Participation Type
Performance
Session Title
Session 7.17 Music
Session Abstract or Summary
Appalachian performers from two uniquely defined Southwestern Ohio dulcimer families will share traditional songs and read original poems that feature the overlapping voices—and key values—of recollecting, generationally-minded personae. These recurring narrative tones or “drone strings” powerfully shape regional ballad and poetry genres, and may also reveal how specific Appalachian artists express their roles and sense of family or group experience for wider audiences. Using the dulcimer itself as a central metaphor, presenters will offer a repertoire of family music inspired by the expressive traditions of Jean Ritchie, the Carter family and mountain ballads; voices from one writer-musician’s newly published poetry collection, Drone String (Wind Publications, 2015) will also speak, providing a multi-modal, handed-down interpretation of family folk and their home values.
Presentation #1 Title
Drone String Showcase: Family Storytellers Share Their Appalachian Songs and Literature
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
Appalachian performers from two uniquely defined Southwestern Ohio dulcimer families will share traditional songs and read original poems that feature the overlapping voices—and key values—of recollecting, generationally-minded personae. These recurring narrative tones or “drone strings” powerfully shape regional ballad and poetry genres, and may also reveal how specific Appalachian artists express their roles and sense of family or group experience for wider audiences. Using the dulcimer itself as a central metaphor, presenters will offer a repertoire of family music inspired by the expressive traditions of Jean Ritchie, the Carter family and mountain ballads; voices from one writer-musician’s newly published poetry collection, Drone String (Wind Publications, 2015) will also speak, providing a multi-modal, handed-down interpretation of family folk and their home values.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Sherry Cook Stanforth is the Creative Writing Vision Program Director at Thomas More College and co-editor of Pine Mountain Sand & Gravel. She teaches fiction, poetry, environmental/ethnic literatures and folklore and also performs Appalachian folk music in a family band, Tellico.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #2
John Trokan is an associate professor of religious studies at Mount St. Joseph University in Cincinnati. He teaches a course on Appalachian Culture and Spirituality, and also plays the lap dulcimer, mandolin, and accordion.
Nancy Trokan is an assistant professor of nursing at The Christ College of Nursing and Health Sciences in Cincinnati, OH. She has been playing autoharp and Appalachian Lap Dulcimer for over 18 years and frequently performs with The Hills of Kentucky Dulcimer Club in Northern Kentucky and The Greater Cincinnati area.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #3
Jim Cook is a retired engineer who grew up in the Blue Ridge mountains. A member of the Cincinnati Dulcimer Society, he also performs music in the family band, Tellico, and Kinner Express, a band from Clermont County, Ohio.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #4
Nancy Cook is a retired nurse and dulcimer player. She is a long-time member of Cincinnati Dulcimer Society, a member of the family band, Tellico, and the Clermont County band, Kinner Express.
Drone String Showcase: Family Storytellers Share Their Appalachian Songs and Literature
Appalachian performers from two uniquely defined Southwestern Ohio dulcimer families will share traditional songs and read original poems that feature the overlapping voices—and key values—of recollecting, generationally-minded personae. These recurring narrative tones or “drone strings” powerfully shape regional ballad and poetry genres, and may also reveal how specific Appalachian artists express their roles and sense of family or group experience for wider audiences. Using the dulcimer itself as a central metaphor, presenters will offer a repertoire of family music inspired by the expressive traditions of Jean Ritchie, the Carter family and mountain ballads; voices from one writer-musician’s newly published poetry collection, Drone String (Wind Publications, 2015) will also speak, providing a multi-modal, handed-down interpretation of family folk and their home values.
