Participation Type
Panel
Session Title
Sound Shifts: Personal and Communal Effects of Weaving Audio Recordings in Appalachia
Session Abstract or Summary
This panel will focus on the effects of recording aural (or oral?) narratives. Audio producers, their audience, and those they interview can be changed through the telling. Each stage of storytelling- from the producer's brainstorming, to interviews, editing and publication - fosters opportunities for personal and communal transformation and reflection. Producers can find themselves wading into a different story than they intended. Interviewees can experience empowerment or vulnerability. And the public can become galvanized around an idea, or have their preconceived notions reinforced. Sometimes these changes are intentional, and sometimes not.
Panelists will discuss their efforts to tell the diverse stories of Appalachia's people - their goals with the projects they started and the changes that took place by the end. As part of their presentations, they'll focus on the ethical implications of their roles as storytellers in the region and the often invisible line between activism and reporting a story.
Presentation #1 Title
“Honor:” A Personal Audio Exploration of Civil War Memory and Identity in Appalachia
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
As a child I was raised with vivid recollections of my Appalachian Civil War ancestors. These stories spoke of desperation, anger and betrayal: of relatives hiding from the home guard in the wilderness, of cousins hung in their front yards and in-laws committing suicide from depression. For the past year and half I have been exploring my own inherited grief over my family’s experiences of the Civil War through the development of an audio piece tentatively called “Honor.” In the development of “Honor” I have reenacted with and interviewed members of a Confederate reenactment unit as well as gathered stories from Appalachian residents and historians including ballad singer Sheila Kay Adams. In “Honor”, these interviews mixed with my own narrative reflections are used to ask and answer questions that many ponder about family identity: What qualities do we claim from our ancestors, and what qualities do we seek to discard? What does it mean to truly honor or respect the people we come from, even when they have committed atrocities? My presentation will focus on exploring the ways that those I interviewed choose to view their ancestors and shape their own identities through those choices. I will talk about the personal transformations that occurred in the course of the project and reflect on how the development of “Honor” has helped me- a great-granddaughter of the War- heal my own Civil War wounds.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Saro Lynch-Thomason is a ballad singer, illustrator and audio storyteller living in Asheville, NC. She shares stories of Appalachia’s labor and environmental histories through multimedia projects and performances.
Saro is scheduled to receive her Certificate in Documentary Studies from Duke University in December 2015. Current projects include an audio series “PayDirt: Voices from the Gas Rush in Central West Virginia and Surrounding Communities” which is in negotiation to air on Inside Appalachia.
Presentation #2 Title
Should I Stay or Should I go? Exploring the Appalachian Identity through story.
Presentation #2 Abstract or Summary
Like many West Virginians, my family wandered the country in search of economic opportunity. We finally moved back to West Virginia after several years in the northeast, near New York City. For much of my life, I’ve tried to figure out what it means to be a West Virginian.
My identity as an Appalachian was galvanized by the West Virginia Water Crisis of 2014. I produced a nine minute short audio documentary piece about the crisis that aired on the program Making Contact in August, 2015. The story focused on the economic difficulties of a married mother of two who tumbled down the socio-economic ladder for nearly a year after the crisis. There has still not been an in-depth study of the economic impact of the Elk River Chemical Spill.
This work has expanded into series of seminars on the spill/water crisis and what it means to be in West Virginia/a West Virginian. I’m working with Dr. Eric Luke Lassiter and several graduate students at Marshall University to craft a set of oral histories into a collaborative documentary. We envision a multi-media website, a book, and an audio piece to come out of this work by next spring.
My presentation will focus on Appalachian identity. Who tells our story? How do we find truth in our stories? And finally, what does it mean to be Appalachian?
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #2
Laura Harbert Allen loves making stories, primarily with audio, but also with photographs and emerging media.
Current work includes Thin Places, a series of audio pieces about people, place and transformation in Appalachia. She is also working on a collaborative multi-platform documentary project about the 2014 Elk River Chemical Spill with the humanities department at Marshall University. Laura will complete her certificate in documentary studies at Duke University next spring.
Presentation #3 Title
I Hear That! Talking Across the Lines on Environmental and Cultural Experience
Presentation #3 Abstract or Summary
I record testimonials. I sew together patchworks of these truths to build dialogue and help us hear one another better. I have watched a riverman sit head-in-hand for an hour while the montage of voices and music in our Gathered at the Ohio River audio landscape washed over him. His eyes were ablaze at the conclusion with a look at said, “You got it right.” “Did I say that?” “You heard me.” And, “That really is our story.”
At each of my productions of Revelations: A Staged Reading Celebrating GLBT West Virginians, interviewees find the courage to stand up at the end and face the audience. Revelations is a 75-minute interweaving of interviews read by a dozen readers. Interviewees and readers bring friends and family and use the play for validation and understanding, to say, “This is who I am. Somebody heard me and believes in me.” “These are our stories. These are my people.”
Interviewees appear lighter, unburdened, when we conclude a recording session. They have succeeded in telling their truths into a microphone with a listener. They see they have something to say. They develop a relationship with their own voice and they will never again be silenced.
Community members use our Talking Across the Lines audio tapestries on labor history, mountaintop removal and on gas extraction as organizing tools and to broaden their own understanding through the narrative interplay. These aural landscapes are a braided river of voices telling a story that none alone could tell.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #3
Carrie Nobel Kline strives to listen with her heart and sing from her soul. She is in a listening and performing duo with Michael Kline, Talking Across the Lines. Together with interns and collaborators they broadcast a host of views on historical and current themes. As folklorists they record testimonials from diverse ethnic and economic backgrounds. The Klines perform high mountain harmonies of Appalachian song. Carrie holds an MA in American Studies from SUNY/Buffalo. www.folktalk.org
Presentation #4 Title
Riding Wild Stories: Raising Previously Recorded and Newly Arrived Voices
Presentation #4 Abstract or Summary
From deciding who to interview and what stories to magnify, to determining when and where to release a product derived from audio recordings, I must constantly remind myself that I am directed by the work rather than me directing the work. While working with Michael and Carrie Kline of Talking Across the Lines, I juxtaposed archived recordings with new material to complete Remembering Blair Mountain, a short audio documentary for radio. Currently documenting community work in Lexington, Kentucky, I have found a wealth of already recorded, yet barely-heard oral history interviews which beg to be heard along with new voices. My work now centers around the immigrant community, so it has additional challenges of helping new interviewees tell their stories across linguistic boundaries and also of protecting the identities of tellers with sensitive backgrounds.
Any kind of documentation work yields a power, and it is our job as audio interviewers and producers, to honor both the stories we share and the storytellers we record. It is not our job to catch or dominate a story, but rather to direct it into the sunshine and amplify its truth. Every interview reminds me that I do not do this work because I know what needs to be said or what people need to hear--rather I am always searching, learning from, and illuminating the voices of others. This dynamic is continuously humbling, teaches patience, and requires collaboration with interviewees and community in order to respect and serve those touched by each story.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #4
Miranda Brown gravitates toward empowerment work and exploring holistic community-building through a broad lens. She has worked with Michael and Carrie Kline on producing audio documentaries about Blair Mountain and life in rural Appalachia. She currently produces audio vignettes of Kentuckians who have enrolled in new coverage under the Affordable Care Act, hosts a talk show on Lexington Community Radio, and is exploring audio documentation of the immigrant community and cultures in Lexington, Kentucky.
“Honor:” A Personal Audio Exploration of Civil War Memory and Identity in Appalachia
As a child I was raised with vivid recollections of my Appalachian Civil War ancestors. These stories spoke of desperation, anger and betrayal: of relatives hiding from the home guard in the wilderness, of cousins hung in their front yards and in-laws committing suicide from depression. For the past year and half I have been exploring my own inherited grief over my family’s experiences of the Civil War through the development of an audio piece tentatively called “Honor.” In the development of “Honor” I have reenacted with and interviewed members of a Confederate reenactment unit as well as gathered stories from Appalachian residents and historians including ballad singer Sheila Kay Adams. In “Honor”, these interviews mixed with my own narrative reflections are used to ask and answer questions that many ponder about family identity: What qualities do we claim from our ancestors, and what qualities do we seek to discard? What does it mean to truly honor or respect the people we come from, even when they have committed atrocities? My presentation will focus on exploring the ways that those I interviewed choose to view their ancestors and shape their own identities through those choices. I will talk about the personal transformations that occurred in the course of the project and reflect on how the development of “Honor” has helped me- a great-granddaughter of the War- heal my own Civil War wounds.
