Jean Ritchie is a national treasure, one of America's finest and best known traditional singers. She grew up in Viper, Kentucky, and is part of a large family, the famous "Singing Ritchies of... more

One of the famed "Singing Ritchies of Kentucky," Jean is a national treasure, one of our best traditional singers. Now a new generation can discover her; this reissue of her landmark Folkways... more

Ten years after British scholar Cecil J. Sharp declared the traditional English ballad a "moribund" art form, he discovered a rich and thriving tradition of ballad-singing in America's southern... more

Today, it's hard to imagine songs like "Rosewood Casket" or "Bury Me Beneath the Willow" as new-fangled pop songs, "hillbilly music" adored by the young and controversial to everyone else. Famed... more