Smokies
The Welch Family Singers
Gospel Band
Robbinsville, NC (Graham County)
The Welch Family Singers perform gospel songs in English and in Cherokee. They accompany their traditional four-part harmonies with guitar and bass. "This is our ministry," Alfred Welch says, "our work for the Lord." Their renditions of hymns in the Cherokee language are part of a two-hundred-year old tradition of Christian music among the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.
Read more about The Welch Family SingersWhitewater Bluegrass Company
Bluegrass band
Buncombe, Henderson, Haywood Counties
The Whitewater Bluegrass Company has been described by a local music writer as "a veteran crew of WNC-mountain natives, playing in a seriously top-notch bluegrass outfit" (Stuart Gaines, Mountain Xpress, 1/5/05). Formed in 1982, Whitewater Bluegrass Company specializes in "bluegrass music and big mountain circle square dance," says guitarist Bill Byerly, "with an emphasis on audience participation." They do a "bluegrass music show featuring traditional and current forms of music, with skits and stories thrown
Read more about Whitewater Bluegrass CompanyGilford Williams
Oldtime musician
Robbinsville, NC (Graham County)
Born in Vonore, Tennessee, not far from his current home in Robbinsville, North Carolina, Gilford Williams took up the banjo as a child. "I just took it up, then I'd lay it down," Williams says, describing the way he learned. Though various life events intervened, including time spent in service during World War II, he became an accomplished oldtime musician. He plays two-finger banjo, guitar, harmonica, and fiddle. He is also a singer and is noted for the way he sings the old gospel songs.
Read more about Gilford WilliamsThe Wilson Brothers
Gospel musicians
Brasstown, NC (Cherokee County)
North Carolina Folk Heritage Award recipients Jerry and Ray Wilson have been performing as a gospel duet for decades. Ray sings lead and his brother Jerry sings tenor, and together their vocal style reflects the heyday of great brother duets like the Delmore Brothers and fellow Carolinians the Blue Sky Boys in the 1930s and 1940s.
Read more about The Wilson BrothersJerry Wolfe
Storyteller
Cherokee, NC (Qualla Boundary)
Jerry Wolfe tells stories and talks about Cherokee history, culture, and language. His programs fascinate people of all ages. As a storyteller, Wolfe recounts. traditional Cherokee legends, and also tells stories about his experiences growing up in Cherokee, about the boarding schools, and about stickball games. As a young man, he played Cherokee stickball and learned to carve the sticks from- wood. Today he is often in demand as a "caller" or announcer for stickball games. He also tells stories about his grandfather's experiences in the Civil War.
Read more about Jerry WolfeBud Smith
Cherokee woodcarver
Cherokee,NC (Cherokee County)
Bud Smith carves wood into bears, birds, and other lively figures. He teaches workshops in wood carving, demonstrates carving, and also exhibits his work. "I consider wood carving a fine art, not a craft," Smith says.
Read more about Bud SmithEmily Smith
Cherokee basketmaker
Cherokee, NC (Qualla Boundary)
Emily Smith makes white oak baskets and honeysuckle baskets with materials gathered from the woods and dyed with natural dyes. She can demonstrate basketry, or she can teach small group hands-on workshops. She enjoys working with students of any age, up to and including senior citizens. Groups should include no more than fifteen students.
Read more about Emily SmithSmoky Mountain Native Plants Association
Wildcrafters and Heritage Agriculturists
Robbinsville, NC (Graham County)
The Smoky Mountain Native Plants Association (SMNPA) is a group of farmers, wildcrafters, naturalists, and enthusiasts who organized themselves in 2000, with the aims of preserving the region's native flora, educating area residents about the plants and their traditional uses, and helping residents support themselves in the gathering, farming, and use of native plants. The gathering and sale of ramps, native mosses, and other species that one can legally pick, can still be fairly lucrative sideline work for those who are knowledgeable about the plants.
Read more about Smoky Mountain Native Plants AssociationMack Snoderly
Fiddler
Clyde, NC (Haywood County)
Dr. Mack Snoderly has been aptly described as a "fiddlers' fiddler." A native of East Tennessee, Mack moved to the North Carolina mountains after graduating from East Tennessee State University. In Mars Hill he pursued his career as a dentist. He also resumed a passion for traditional music.
Read more about Mack SnoderlyTrevor and Travis Stuart
Oldtime musicians
Canton, NC (Haywood County)
Bethel natives Trevor and Travis Stuart have been playing as a duo for more than twenty years. They learned to play oldtime mountain music-Trevor to play fiddle, and Travis banjo--from members of their community and surrounding counties, including Byard Ray, the Smathers Family, and North Carolina Folk Heritage Award recipient Red Wilson.
Read more about Trevor and Travis Stuart
