29 September 2021

'What is folklore today?' from the Bitter Southerner

The Bitter Southerner (BS) online magazine has published 'What is folklore today?', in which BS guest editors April and Lance Ledbetter talk with Sarah Bryan, executive director of the North Carolina Folklife Institute and editor of the Old-Time Herald, and Emily Hilliard, program officer of Folk and Traditional Arts at Mid Atlantic Arts and former West Virginia state folklorist at the West Virginia Humanities Council, about 'tradition, authenticity, validation, and building creative cultural communities in our digital age'.

The Ledbetters created the Atlanta-based organisation Dust-to-Digital, dedicated to preserving and making accessible obscure recordings. The discussion touches on many aspects of folklore in the South that relate to old-time musicians in particular, but also to humanity in general: traditions of survival and coping with disaster, for instance, or what to do about traditions that have undesirable aspects (quote: 'Folklore isn't inherently good').

Associated with the interview are features on the Ledbetters themselves; photos taken by Margo Newark Rosenbaum, wife of Art Rosenbaum; and a playlist from the Dust-to-Digital collections.

© Richard Hawkins

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