Singer-songwriter Walter DeBarr is using his unique voice and turbulent past to create and spread a heartfelt message across Appalachia. Growing up a Black man in mostly-white Buchannon, West Virginia, DeBarr had it tough among his peers. “I got beat up alot and kids would mess with me. Kids who […]

Mill Point is a blink-and-you’ll miss it wide spot off the twisty mountain roads of Pocahontas County, West Virginia. It’s also the home of Bill Hefner, a luthier who isn’t just making guitars, he’s passing his tradition of meticulous craftsmanship down to the next generation. A Music-Filled Life Bill Hefner grew […]

Doris Fields, an R&B, soul and blues musician and songwriter, also known as Lady D, is the daughter of a coal miner. Her dad moved to West Virginia from Alabama at 10 years old and spent 50 years in the mines. She currently lives in Beckley. Fields explained that music has […]