I have always loved folky-mountainy-roots type music. When I began playing the guitar a few years ago, I was especially drawn towards old time music. The chords are easy, my voice sounds best in that genre, but more than that, I honestly can feel it in my blood when I sing and play those old mountain songs or hymns.

That is because it really is in my blood. Both sets of my grandparents and their grandparents grew up in these mountains and sang many of those songs that have been passed down through the generations. I was reminded of that yesterday when Dad and I took my kids and Lanie and Lucie to The Ball family reunion. Granny had called me to ask if I would please bring my guitar and sing and, of course, I heartily agreed. I sang..... and that was fine and all, but what followed was one of the most precious hours of my life. My great Aunt Vinnie stood up and sang this long mountain ballad for us. The sweet lady is 86 years old and although she had to ask me more than twice who I was, she sang about 8 or 9 verses of a song that her Moma had sang to her her as a child. The best part was watching my Granny (her sister) standing behind her beaming and mouthing every words right along with her. I played and we all sang I'll Fly Away next which everyone joined in on. The next thing we knew, one of Dad's cousin had gone in and brought out some hymnals for us all. Aunt Carolyn led us in singing some hymns....you know the ones that you haven't sang in years but they come right back to you as soon as you hear the first line. I can't even put it into words how beautiful it was to be way up in those mountains singing with my Granny, her sister, and and brothers, and some of their kids.

I asked Aunt Vinnie to please sing her song again so I could record it. Have you ever seen the movie Songcatcher? which is a beautiful story of a professor of musicology lady who finds a treasure trove of ancient Scots-Irish ballads, songs that have been handed down every generation, preserved intact by the seclusion of the mountains. If you haven't, go rent it tonight.





This is all my Daddy's mom's side of the family. My brother, Jonathan, spent the summer working with Pawpaw and they got into a bunch of genealogy research together on that side of the family. Pawpaw gave Jonathan a lot of our great grandfather's writings, musings, and other stuff. His name was Clyde Roscoe Bartlett and he was an amazing man. Pawpaw and Jonathan went down to the cemetery to try to piece some of the family history dates together.

On our ride home, Daddy and I talked about how much the day had meant to us. We are planning a time for us to go back out there with the sole purpose of having that generation sit down tell us some of their stories and memories. The Ball family is a lively group of people who have seen hard times and have some wild stories to tell. My boys would love to hear of their adventures. I want them to hear about their adventures. My hope is to possibly record and then write the stories out along with Dad, Jonathan, and Lorie so they are not lost forever and can be passed down to my grandchildren in time.