Participation Type
Discussion
Session Title
Session 3.17 Music
Presentation #1 Title
West Virginia's Early Country Music from GOLDENSEAL Magazine
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
This 45-minute session will explore the history of country music in West Virginia as it has been presented in the pages of GOLDENSEAL magazine over the past 40 years. From the 1920s sounds of Blind Alfred Reed and the West Virginia Coon Hunters to the more recent music of the Lilly Brothers and Hazel Dickens, this entertaining and informative presentation will incorporate Power Point graphics with recorded examples and commentary from GOLDENSEAL editor John Lilly. GOLDENSEAL is West Virginia’s highly respected journal of traditional life, published quarterly by the West Virginia Division of Culture and History. Highlights will include Wheeling’s famous singing family of Doc & Chickie Williams, Mingo County bluegrass stalwarts the Lonesome Pine Fiddlers, Charleston television stars Buddy Starcher and Sleepy Jeffers, prolific guitarist and recording artist Roy Harvey, and others. A special sidebar to this discussion will be a look at Hank Williams and his unfortunate and mysterious death in Oak Hill, WV, on January 1, 1953. Presenter John Lilly has served as editor of GOLDENSEAL magazine since 1997. A respected scholar of country music history, he is the editor of the book Mountains of Music: West Virginia Traditional Music from Goldenseal (University of Illinois Press. 1999). He is a former tour guide at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee, and a contributor to the Grove Encyclopedia of American Music, The Country Music Encyclopedia, The Encyclopedia of Appalachia, and the West Virginia Encyclopedia
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
John Lilly of Charleston, West Virginia, is editor and folklife director for GOLDENSEAL magazine. John is also a respected musician, singer, and songwriter.
West Virginia's Early Country Music from GOLDENSEAL Magazine
Corbly Hall 464
This 45-minute session will explore the history of country music in West Virginia as it has been presented in the pages of GOLDENSEAL magazine over the past 40 years. From the 1920s sounds of Blind Alfred Reed and the West Virginia Coon Hunters to the more recent music of the Lilly Brothers and Hazel Dickens, this entertaining and informative presentation will incorporate Power Point graphics with recorded examples and commentary from GOLDENSEAL editor John Lilly. GOLDENSEAL is West Virginia’s highly respected journal of traditional life, published quarterly by the West Virginia Division of Culture and History. Highlights will include Wheeling’s famous singing family of Doc & Chickie Williams, Mingo County bluegrass stalwarts the Lonesome Pine Fiddlers, Charleston television stars Buddy Starcher and Sleepy Jeffers, prolific guitarist and recording artist Roy Harvey, and others. A special sidebar to this discussion will be a look at Hank Williams and his unfortunate and mysterious death in Oak Hill, WV, on January 1, 1953. Presenter John Lilly has served as editor of GOLDENSEAL magazine since 1997. A respected scholar of country music history, he is the editor of the book Mountains of Music: West Virginia Traditional Music from Goldenseal (University of Illinois Press. 1999). He is a former tour guide at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee, and a contributor to the Grove Encyclopedia of American Music, The Country Music Encyclopedia, The Encyclopedia of Appalachia, and the West Virginia Encyclopedia
