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1.
Stackalee 02:43
2.
3.
4.
John Lewis 06:19
5.
Red Bird 03:09
6.
I Got Mine 02:06
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8.
9.
Whoa Mule! 03:02
10.

about

Matthew grew up near Ashland, KY. From early childhood, he learned many traditional mountain ballads and banjo tunes directly from his grandfather Hobart Stallard (1895-1996). Hobart could perform hundreds of songs from memory, and he regularly entertained at his farm many young visiting folklorists and musicologists (Jean Ritchie, Marynell Young, Annadeene Fraley, Guthrie Meade, Mark Wilson, and others), during the 1960s and 1970s. Matthew’s father, Chester Stallard (1941), was a barber on Greenup Avenue, Ashland, Kentucky (Route 23) for over 50 years. Not only did Matthew absorb music and lore from his “Papaw Hobe,” he also soaked up old time Appalachian music from many other members of his musical family as well as local Kentucky traditional musicians who were regular customers at the Broadway Barbershop. During his teenage years, he was mentored on fiddle by JP Fraley who was a close family friend, and Stallard boasts a faithful command of Fraley’s fiddling techniques and eastern Kentucky fiddling repertoire. Matthew attended college on scholarships and holds a PhD. Now retired from academia, Dr. Stallard was a Professor of English at Ohio University, Athens, Ohio for 18 years.

(Excerpt from liner notes)
"As a child, I shined shoes in my father’s barbershop on Greenup Avenue (Route 23) in Ashland. One of my regular customers was fiddler JP Fraley. One day, I was shining JP’s shoes and he said to me, “Boy, the way you beat out a rhythm with that shine-rag, you’d make a good guitar player to accompany my fiddling.”

I was 8 years old. I was too shy to tell JP that I played a little banjo. His comment rang in my ears all day. Later that evening, I asked my dad if I could get a guitar. The next morning before work, we went to Charlie’s pawnshop in Ashland (on one of the very street corners that Ed Haley used to busk many years ago) and bought a beat up Yamaha FG-75 for $30.00. I played the chords to JP’s Wild Rose of the Mountain album every night for a month on worn out Black Diamond strings. I looked for JP to come back to the barbershop every day for what seemed an eternity. I set the guitar next to my shoe-shine chair in hopes that when JP returned, I could show him what I learned. About two months later, JP finally came back, and I proudly played the chords for him. I am sure that I sounded awful, but he was very encouraging to me.

During my teenage years, I had the privilege to play the guitar with JP at local square-dances in Greenup Kentucky that were held in the Grange Hall about once a month. The little group included Annadeene (JP’s wife) and Doug Chaffin on upright bass. Subsequently, I learned to fiddle from JP when I would regularly visit his home at Denton, KY. Other local fiddlers that had a profound effect on my playing were Virgil Alfrey, Owen Snake Chapman, and Vince Jarrell. I was a regular performer each year at the annual Fraley Family Traditional Music Festival in Carter County KY. Attending the monthly sessions of the now defunct Appalachian Fiddlers’ Association in the 1970s and early 1980s introduced me to many fiddlers from Kentucky, Ohio, and West Virginia. I also frequented music festivals at Union Grove, NC and Galax, VA. In these festival settings, I jammed and hung-out with so many anonymous fiddlers over the years. Jamming in a circle is still my favorite thing to do with music. In my youth, I played in a number of fiddling contests, and won some, but I never enjoyed contests. I have nothing against them really, and they can provide a competitive incentive to improve your craft, but I’d rather focus on the collaborative production of a tune with a half-dozen fiddlers and accompanists creating something together, instead of having to be the musical sage on the stage. Circle jamming is also closer to my experiences playing on porches and in kitchens when I was a kid. The best festival music happens in the parking lot or at the campground; don’t waste your time staring at a stage, if you can help it.

This album is for me an extension of my grandfather's front porch. It represents a fraction of the music and songs that he taught me and instilled in me from my early childhood. It is a piece of him that I am able to carry with me that no one can take away from me. It was a gift that I had the privilege to be with him and to hear him for 26 years. I still hear his “voice” every time I play this music, and I hope that he will speak to you too."

Dr. Matthew Stallard, PhD
Associate Professor, emeritus
Ohio University Department of English
Athens, Ohio
January 6, 2022

credits

released February 15, 2022

Produced, Mixed, and Mastered by Chance McCoy

Recorded at Hunter Springs Studios, Greenville, WV, November 8-16, 2021

Special Thanks:
Brett Ratliff and all at June Appal and Appalshop; Blue Eagle Music & Frank McDermott; Grant Stallard; Cara Stallard; Chance McCoy; Jacqueline Turner; Lars Swanson; Ketch Secor; Chester & Helen Stallard; Lavonne Baker; Mark Wilson; Esther & Timothy Thomas; Gavin & Robin Stallard; Eden Thomas; Ginger & Ward Buckner; Siena Thomas; Benya Stewart; Jeffrey Morris; Brody Stallard; John Ryster; Kentucky Colonel Steven Middleton; Nathan “Birdman” Kiser; Brittany Haas; Siena Thomas; Barb Kuhns; Jeff Todd Titon; John Harrod; William Breeze; Rayna Gellert; Steve Owens; Hilarie Burhans; Mark Burhans; Mark “Pokey” Hellenburg; Julie Elman; Caitlin Kraus; Todd Snyder; Liam Stallard; Ivan Tribe; Peter Thompson; Lindsey Terrell; Lynn & Liz Shaw; David Holt; Will & Natalie Tevis; Alexandria Thomas; Brother Hill; and Kyle Lyons.

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June Appal Recordings Kentucky

Founded in 1974 in the mountains of eastern Kentucky, June Appal Recordings is the non-profit record label of Appalshop. It was established to record and distribute the music and stories of accomplished central Appalachian artists.

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