In October, 2015 neighbors listened intently to Amy Cyman discuss the history of Appalachian Ballads and enjoyed live performances by Amy and husband Mitch. Another stimulating presentation as part of our resident-led Lecture Series.

Presentation description:

The peculiar story of the Appalachian Folk Ballad has yielded some of America’s most beautiful and haunting melodies and poetry. A woman leaves her husband and babies to set sail on the ghost-ship of her dead lover. A man drowns his fiancée in the Ohio River because she refuses his advances. A Lady invites a villager to spend the night in her bed while her Lord is away on business – and they both perish at the hands of the Lord. In Appalachia, these were the stories told on porches and around wood stoves at day’s end. With singing, instruments, and more, learn how they managed to thrive in isolation for years in the Appalachians, long after they had been mostly forgotten in their home countries of England and Scotland.