Hillbilly Podcast

Hillbilly Podcast invites listeners to learn about and fall in love with the people and culture of Southern Appalachia. Proud, loyal, fierce, friendly, canny, meek, sophisticated, reserved...all these words are ones that describe the people of Southern Appalachia. Mountain folk from North Georgia and Alabama, through the Southern Highlands of East Tennessee, Western North Carolina, Eastern Kentucky and Southwest Virginia, up through West Virginia, Eastern Pennsylvania, and parts of Maryland have baffled and confounded outsiders for centuries. Rooted deep in the mountains and grounded in their Scotch-Irish heritage, these pioneers carved out a life in the midst of a rugged, isolated terrain. Their gumption, strong will, pluck, stubbornness, smarts, and reliance on family, community, and faith helped them succeed in settling this place, where many of weaker constitution would have failed or given up. This is the stock we come from. This is the place that shaped us. Likewise, in turn, those hill people and their descendants have shaped the nation and world, from their Mountain Empire.

The goal of this show, and one of my driving passions, is to share this mysterious place and its fascinating people with outsiders. The Heart of Appalachia is rich in tradition, music, lore, legend, and mountain wisdom that dates back to and beyond a millennia or so. People everywhere need to know about what a treasure we hold here. This is what Hillbilly Podcast is all about.

Regularly occurring Hillbilly Podcast segments are: On the Porch, a narrative of a Southern Appalachian neighborhood from a front porch perspective; Hillbillies and Friends, which includes interviews with everyone from regular folks to small business owners, old-timers, new-timers, citified hillbillies, and real, legit mountain people; Question of the Week, where we ask a question to our listening audience, social media followers, or in a "hillbilly on the street"-type setting, and then talk about the responses and try to make sense of things from the hillbilly perspective; and Appalachia in the News, in which we report on or give insight into things that are going on in current events that pertain to the region. Crime stories, energy issues, highlighting achievements of Appalachian residents and businesses, news of the weird and the weird in the news - we've got a little bit of everything.

Ideas for upcoming recurring segments are: Hillbilly Kitchen, making the greats of the Southern Appalachian supper table, and Hillbilly Hymn Time, a musical segment promoting mountain music from traditional Appalachian/Scotch-Irish ballads to old hymns, Southern Gospel, and Classic Country music.

Welcome to the Heart of Appalachia. Sit down, relax, and enjoy the sights and sounds of our Mountain Home.