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Sourwood Mountain Dulcimers/John Jacob Niles

I.D. Stamper, a master dulcimer builder and player from Letcher County, Ky., and John McCutcheon, a young musician, play together, swap tunes, discuss musical traditions, and demonstrate the difference between hammered and mountain-style dulcimer. And, a portrait of John Jacob Niles, the adding machine repairman who came to eastern Kentucky in 1909 and became a much-noted "arranger, expander, collector, recorder, and performer" of traditional Appalachian ballads. The film shows Niles in concert, at home, at work arranging his music, and explaining the historical place of balladry in American music.
Season 1 Episode 10 Length 56:40 Premiere: 03/10/11 Rating: TV-G

Appalshop @ 40: Classics from the Collection

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Season 1 Episodes

Beyond Measure
S1 E11 Premiere Date 03/17/11

Sourwood Mountain Dulcimers/John Jacob Niles
S1 E10 Length 56:40 Premiere Date 03/10/11

Harriette Arnow/Ourselves and That Promise
S1 E9 Premiere Date 03/03/11

Nimrod Workman: To Fit My Own Category/Coal Miner: Frank Jackson/UMWA: A House Divided
S1 E8 Premiere Date 02/24/11

Long Journey Home
S1 E7 Premiere Date 02/17/11

Strangers and Kin
S1 E6 Premiere Date 02/10/11

Buffalo Creek: An Act of God/Buffalo Creek Revisited
S1 E5 Premiere Date 02/03/11

Hand Carved
S1 E4 Premiere Date 01/27/11

Coalmining Women/In Ya Blood
S1 E3 Premiere Date 01/20/11

Big Lever
S1 E2 Premiere Date 01/13/11

Sunnyside of Life
S1 E1 Premiere Date 01/06/11

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TV Schedules

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Hand Carved - S1 E4

Premiered On: 01/27/2011

Chester Cornett made chairs for Presidents and his work is displayed in museums across the country. In this film, Chester fells a tree on the site of his family's homeplace on the top of Pine Mountain in southeastern Kentucky and transports it back to his small apartment and workshop in inner-city Cincinnati. He uses simple hand tools to chop, whittle, and carve the wood into an exquisite, eight-legged, "two-in-one" rocker. A 2011 Production.

  • Thursday April 16, 2026 8:00 am ET on KETKY
  • Thursday April 16, 2026 7:00 am CT on KETKY

Buffalo Creek: An Act of God/Buffalo Creek Revisited - S1 E5

Premiered On: 02/03/2011

On February 26, 1972, a coal-waste dam owned by the Pittston Company collapsed at the head of a crowded hollow in southern West Virginia. The disaster left 125 dead and 4,000 homeless. Interviews with survivors, representatives of union and citizen's groups, and officials of the Pittston Company are juxtaposed with actual footage of the flood. Filmed ten years after the Flood, "Buffalo Creek Revisited" looks at the second disaster, in which the survivors' efforts to rebuild the communities are thwarted by government insensitivity and a century-old pattern of corporate control of the region's land and resources. A 2011 Production.

  • Thursday April 23, 2026 8:00 am ET on KETKY
  • Thursday April 23, 2026 7:00 am CT on KETKY

Strangers and Kin - S1 E6

Premiered On: 02/10/2011

The film traces the evolution of the "hillbilly" image through Hollywood films, network news and entertainment shows, dramatic renderings of popular literature, and interviews with contemporary Appalachians to demonstrate how stereotypes are created, reinforced, and often used to rationalize exploitation. A 2011 Production.

  • Thursday April 30, 2026 8:00 am ET on KETKY
  • Thursday April 30, 2026 7:00 am CT on KETKY

Long Journey Home - S1 E7

Premiered On: 02/17/2011

This documentary dispels this myth of a "pure Anglo-Saxon" Appalachia as it explores the ethnic diversity of the region, the economic forces causing people to migrate into and out of the area, and the personal choices individuals make to stay, to leave, and to come back. A 2011 Production.

  • Thursday May 7, 2026 8:00 am ET on KETKY
  • Thursday May 7, 2026 7:00 am CT on KETKY
Jump to Upcoming Airdates

Recent

Coalmining Women/In Ya Blood - S1 E3

  • Thursday April 9, 2026 8:00 am ET on KETKY
  • Thursday April 9, 2026 7:00 am CT on KETKY

Big Lever - S1 E2

  • Thursday April 2, 2026 8:00 am ET on KETKY
  • Thursday April 2, 2026 7:00 am CT on KETKY

Sunnyside of Life - S1 E1

  • Thursday March 26, 2026 8:17 am ET on KETKY
  • Thursday March 26, 2026 7:17 am CT on KETKY

Beyond Measure - S1 E11

  • Thursday March 19, 2026 8:34 am ET on KETKY
  • Thursday March 19, 2026 7:34 am CT on KETKY

Sourwood Mountain Dulcimers/John Jacob Niles - S1 E10

  • Thursday March 12, 2026 8:00 am ET on KETKY
  • Thursday March 12, 2026 7:00 am CT on KETKY
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