Frank Proffitt, Jr. (Franklin) sings and plays the music he learned from his father down in the northwest corner of North Carolina. Frank (the father) had his songs and ballads from his father and from his aunt Nancy Prather. This is clearly a continuing family oral tradition.

One (at least) of Ray Hicks' children is, I'm told, carrying on the family tradition of telling the old "Jack Tales." Ray, the father, was a superb Appalachian tale teller (brother-in-law of Frank Proffitt, Sr.). There, too, a family tradition going back many generations is being continued.

Colleen Cleveland, to move a bit farther north in the "Appalachians" -- all the way to the Adirondacks, is singing the songs she learned from her grandmother, Sara Cleveland. Sara had an outstanding repertoire of traditional ballads and songs, hundreds of them, from her own family and regional traditions.

The beat goes on....

Sandy