John Jacob Niles did a collection of ballads there, also, I believe that there's an outfit called Pipestem in West Verginia. Anyone else know of it? I used to know a musician named Jim Costa in Hinton West Virtinia. He played banjo, fiddle flat top guitar, and knew a lot of the old timers. He collected songs, and was/and still is, I hear, a terriffic guy. (He also appears in the band in "Matawan" There is also a lot of wonderful stuff in the database here about people/songs of the region. Try plugging in "coal mining" or "Nimrod Workman" (I haven't actually done this, but I'm sure there's stuff of his in there. Also, the Highlander Center in Tennessee may have info. Also, might be able to get info from John McCutchin. He used to work with an outfit known as "Appleshop" in Whitesberg KY. (I'll give this more thought. I spent about 8 months in that part of the world at a critical age, and it has shaped a lot of who I am.)

Susan, now in Vermont.