LIVING TRAD
Heirloom Traditional Arts offers classes, workshops, presentations, apprenticeships and cultural exchanges. In addition, our outreach includes assisting in the development of regional folk and traditional arts curriculum for schools and cultivated community engagement through place-based traditional music programs.
Preservation Through Performance
Did you know Aaron Copeland’s Hoedown actually came from a version of Bonaparte’s Retreat played by Salyersville fiddler Bill Stepp? Did you know that “Banjo” Bill Cornett, the former state representative for Knott and Magoffin Counties in the late 1950’s and early 60’s, a Democrat, performed original songs on traditional mountain banjo on the floor of the Kentucky General Assembly advocating for the repeal of old-age “lean laws?” Or that partially blind Monticello, Kentucky fiddler Dick Burnett was the first to publish the song Man of Constant Sorrow in 1913 as Farewell Song?
Kentucky’s rural diaspora has been a major tributary in the river of American music, but too often our rural communities have been overlooked for their significant cultural contributions and even more often are reduced to stereotypes leading to rampant misconceptions of Appalachian communities and culture both inside the region and out. In this concert series, we travel to specific counties or towns in Kentucky and perform tributes to notable traditional artists who once called these places home. Want us to come to your neck of the woods? Be in touch.
Cultural Exchanges
Past Exchanges
Appalachia to Michoacán
Members of the KY traditional music community—CornMaiz and Brett Ratliff—traveled to Mexico in partnership with the Hummingbird Music Project for a cultural exchange between traditional Appalachian artists and traditional artists from the Mexican state of Michoacán. The programs were largely based in Pátzcuaro at La Jacaranda Cultural Pátzcuaro, but the group also enjoyed a very special day in Tingambato visiting ancient archeological sites, enjoying local street food, and jamming with local musicians. Many thanks to our hosts Fred and Meg Snyder from the Hummingbird Music Project for helping make this happen!
“Hillbilly Highway” Reading Series
The “Hillbilly Highway,” aka the Appalachian migration, holds a significant place in American history. This monumental internal relocation of countless poor and working-class individuals has unfortunately received limited attention from historians. However, delving into the depths of this long-overlooked story brings to light its profound impact on various aspects of American society, like the modern industrial labor movement and the postwar urban crisis, but it also becomes evident that the influence of the Appalachian migration extends to the rise and development of a large percentage of today's working-class.
Many of these Appalachian migrants went to major industrial centers like Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Milwaukee, Toledo, and Muncie. Many would end up living in concentrated enclaves, e.g. Uptown Chicago (which was nicknamed "Hillbilly Heaven" in the 1960s), and stayed connected through networks like the Eastern Kentucky Social Club, which was founded in 1969 by the families of black coal miners from Harlan, KY.
While most often used in this metaphoric sense, the term “Hillbilly Highway” also refers to specific stretches of roadway such as U.S. Route 23 or Interstate 75. The migration was not a finite process, as it continues today with multiple generations of Appalachian families leaving the area for education and economic opportunities and commonly moving back to their home states in retirement. The Hillbilly Highway Reading Series is a rural/urban exchange of words, music, and ideas where writers, musicians, and community members engage to explore this mass-migratory event and the complex narratives it involves.
Past Events:
2018 - Hamtramck, MI
Venue: Bank Suey
Readers: Ronni Lundy, Imani Mixon, Rebecca Gayle Howell, Anna Clark, Nandi Comer, & Courtney Balestier
Musicians: Norma Jean Haynes & Brett Ratliff
2020 - Lexington, KY
Venues: The Burl & ArtsPlace
Readers: Silas House, Ada Limon, Jason Howard, Rebecca Gayle Howell, Nandi Comer, Imani Mixon, & Ansil Elkins; Musicians: The Codgers, The Winetree, Giant Rooster Sideshow, & The Possum Queens
“The good we secure for ourselves is precarious and uncertain, is floating in mid-air, until it is secured for all of us and incorporated into our common life.” — Jane Addams