In general parlance, the word “ballad” can refer to all sorts of songs—from romantic pop songs to folk-revival protest anthems. In the North Carolina mountains, ballads are traditional songs, usually sung unaccompanied, and often with origins that stretch back centuries to the British Isles. Parallel strains of Cherokee and African American traditional song enriched the Anglo/Celtic music brought by early white settlers, and new songs entered the tradition as singers chronicled the current events of their day within the ages-old ballad form.

Click on the picture to the left to learn more about Ballad Singing.