The Soul of Allegheny Music Culture

I am Ethan Jones, a fiddler from Georgia who found myself exploring the Mountain Music Trail of West Virginia. This experience was full of friendship, learning fascinating new things, and playing as much soulful music as I could with people I met on the way. I cannot describe the extent of the incredible experiences I had here, but I will recount to the best of my ability.

First of all, the landscape is dramatic. Immediately you are struck by the mountains, rising everywhere around you, the rivers and streams which are plentiful, sheer cliff faces, caves, valleys of farmers, and occasionally pubs in cities. There is something inspiring about this: being outside here makes you feel very connected to the earth and the world, and makes you really be deeply connected to yourself.

The people are most incredible, between their skills, virtues, and contemplations. One of my favorite groups of people I met were Melodie Wallace, her husband John, daughter Faith, and all of their friends. We would frequently have campfires in their valley, underneath the stars, and talk for hours and play music too. I remember one conversation was induced by the wind. John explained that the river nearby “breathes”: that is, it alternately cools and heats and thus pulls air to and away from it. When he told me this I did not just understand it on an intellectual level- I felt it, because I was in the middle of the receding air currents, pulling back to the river. I could feel the river breathing. Melodie’s friends Josh, Terry, and Rick would bring their instruments to campfires and we would play our hearts out. It was an incredibly satisfying feeling. Another of Melodie’s friends, a prison warden, had read every single non-fiction book in the prison’s library- a huge collection- proving that he and his friends have a deep fascination with learning and understanding.

Another friend I met, Carson Capaldo, quickly became my best friend and someone I came to love dearly. He, born in West Virginia and having hitchhiked the entire United States, has a highly energetic adventure spirit, and we explored a million places. We explored caves, caught our own fish, played endless fiddle and banjo music, and walked a million miles across the state. In the middle of snowy January, when my car had been totaled on ice, we hitchhiked from Union to Thomas WV- from the southernmost to northernmost county- in the snow- with our instruments on our back. We reached Elkins and Carson’s cousins- “Cap” and Kristie- took us in with their friends Trevor and Katie. We ate squirrel gravy and listened to Cap tell the most hilarious stories you ever heard. He told about how, as a kid, his dad took him on a “suicide rig” down in the mines- a little cart that you ride on your stomach face-forward- and they went flying for miles underground. At one point, Cap’s helmet got suddenly smacked off as they flew underneath a protrusion in the cave. “Keep your head down, son!” Cap, also a hitchhiker in his day, told us the story of his European friends Mikhe and Jane, who he worked at a laundromat with. One day, they appeared in a muscley trans-am and said “It is our beast! Come with us!” Cap said “I cannot go,” and they rode off into the sunset and were never seen again.

The most profound mono-a-mono music experience I had was with Trevor Hammons, a descendent of the long line of fiddlers and ballad singers the Hammons Family. He explained to me that fiddling is not about technicality- it is a feeling. We dual-fiddled his family’s tune Fine Times at Our House, and it felt so right in the raw, exposed West Virginia dusk light. Michael and Carrie Kline, members of the Mountain Music Trail, have recorded the Hammonses, and taught Carson and I one of their songs “Bangum and the Wild Boar”- credited with being 1,200 years old, older than Beowulf.

My last experience in West Virginia was at the Appalachian String Band Festival, “Clifftop.” This is a giant gathering of old-time musicians from all over the world at Camp Washington Carver in Fayette County. We sang and played for literally two weeks straight, rejoicing in friendship, drunk on love, high on food and music and dancing, and happy to be away from the fast pace of modern society. This was a profoundly good experience.

West Virginia rocks!!!