Three years ago assistant professor Travis Stimeling started the West Virginia
University Bluegrass Band to remind people of the great history and culture present
in West Virginia and Appalachia. Every year, the band goes on tour around West
Virginia. We decided to get them together to give you your own virtual tour in
a series of videos.
The music that the WVU Bluegrass Band performs links the listeners to deep roots
from a disappearing past. With the exception of “Take Me Home, Country Roads,”
the songs in this playlist are in the old-time string band genre. These tunes of
the past may not sound as complex by contemporary standards, but the simple chords
and direct lyrics can speak to the emotional life of us all.
‘West Virginia, My Home’
Two of the songs performed by the WVU Bluegrass Band feature the music of West Virginia native Hazel Dickens. Dickens’ music touches on the familiar theme of West Virginians leaving their homes. The WVU Bluegrass Band connects us with this longing in their 360-degree video performance of “West Virginia, My Home.”
“West Virginia, oh, my home.
West Virginia's where I belong.
In the dead of the night in the still and the quiet
I slip away like a bird in flight
Back to those hills — the place that I call home.”
—“WEST VIRGINIA, MY HOME,” BY HAZEL DICKENS
‘The Yablonski Murder’
Another Dickens tune is a murder ballad called "The Yablonski Murder.” The song immortalized the political murder of a Pennsylvania union organizer. Dickens was known for her music about feminism and the plight of non-unionized mine workers.
“Well it’s cold blooded murder friends, I’m talking about
Now who’s gonna stand up and who’s gonna fight?
You better clean up that union, put it on solid ground
Get rid of that dirty trash, that keeps a working man down.”
—"THE YABLONSKI MURDER," BY HAZEL DICKENS
‘Take Me Home, Country Roads’
“Take Me Home, Country Roads” may be one of the most famous songs about that feeling
of missing home. And it’s a big hit when the WVU Bluegrass Band takes it on tour.
In 2014, “Take Me Home, Country Roads” was added to the list of official West Virginia
state songs. This much beloved song became country music star John Denver’s signature
hit. The WVU Bluegrass Band takes the most contemporary song in this list into
the digital future with a 360-degree video performance.
“All my memories, gather round her
Miner's lady, stranger to blue water.
Dark and dusty, painted on the sky
Misty taste of moonshine, teardrops in my eye.”
—“TAKE ME HOME, COUNTRY ROADS,” BY JOHN DENVER
Bluegrass Woman — Hillary Kay
In this video, WVU alumnus Hillary Kay, MA ’16, Musicology, examines the murder ballad "Pretty Polly," a bluegrass tune about the death of a woman at the hands of her lover.
Kay challenges patriarchal stereotypes in bluegrass music by examining from a woman's perspective bluegrass songs that depict violence against women or marginalize them.
“Oh Polly, Pretty Polly, your guess is about right.
Polly, Pretty Polly, your guess is about right.
I dug on your grave the biggest part of last night.
Oh she knelt down before him a pleading for her life.
She knelt down before him a pleading for her life.
Let me be a single girl if I can't be your wife.”
—“PRETTY POLLY”
Read a story on the WVU Bluegrass Band from Fall 2016.
You can find the band's album online on iTunes.