with a butcher knife and was alarmed to see the apparition of what appeared to be a Native American spirit who was advancing towards her as if to attack her. The spirit disappeared and was never seen again, and the knife also disappeared after the incident. Mrs. Moore then protested the digging of the new well, saying that the spirit she saw was a warning not to disturb this area. Chalking this all up to simple superstitions, John Moore proceeded with the digging, and sure enough, after the well was dug a Native American grave was found on the site.

While this might seem like a simple ghost tale, according to Phillips, it’s the first recorded one in Bristol, making it worthy of our October Appalachian ghost tales featured list! I hope you enjoyed a few of these spooky Appalachian ghost tales – and I encourage you to go out and read more of the ghostly tales that can be found in this area – just in time for the Halloween season!