On January 25, we hosted our second West Virginia Folklife Program concert at the West Virginia Humanities Council, with a performance by old-time musician and collector Jim Costa, and a presentation by folklorist Zoe van Buren, who worked with Costa to document his collection.
Tag: folklore
The State Folklorist’s Notebook: Talking Turkey Calls with Aaron Parsons of Jackson County
State folklorist Emily Hilliard visits turkey call maker Aaron Parsons of Jackson County in her regular column for Goldenseal Magazine.
Building a Broom by Feel: An Interview with James Shaffer
At 87, James Shaffer of Charleston Broom & Mop Co. in Loudendale is the last handmade commercial broom maker in West Virginia. We worked with West Virginia Public Broadcasting to produce a radio & video mini-documentary about Shaffer and the changes he’s seen in his 70 years in the broom industry.
Field Notes: Sam Rizzetta
Sam Rizzetta is a dulcimer designer, builder, and musician who moved to West Virginia in the early 1970s. He was a member of the string band Trapezoid and founded the hammer dulcimer playing classes at the Augusta Heritage Center at Davis & Elkins College. He has built dulcimers for musicians including John McCutcheon, Guy Carawan, and Sam Herrmann (read our Field Notes with her). Rizzetta now collaborates with the Dusty Strings Company who build hammer dulcimers based on his designs. He lives with his wife Carrie Rizzetta in Berkeley County, WV.
West Virginia Folklife 2016 Activities Report
Summary of programs, fieldwork, and other activities of the West Virginia Folklife Program in fiscal year 2016
Ken Sullivan Remembers Alan Jabbour
A tribute to pioneering folklorist, scholar, and fiddler Alan Jabbour (1942-2017), from West Virginia Humanities Council Executive Director Ken Sullivan
“I Think That the Women Made the Folk Songs”: Phyllis Marks in Concert
On September 8, 2016 we hosted our first West Virginia Folklife Program concert on the patio of the West Virginia Humanities Council, with a performance by 89 year-old Gilmer County ballad singer Phyllis Marks.
That’s A Grand Story to Tell: Documenting Jim Costa’s Collection
“I should have been a historical archaeologist,” said Jim Costa. “I guess I am in my own way.” Jim and I sat on the porch of his Summers County, West Virginia home, a restored 19th century log cabin built by a local Civil War veteran and saved from decay by Jim himself. It was the end of a humid and flooded summer, and we were doing one last interview before I prepared to go home.
wvfolklife.org 