Russ,

Do I remember correctly that Appalshop was headquartered in Whitesburg? I don't even know if Appalshop is still around, but they published alot of really wonderful stuff about the Appalachian region. Video, music, books, photography.

My husband, a documentary photographer for a number of years, participated in an photography project that toured and resulted in a book of photography, Appalachia, A Self-Portrait many years ago, with Bob Cooper and Wendy Ewald, among others. The project was conducted under the auspices of Appalshop, who obtained an NEA grant to finance it.

Does your wife know of a source for the melodies of many of the Sweet Songster hymns? Some of them I know, but there are many more that I don't. The Appalachian Digital Library has some of them. My grandparent's church, although they used the 'lined-out' hymnals, did not generally line-out the songs. By that I mean there was not a song leader or preacher who chose a melody to match the meter. There was common agreement on what the melody of a song was, and the congregation just sang it straight out, without the lining out of the words by the preacher or song leader. They also didn't sing harmony, considering that to be frivolous.

Janie