Folkways | UNC-TV

May’s Folkways’ finale finds two eastern North Carolina pastors sharing their different styles for spreading musical messages of faith.

Next, the infectious energy of square dancing, flat footing, and clogging from a Swannanoa gathering at Warren Wilson College steps up on Dance!

David Holt explains how a group of talented fiddle and banjo players from Surry County, NC, came to have a world-wide impact on Old Time Music. The music originated from English, Scotch-Irish, and African-American musical traditions but it was shaped and cross-pollinated into a distinctly American sound. Tommy Jarrell was one of those most widely known; his intense, driving style and contagious enthusiasm for the music has inspired generations of musician.

While the banjo has enjoyed popularity in the South for over 100 years, its history in the world is much longer. The banjo actually originated in Africa, and as Folkways host David Holt explains, slowly migrated to the Southern mountains after the Civil War. The Banjo weaves together the history and technique of the instrument that has made its reputation as an icon of the South to introduce some of its most dedicated players.

In Folkways Coastal Carvers, some of the most talented carvers on Harkers Island exhibit their wares and explain how they began making decoys and why they continue. James Rose, miniature boat builder, demonstrates his boats and talks about why he built each one and the significance it has to him. Curt Salter, decoy carver and founding member of the Core Sound Guild, explains step by step how he chooses the wood for a decoy and then cuts and carves it until it resembles a duck's body and head. His collection of historic decoys from a time when they brought home dinner is also quite impressive. Wayne Davis and Carl Huff are two other carvers that have designed their own styles of decoys.

Folkways Earth Skills introduces these participants, as well as the survival skills they are learning. Differentiating between edible and toxic plants, for instance, proves valuable for meals. Rivercane has various uses, from weapons to baskets. One instructor demonstrates making pottery without the use of a pottery wheel or a large constructed kiln. Workshop participants learn how to make weapons, prepare animal hide for use in clothing or shelter and make a fire without using matches. No telephones, no computers, no electricity--these participants come to the workshop to get in touch with ancient ways and their natural surroundings. While living without meals that can be cooked in less than 15 minutes and gadgets that reduce several of the steps in our tasks may not sound like fun, instructors and participants show that even at the end of a day in which they have made their own utensils, gathered their own food and prepared their own clothing, they still have time to play music and dance.

Host David Holt begins by introducing Dale McCoy, who demonstrates his style of finger picking, a style viewers may recognize from The Potters of Seagrove. Wayne Henderson not only dazzles audiences with the flight of his fingers, but he invites us into his guitar shop, where he explains the precision and care involved in handcrafting a guitar. Paul Graybeal, known well by people who collect guitars, handcrafts miniature and full-sized guitars, but devotes as much time and care to the process as one would do with a guitar that can play. Bryan Sutton demonstrates flat-picking and its variations and explains the demands made of a session player in Nashville. As a final treat, David Holt plays alongside the legendary Doc Watson, one of the great pioneers of Appalachian folk music.

In Homestead Living, Eustace introduces us to activities nearly forgotten by most people, activities that are part of his everyday life. Building a shelter, blacksmithing, raising horses and gardening take us back to a time before refrigerators were even a concept and department stores were available. Younger people who train on Eustace's farm stay for a year and find an inner strength that teaches them about their environment and gives them an appreciation for the land around them.

The Legend of Tom Dula shares the history of the song and some ideas about the story from some people who can trace their roots back to the Happy Valley clan and others who have spent their lives fascinated with this obscure murder. Besides sharing some of the hearsay from the testimony and some opinions about who really committed the deed, the program sheds light on Frank Proffitt's involvement in the song, how the Kingston Trio discovered it, and how Frank finally received credit for the Kingston Trio's version of the song.

On the first weekend in June every year, men and women, young and old, gather together in Mount Airy, North Carolina for the annual Old Time Fiddlers Convention. The competition draws people from nearly every state in the U.S., and there are even a few people from overseas who venture to the small town in quaint Surry County. On Folkways' Old Time Fiddlers Convention, David Holt introduces us to some of the people who bring their fiddles, banjos, guitars, or bass. Mike Seeger, a musician who has collected and performed old time music for over 40 years, accompanies David on the Jaw Harp. Ralph Blizzard from eastern Tennessee shows off his long bow style of fiddle playing.

David Holt talks to three talented artists and experiences the whole spectrum of Piedmont Blues. Etta Baker, a well-known artist in the North Carolina mountains, plays old favorites like "Knoxville Rag" and "Careless Love." She also plays a traditional blues song, showing the difference between the type of beat most people associate with "blues" and the ragtime style of Piedmont Blues. She also plays some slide guitar with "John Henry." David also plays his guitar beside George Higgs, another artist who plays the blues in the style of Blind Boy Fuller, a blues artist of the 1930s. George also slides the blues on his harmonica, as David accompanies him. Finally, David introduces us to John Dee Holeman of Durham, North Carolina, who plays the modern style of blues that emanated from the war. Playing his electric guitar in the styles of both Blind Boy Fuller and Lightning Hopkins, John concludes Piedmont Blues with a beat that will get your toes tapping.

In North Carolina and across the nation, Seagrove, NC equals pottery. People from across the nation and around the world come to Seagrove to buy various styles of pottery and muse over the delightful glazes and awesome colors. In The Potters of Seagrove, renowned potters like Sid Luck, Ben Owen, Vernon Owens and the King family show off their wares and relate how they decided to make pottery their career. In addition, scenes from Sid Luck's annual birthday celebration and the North Carolina Pottery Festival give a fun twist to an art that often invites a reverent silence as pottery and non-pottery fans alike marvel over intricately designed pieces. The Potters of Seagrove introduce other modes of pottery as well, such as face jugs, sure to bring a grin to those who look at them, and pottery sculpture, figurines made without the use of a wheel. See what a kiln looks like and see Raku pottery made before your eyes. In addition, come to the North Carolina Pottery Center and meet Terry Zug, the expert on the history of pottery in North Carolina.

In North Carolina and across the nation, Seagrove, NC equals pottery. People from across the nation and around the world come to Seagrove to buy various styles of pottery and muse over the delightful glazes and awesome colors. In The Potters of Seagrove, renowned potters like Sid Luck, Ben Owen, Vernon Owens and the King family show off their wares and relate how they decided to make pottery their career. In addition, scenes from Sid Luck's annual birthday celebration and the North Carolina Pottery Festival give a fun twist to an art that often invites a reverent silence as pottery and non-pottery fans alike marvel over intricately designed pieces. The Potters of Seagrove introduce other modes of pottery as well, such as face jugs, sure to bring a grin to those who look at them, and pottery sculpture, figurines made without the use of a wheel. See what a kiln looks like and see Raku pottery made before your eyes. In addition, come to the North Carolina Pottery Center and meet Terry Zug, the expert on the history of pottery in North Carolina.

The name "Burlon Craig" surfaces memories even for North Carolinians who are not potters. Not only is Burlon a familiar face in the pottery community, his work is so well-known around the state that people come to Catawba Valley pottery festivals from throughout North Carolina, just to buy a piece of his work. As far as North Carolina is concerned, Burlon Craig is the Michaelangelo of clay. Those of you who were a part of Folkways' beginning may have remembered a program in 1982 that featured the famous artist. Pottery Revival in Catawba Valley not only revisits Burlon 16 years later, but it introduces the apprentices and succeeding generations who carry on his tradition.

This is another episode from the first season of FOLKWAYS in 1982. While most of the artists in that first series are no longer with us, this is a chance to visit them again and see some of the very best and authentic folk art practiced in the southern Appalachians. Although the production tools available then can't match the quality of today's digital video, it's still a fascinating look back at part of our cultural heritage.

In Folkways Traditions of the Cherokee, you will meet some of these ancient masters who have held onto the old traditions. Amanda Swimmer demonstrates how to form and carve pottery into beautiful vases and bowls--all without the use of a pottery wheel. Eva Bigwitch has been making baskets since she was a child and uses rivercane, which she prepares by hand, dyes and then weaves into intricate designs that she cannot explain how to create. Walker Calhoun shows students at the Earthskills workshops in Georgia how to make a blowgun from rivercane and a dart from thistle and twigs, as Darry Wood interprets his movements. Amanda, Eva and Walker learned the traditions from watching their elders, teaching their children the traditions that are so dear to them. Although Walker plays songs to a banjo, an instrument not native to the Cherokee, he remembers the ancient Cherokee songs and dances and invites the Earthskills workshop students to participate in them with him. As the story concludes, Cherokee men and women talk about wishing to honor not just the traditions themselves, but the spirit behind them and the connection to the elements of the earth.

In the 1930s, North Carolina was a hotbed of early Country musicians, and Wade Mainer stood out above the rest. With his singing and precise two-finger banjo style, Wade and his band created a distinct sound that bridged the gap between old-time mountain music and Bluegrass. Watch both Wade and Julia Mainer in action during Folkways: Wayne Mainer and enjoy the sweet music made by the man known as the “Grandfather of Bluegrass.”

Folkways' Workers in Wood will give you a new appreciation for wood carved figures and for life before assembly lines. For Emmett, Nolan and George, carving by hand is their passion and their final products are stamped with their tender care and talent.