The Tillers Kick-Off Saturday's Music At The Festival

In August 2007, Westside comrades Mike Oberst and Sean Geil united their fondness for thumping out old-timey folk and street-style blues. With Oberst on banjo, Geil on guitar, and soon finding a bassist in Jason Soudrette, the trio plunged into the Cincinnati music scene.
The band is both traditional and progressive. They resurrect songs of America's past, touching on themes both historical and timeless. Clawhammer banjo, accoustic guitar, and wooden upright bass meet high mountain harmonies that belt and croon, lament and rejoice. Stories of work and struggle are revived and rekindled. Country blues classics meet new, less known ballads while we all stomp and sing along.

They will perform at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, May 9.

You can hear their music through this link.

Did You Know You Can Make Rope At the Appalachian Festival?

Actually, this activity is mostly enjoyed by kids...but kids at heart can try too! It's in our pioneer village. We've got 45 camps this year, taking up much of the grassy area at Coney Island.

Festival Blacksmiths And Other Outdoor Metal Work

This is a sample of work from Cherie. Believe it or not, all of her pieces are made from scraps of cars.

These beautiful pieces are created by George Korte.





If you're looking for metal work for your garden, you'll find plenty to choose from at the Appalachian Festival. To the left are two of our black smiths.

















Some additional metal artists:

Listen to Your Radio For Ticket Give-a-Ways This Week

Are you tuned in? WGRR and Warm98 are giving away Appalachian Festival tickets on their morning shows this week. WAKW, WUBE and WPFB are also giving away tickets.

And, if you're a fan of the Appalachian Festival on Facebook or following us on Twitter, you never know. There may be some opportunities there too!

We're On Facebook Now

If you're on Facebook, we hope you join us as a member of our fan page. Just search for us as 'AppalachianFestival'.

Thanks!

Keepin' It Kountry, New This Year At The Festival

We’ve got a number of new crafters this year joining us at the Festival. Mary Beth Lentner and Judy Haas of Keepin’ It Kountry will be coming in from Stow, Ohio. We asked Mary Beth some questions about what they do.



What are reclaimed fabrics?

Reclaimed fabrics are antique or vintage textiles such as old Army blankets and fabrics from the 1920s to 1970s. We also use incorporate upholstery and home décor fabrics for our valences, and hand design and cut all of our own appliqués from these reclaimed fabrics.

How did you get interested in sewing?

We are a mother-daughter team. My Mom (Judy) started sewing more than 30 years ago basically out of necessity. She had three young daughters who needed clothing and not a lot of income. She just took a liking to sewing and is the best seamstress that I know! Now I have been sewing since high school.

How do you come up with the ideas for the pieces?

Well, our very first product was our popular moose and bear valance. I love everything rustic, but I could not find any curtains to place in my cabin-themed living room that were unique and not mass-produced. So, I had the idea to cut my own appliqués out of very rustic wools and sew them to a valance. I told my Mom about the idea, and she sewed up the basic valance. I then hand-designed my moose, bear, and tree appliqués, which we sewed on the valance. I still have those valances in my living room today!

Our business really expanded after that. Since then, we've been inspired to create more than 65 valance styles. Then we started a line of environmentally friendly handbags. We also moved into making another line of retro tote bags that feature funky vintage fabrics and men's neckties.

Russ and Barb Childers Are Always Popular At The Festival

For more than 35 years, Russ has been making music in the southern Ohio/northern Kentucky area. Whether as banjo player with the Rabbit Hash String Band or fiddle player with the husband-wife team Bear Foot or one-man-band-and-storyteller, his music defines him. His banjo playing has won him many state awards and even made him a Kentucky Colonel! In his fifteen years of professional storytelling, he engages in the time-honored tradition -- the oral passage of information. As he once learned aspects of his eastern Kentucky heritage from his father and grandfather, so he now passes it on. But he continues to be a student of banjo player Elmer Bird of West Virginia and fiddle player Tommy Taylor of Northern Kentucky. Just as his Appalachian music is recycled from an earlier time, his instrument building workshops teach children to make music on reclaimed materials. This echoes the lifestyle of his ancestors who often found it necessary to fashion useful things from reused objects.


Footloose stories and music with Barb Childers

When Barb Childers appears in an Appalachian storytelling musical duo called Bear Foot, she is the Foot and her husband Russ is the Bear. When she cuts loose on her own, she calls her footloose stories and musical performances "Stories Afoot!" Barb is a former children's librarian, a past dancer with the traditional clogdance team Dancin' Fools, one-half of Bear Foot, and one-fifth of the popular old-timey group Rabbit Hash String Band. She specializes in highly interactive Appalachian storytelling and folklore but loves to share historical, seasonal, and cultural traditions of other regions as well. Her captivated audiences range in age from children to senior citizens. Barb and her husband, veteran performers of over 30 years, make their home in Batavia, Ohio.