Appalworks

04/16/2024

We'll miss you, Ben!

1938-2024. In memory of Ben Eldridge.

The IBMA extends heartfelt condolences to the family, friends, and fans of Ben Eldridge in the wake of his passing. The legendary banjo player and co-founder of the Seldom Scene, passed away on Sunday evening, Apil 14, 2024, aged 85.

Ben took great pride in his son, Chris, who has reached the highest professional level as a guitarist, working with Punch Brothers and Mighty Poplar. As a youngster and a teen, Chris, nicknamed “Critter” by Tony Rice, would tag along with his dad to Seldom Scene shows.

This is a momentous loss for the bluegrass community and he will be forever missed.

04/16/2024

SW VA--speaking up loudly and proudly! We love it!

Axios wonders what's out here, so we'll tell them.

08/24/2022

We hope that everyone who loves Appalshop is ready to help. You don't have to take time off and go to Whitesburg. You can just write a check or use your credit card. Make a donation of any size. Just Google "Appalshop flood relief." It's easy!

A deluged eastern Kentucky is left to ponder what it means to rebuild entire communities when "1,000-year floods" aren't 1,000-year floods anymore.

07/30/2022

UPDATE: Need is met! We have a truck! Thank you to our incredible community for making this happen.

We are in urgent need of a rental or loaner refrigerator truck to help with the Appalshop Archive recovery. We need to secure one ASAP within the next 24-48 hours. If you have leads on a refrigerator truck we may use, please email [email protected] with the details and amplify as you can. Thanks in advance, yall. 💚🙏

07/30/2022

Thank you to our community for the support already given. 🙏

We are assessing resources and damage and creating a plan with our partners to reach as many of those affected as possible as quickly as possible.

Follow Appalachians for Appalachia for more community resources like the one linked below. We will continue to update across our social channels as we can.

https://bit.ly/3oAuHO0

07/30/2022

For our friends in Eastern Kentucky.

07/30/2022

In case you're wondering how to donate, Appalshop has put together a list. Come on and help your neighbors in need. Every dollar helps!

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks with Dee Davis, publisher of The Daily Yonder rural news site, about the flooding in his town Whitesburg, Ky.

07/14/2022

Mission accomplished. Big Pharma exposed without embarrassing Appalachia. Thank you, Beth Macy.

The Roanoke author is one of the executive producers of the Hulu limited series.

04/06/2022

Yes! Go to Dante!

04/01/2022

Here's what I'm up to these days! It's awesome!

03/21/2022

Cool beans! Wish I could have attended this session on beans, led by the wonderful Danille Elise Christensen of Virginia Tech, but I sure was pleased to see this article so I didn't miss out completely!

By the way, we grow, harvest, and dry harvest our own delicious beans right here in Washington County, TN. If you haven't tried growing and drying them before, you should. It's easy--and delicious!

A Humanities Week event, “Fall Beans, Shucky Beans, Soup Beans: Perspectives in Song and Story,” explored the long, important history of dried beans in Appalachia, along with the ways the food has made its way into expressive culture.

12/28/2021

This is cool!

For Tennesseans, passion flowers are a point of regional pride, officially designated as a Tennessee state flower back in 1919. Now, a century later, paleontologists have found fossil evidence of

11/29/2021

Great writer. Fabulous conference. You should GO!

Registration is live: https://www.ws.edu/special-events/mildred-haun/registration/default.shtm. Tell your friends, reach out to Kelsey Alannah Solomon with form info and questions, and know that we're excited to host you on Friday, February 4th and Saturday, February 5th, 2022!

10/18/2021

Forest Farming is cool!

The 377-acre Catawba Sustainability Center in Roanoke County is a diversified farm with cattle, vegetables and orchards, all common for farms in this region.

09/28/2021

Artists! An opportunity to shine! Please share with anyone who might be interested.

‼️ CALL FOR ART ‼️ - Leaf & Root & Berry: Botanical Art Exhibit & Competition - DEADLINE: November 15, 2021

Create Appalachia seeks artistic works of visual art that show the artist’s original vision, demonstrate technical skill, and that highlight our natural bounty. Open to all media in the visual arts, including film/video, digital media, photography, textiles & fiber art, painting, drawing, printmaking, graphic design, ceramics, sculpture, jewelry crafts, & more.

SHARE with your artist friends & APPLY here: https://leaf-root-berry-2022.artcall.org/

09/20/2021

Oooooh. Yes! Let's do this! Thanks, !

We love the idea of a free little art gallery (FLAG)! Where do you think you'd like to see one of these in and around your hometown?

Hat tip to Elaine Luther of AngelicaKauffman Gallery for putting together a great list of how to find a FLAG near you: https://findafreelittleartgallery.com/

09/13/2021

A little history that I didn't know!

Hindsight’s 20/20, and humans have never been able to predict the future.

09/08/2021

Sheri Castle is one of our favorite cooks and cookbook writers. She's been to West Virginia, and mentions one of our favorite WV purveyors of food (including pepperoni rolls), Fish Hawk Acres, with Chef Dale Hawkins and Teresa Lipps. Warning--you'll want ot hit the road for the Mountain State.

In the heart of Appalachia, West Virginia offers a surprisingly multicultural food scene.

08/25/2021

Is this cool, or what? And happening right near where I grew up in Central Virginia. Can't wait to get my hands on some of this next trip home!

A Virginia cidery has adapted an 8,000-year-old winemaking method.

08/23/2021

We all need to become meadow doctors! Love this article from Gastro Obscura.

Tama Matsuoka Wong makes house calls to help people maintain their native grasslands.

08/20/2021

Salt-rising bread is one of those things that I haven't tried making yet, but I do own the book that's mentioned in this article. In fact, I have purchased and given away several copies. My friend Terri Erwin kindly sent this Bitter Southerner article to me. (Terri lives in Maui, but part of her heart still lives in West Virginia.) I guess that means that I have to put this on the project list soon!

Anyone out there have advice about making salt-rising bread? Your input would be much appreciated!

Bakers, historians, and farmers are working to bring this stinky yet delicious Appalachian tradition back to America’s bread boxes.

06/18/2021

Ron Rash is an Appalachian treasure. That is all. Well--no it's not. There's this essay that helps prove it.

"Once More to the Hills", perhaps?

Mapping the past on parkway intersections

05/10/2021

Artists--this looks like fun!

01/22/2021

Who knew this?

Lady Gaga at premiere of “A Star is Born” in London, September 27, 2018. Courtesy of Wikimedia. License: One of the people who left the Moundsville, West Virginia area in the 1970s, par…