Appalachia's Blues Brothers: Stick and Brownie McGhee
This week, Steve and Rod tell the story of Granville “Stick” McGhee and Walter “Brownie” McGhee, two brothers from East Tennessee whose music helped shape American blues and early rock ’n’ roll. Born ...
28 Feb 15min
Off To See the King: The 1730 Cherokee Mission to London
In 1730, seven Cherokee leaders traveled from their Appalachian home to the heart of London. Hand-picked by a Scottish adventurer named Alexander Cumming, they were presented to King George II as "Kin...
21 Feb 19min
The Cursed Rails of the Big Bull Tunnel
The Big Bull Tunnel in Wise County, Virginia looks like any other railroad tunnel, just a simple cut through a hillside. Looks, though, can be deceiving, as the tunnel’s history is packed with accide...
14 Feb 24min
The Dark Shadows of Blue Ridge, Georgia
Today we tell not one but two stories, both involving the same community in Fannin County, Georgia. In 1864 two men, brothers-in-law Elisha Stanley and Evan Hughes, became the victims of a gang of vio...
7 Feb 16min
Outlaws of the High Country: The Story of the Eller Gang
This week Rod and Steve tell the story of a gang of robbers who cast a long shadow over Ashe County, North Carolina in the unsettled years after the Civil War. One by one they fell, until only Linvill...
31 Jan 14min
When a Final Wish Became a Circus: The Story of the Sunshine Woman
This week’s story is the bizarre true tale of Leila Davidson Hansell, known as "The Sunshine Woman," and the controversy surrounding her final resting place in Hendersonville, NC.Leila's final wish up...
24 Jan 16min
The Tennessee Moonshiner the Law Couldn’t Hold: The Story of Hut Amerine
Born in Blount County, Hut Amerine grew into one of East Tennessee’s most notorious moonshiners. After the Civil War, federal whiskey taxes ignited a bitter conflict between mountain distillers and re...
17 Jan 22min
Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On: The Story of Appalachian Piano Man Roy Hall
James Faye Hall, better known as Roy Hall, was born in Big Stone Gap, Virginia, in 1921. He died in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee in 1984. Between those dates is a story about a hillbilly boogie pianist who...
10 Jan 22min
