Meet the 2024-25 West Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Participants

Ten pairs are participating in the 2024-25 West Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Program. The program celebrates and supports traditional artists in passing on cultural knowledge, stories, and techniques to their apprentices. This time-tested model of one-to-one study allows dedicated apprentices to learn from recognized experts in their traditional art forms and better understand their communities and history. Hosted biennially since 2016, the program has increased in size over four rounds. These 10 pairs from across the Mountain State are carrying on important traditions in old-time music, fiber arts, storytelling, and more.

Tim Bing (Cabell County) of the Vandalia Award-winning Bing Brothers will teach clawhammer banjo playing to his apprentice Edwin McCoy (Monroe County). Tim learned from Sherman Hammons of Pocahontas County, and he will impart regional old-time tunes and techniques that have been passed down over generations. Edwin has won contests at the Appalachian String Band Music Festival, the Hammons Family Fiddle and Banjo Contests, and the West Virginia State Folk Festival in Glenville.

Margaret Bruning and her apprentice Nevada Tribble (both of Randolph County) will practice weaving and fiber art traditions. As a “farm to fiber” maker, Margaret weaves with black and gray wool from the Romanov sheep on her off-grid homestead in Elkins. Her mother, Elena, taught Margaret how important it is not just to weave but to know where your wool comes from. Margaret is president of the Mountain Weavers Guild and practices fiber arts in the guild community. Nevada is an interdisciplinary artist who engages in a range of traditional craft processes, from papermaking to quilting to weaving.

Richard Eddy will teach his apprentice Katie McCoy (both of Monongalia County) how to repair fiddles. Katie previously took fiddle-playing lessons from Richard, and they identified a need to carry on instrument repair to support the West Virginia old-time community, particularly in the Morgantown area. Richard and Katie have already begun working together, and Katie’s primary instrument is a fiddle he taught her to restore.

Bill Hairston (Kanawha County) will teach storytelling techniques to his apprentice Aristotle Jones (Monongalia County). Bill is a Vandalia Award recipient, a founding member of the West Virginia Storytelling Guild, president of the Kentucky Storytelling Association, longtime coordinator of the Vandalia Gathering Liars Contest, and a member of the National Association of Black Storytellers (NABS) and the National Storytelling Network. “Appalachian Soul Man” Aristotle Jones is a performing musician and 2023 NABS Black Appalachian Storytellers Fellow.

Ginny Hawker (Randolph County) will teach traditional unaccompanied Primitive Baptist hymn singing to her apprentice Mary Linscheid (Monongalia County). The 2024 Vandalia Award recipient, Ginny has dedicated her life to singing and teaching this tradition in many workshops and festivals, including the West Virginia State Folk Festival, and at the Augusta Heritage Center. Mary is a singer and old-time fiddler who performs with her band The Shoats.

Dural Miller will teach urban farming to his apprentice Linesha Frith (both of Kanawha County). Dural is the founder of Keep Your Faith Corporation and manages Charleston’s West Side Grown Project, which brings agriculture education to schools. While tending to community gardens and urban farming plots, Dural opened Miss Ruby’s Corner Market to sell locally grown food on the city’s West Side. Linesha helps Dural in their neighborhood gardens and wants to carry on the important traditional knowledge of growing her own food for their community.

Nancy Nelson will teach family recipes in traditional Appalachian candy making to her apprentice and nephew Kenneth “KD” Jones (both of Kanawha County). Candy making, from peanut butter Easter eggs to Thanksgiving pumpkin bread, has always been a way for Nancy and her mother to connect to their community and church congregation in Campbells Creek. A professional chef, KD Jones is the Executive Chef of the Governor’s Mansion. He wants to learn his family’s candy making recipes to carry on the tradition in his work and for his community.

Taylor Runner and his apprentice Annick Odom (both of Monongalia County) will practice square dance calling. With over four decades of experience, Taylor is a regular square dance caller for festivals throughout West Virginia. Influenced by Worley Gardner, he learned his dance calls by attending and recording Worley’s dances in Morgantown. Taylor cofounded the Morgantown Friends of Old Time Music. Trained in both classical and old-time music traditions, Annick is a multi-instrumentalist and composer, storyteller, and square dance caller.

Ben Townsend (Hampshire County) will teach old-time fiddle styles and repertoire to his apprentice Bodhi Gibbons-Guinn (Allegany County, Md.). Ben is an accomplished musician and teacher; his mentors include banjo players Riley Baugus, Ron Mullennex and Jimmy Costa, and fiddlers Dave Bing, Joe Herrmann, Earl White, Israel Welch, and Paul Roomsburg. Ben’s creative fusing of traditional music with contemporary genres can be found on his label Questionable Records. Bodhi is a young fiddler who frequently plays with Ben at an old-time music jam in Frostburg, Maryland.

Judy Van Gundy will teach traditional Appalachian white oak basketry to her apprentice Andrea Brandon-Hennig (both of Randolph County). Their apprenticeship will involve harvesting, preparing, and weaving white oak strips, called splints, into functional and beautiful baskets. Judy is a member of the Mountain Weavers Guild, the Log Cabin Quilter’s Guild, and the Randolph County Community Arts Center. Judy began teaching Andrea in 2023, and they have since enjoyed preparing materials and weaving together, sometimes spending up to eight straight hours focused on their craft.

Congratulations to our 2024-25 West Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship participants!

The West Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Program is made possible with a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and is managed by the West Virginia Folklife Program, a project of the West Virginia Humanities Council. Follow @wvfolklife on social media, and visit wvfolklife.org to learn more about the West Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Program.

A version of this post will be published in the Winter issue of Goldenseal magazine.