Skip to Main Content

Sourwood Mountain Dulcimers/John Jacob Niles

I.D. Stamper, a master dulcimer builder and player from Letcher County, Ky., and John McCutcheon, a young musician, play together, swap tunes, discuss musical traditions, and demonstrate the difference between hammered and mountain-style dulcimer. And, a portrait of John Jacob Niles, the adding machine repairman who came to eastern Kentucky in 1909 and became a much-noted "arranger, expander, collector, recorder, and performer" of traditional Appalachian ballads. The film shows Niles in concert, at home, at work arranging his music, and explaining the historical place of balladry in American music.
Season 1 Episode 10 Length 56:40 Premiere: 03/10/11 Rating: TV-G

Appalshop @ 40: Classics from the Collection

Sponsored by:

Yellow and blue background with white state of Kentucky. Text reads Kentucky's Only Statewide Broadcasting NetworkYellow and blue background with white state of Kentucky. Text reads Kentucky's Only Statewide Broadcasting Network

TV Schedules

Jump to Recent Airdates

Upcoming

Buffalo Creek: An Act of God/Buffalo Creek Revisited - S1 E5

Premiered On: 02/03/2011

On February 26, 1972, a coal-waste dam owned by the Pittston Company collapsed at the head of a crowded hollow in southern West Virginia. The disaster left 125 dead and 4,000 homeless. Interviews with survivors, representatives of union and citizen's groups, and officials of the Pittston Company are juxtaposed with actual footage of the flood. Filmed ten years after the Flood, "Buffalo Creek Revisited" looks at the second disaster, in which the survivors' efforts to rebuild the communities are thwarted by government insensitivity and a century-old pattern of corporate control of the region's land and resources. A 2011 Production.

  • Thursday September 24, 2026 8:00 am ET on KETKY
  • Thursday September 24, 2026 7:00 am CT on KETKY

Strangers and Kin - S1 E6

Premiered On: 02/10/2011

The film traces the evolution of the "hillbilly" image through Hollywood films, network news and entertainment shows, dramatic renderings of popular literature, and interviews with contemporary Appalachians to demonstrate how stereotypes are created, reinforced, and often used to rationalize exploitation. A 2011 Production.

  • Thursday October 1, 2026 8:00 am ET on KETKY
  • Thursday October 1, 2026 7:00 am CT on KETKY

Long Journey Home - S1 E7

Premiered On: 02/17/2011

This documentary dispels this myth of a "pure Anglo-Saxon" Appalachia as it explores the ethnic diversity of the region, the economic forces causing people to migrate into and out of the area, and the personal choices individuals make to stay, to leave, and to come back. A 2011 Production.

  • Thursday October 8, 2026 8:00 am ET on KETKY
  • Thursday October 8, 2026 7:00 am CT on KETKY

Nimrod Workman: To Fit My Own Category/Coal Miner: Frank Jackson/UMWA: A House Divided - S1 E8

Premiered On: 02/24/2011

Nimrod Workman was born in 1895 and spent his life raising a family of eleven by working in the West Virginia coal mines. The film is an extended visit at his home as he and his family prepare meals, build an addition to the house, dig for yellow root, swap jokes with the neighbors, and enjoy each other's company. Next, an early Appalshop film juxtaposes coal miner Frank Jackson's personal recollections of union organizing and mining work with scenes of him in and around the mines. Also, a film of a speech given by W.A. Boyle, president of UMWA, at a miners' rally in Big Stone Gap, Va., in the summer of 1970 with scenes at a mine and interviews with working and disabled miners. A 2011 Production.

  • Thursday October 15, 2026 8:00 am ET on KETKY
  • Thursday October 15, 2026 7:00 am CT on KETKY
Jump to Upcoming Airdates

Recent

Hand Carved - S1 E4

  • Thursday September 17, 2026 8:00 am ET on KETKY
  • Thursday September 17, 2026 7:00 am CT on KETKY

Coalmining Women/In Ya Blood - S1 E3

  • Thursday September 10, 2026 8:00 am ET on KETKY
  • Thursday September 10, 2026 7:00 am CT on KETKY

Big Lever - S1 E2

  • Thursday September 3, 2026 8:00 am ET on KETKY
  • Thursday September 3, 2026 7:00 am CT on KETKY

Sunnyside of Life - S1 E1

  • Thursday August 27, 2026 8:00 am ET on KETKY
  • Thursday August 27, 2026 7:00 am CT on KETKY

Beyond Measure - S1 E11

  • Thursday August 20, 2026 8:00 am ET on KETKY
  • Thursday August 20, 2026 7:00 am CT on KETKY
Top

Explore KET