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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

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Season 1 Episodes

Beyond Measure
S1 E11 Premiere Date 03/17/11

Sourwood Mountain Dulcimers/John Jacob Niles
S1 E10 Length 56:40 Premiere Date 03/10/11

Harriette Arnow/Ourselves and That Promise
S1 E9 Premiere Date 03/03/11

Nimrod Workman: To Fit My Own Category/Coal Miner: Frank Jackson/UMWA: A House Divided
S1 E8 Premiere Date 02/24/11

Long Journey Home
S1 E7 Premiere Date 02/17/11

Strangers and Kin
S1 E6 Premiere Date 02/10/11

Buffalo Creek: An Act of God/Buffalo Creek Revisited
S1 E5 Premiere Date 02/03/11

Hand Carved
S1 E4 Premiere Date 01/27/11

Coalmining Women/In Ya Blood
S1 E3 Premiere Date 01/20/11

Big Lever
S1 E2 Premiere Date 01/13/11

Sunnyside of Life
S1 E1 Premiere Date 01/06/11

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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 May 7, 2026 8:00 am ET on KETKY
  • Thursday May 7, 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 May 14, 2026 8:00 am ET on KETKY
  • Thursday May 14, 2026 7:00 am CT on KETKY

Harriette Arnow/Ourselves and That Promise - S1 E9

Premiered On: 03/03/2011

In interviews filmed not long before her death, Harriette Simpson Arnow, author of the "The Dollmaker", describes the basic biographical details of her life and reveals the difficulties of being a writer, a wife, and a mother. And. three contemporary Kentuckians, James Still, Robert Penn Warren, and Billy Davis, discuss their work and its relationship to the environment in which they live. A 2011 Production.

  • Thursday May 21, 2026 8:00 am ET on KETKY
  • Thursday May 21, 2026 7:00 am CT on KETKY

Sourwood Mountain Dulcimers/John Jacob Niles - S1 E10

Premiered On: 03/10/2011

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. A 2011 Production.

  • Thursday May 28, 2026 8:00 am ET on KETKY
  • Thursday May 28, 2026 7:00 am CT on KETKY
Jump to Upcoming Airdates

Recent

Strangers and Kin - S1 E6

  • Thursday April 30, 2026 8:00 am ET on KETKY
  • Thursday April 30, 2026 7:00 am CT on KETKY

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

  • Thursday April 23, 2026 8:00 am ET on KETKY
  • Thursday April 23, 2026 7:00 am CT on KETKY

Hand Carved - S1 E4

  • Thursday April 16, 2026 8:00 am ET on KETKY
  • Thursday April 16, 2026 7:00 am CT on KETKY

Coalmining Women/In Ya Blood - S1 E3

  • Thursday April 9, 2026 8:00 am ET on KETKY
  • Thursday April 9, 2026 7:00 am CT on KETKY

Big Lever - S1 E2

  • Thursday April 2, 2026 8:00 am ET on KETKY
  • Thursday April 2, 2026 7:00 am CT on KETKY
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