No one comes to the front door of the old clapboard house, unless of course they are peddling something, or lost. The gravel drive shoots up a short, steep hill and curves around to the back of the house like a strong arm pulls you in for a hug. LeftoverContinue Reading
This story is about an experience I had with my dad on a sunny afternoon in the mountain holler where we lived. I was about nine or ten years old at the time, and my dad would have been about thirty. The details of that afternoon are not entirely clear,Continue Reading
Appalachia has a unique history and her recorded past spans hundreds of years. Everyone has a tale—tall or small, tainted or sainted—because these mountains are full to the brim with stories. Our grandparents (and great grandparents, if one is fortunate) have told us about so many things. Sometimes their wordsContinue Reading
The following excerpt is from “The Complete Pitty Pat Hollow Tales” in Curtis N. Coulter’s 2022 book This Is the Way I Heard It . . . Not only does Coulter’s exceptional storytelling and wit transport the reader inside his beloved Sale Creek community, the very place that inspires hisContinue Reading
As I slipped out the screen door, Granny caught me by the shirt collar. “I gotta job for you, boy,” she said. She marched me around the house on the upward slope of the hillside; the kudzu was thick, and my feet tangled as she hurried me along. “Not soContinue Reading
Today a joke sits heavy on my shoulders, The room running wild with laughter. The punchline? The sound of my voice Or, rather, a cheap imitation– What they think we sound like. Laughter scrapes my skin like Too-tight wool in the summer heat. It’s said that it’s a hell ofContinue Reading
Almost everybody in Appalachia has a home canning story. Whether it’s that jar of pickles that just didn’t keep its crunch, or the homemade apple butter with that heavenly taste, or the month canning went awry when several jars burst, and so forth. And I’d go even further to sayContinue Reading
Down in the gopher’s meadow, The black water meets a bank of bright green— Littered with charcoal colored slate, shifted into a home for the little truth teller. An archway of vine spills over the rocks As purple flowers bloom against the august air. The walnut trees giggle from acrossContinue Reading
Appalachia Bare is proud to present a new music video titled “East Kentucky Morning” by Julian Wolf. Produced by Berea, Kentucky native Camryn Shaffer and Living Sound Delusions Studios, we hope you enjoy its warm tones and beautiful visuals as much as we did. “East Kentucky Morning” carries a timelessContinue Reading
Earlier this year, Appalachia Bare took a trip to the Alcatraz East Crime Museum in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. If any of our readers are true crime aficionados, this visit would be worth your while. The museum’s architectural structure is built similar to one of the buildings on Alcatraz Island, andContinue Reading