Song of the Mountain: Roots, Connection, Relevance, Reciprocity & Magic From the heart of Appalachian ballad singer, Melanie Rice

Melanie Rice is an 8th generation Appalachian Ballad singer from Madison County, NC. She joins Pascha to talk about being a tradition bearer, how the ballads connect her to her ancestors, and of the deep, magical connection to her the mountain, the waters and the land.

Melanie Rice grew up in Sodom Laurel, where ballads and stories were as much a part of life as the land itself. Singing on stage since she was three, Melanie learned many of her songs from her mother, Sheila Kay Adams. As part of the younger generation of ballad singers from Madison County, she’s performed at festivals like the Bluff Mountain and Bascom Lamar Lunsford Festivals, even earning the Bascom Lamar Lunsford Youth Award for Balladry in 2005.

While at Mars Hill University, Melanie spent a year in Ireland, exploring her family’s musical roots. She graduated in 1994, becoming the first person to earn a minor in Regional Studies, and went on to complete her MA in Appalachian Studies, from Appalachian State University, in 1999. Melanie likes to joke that she’s earned both her "papers and her pedigree." Today, she lives in the old home place, where the wind on the ridge tops keeps her connected to both the land and her ancestors’ songs.

Learn more about Melanie at www.nestofsingingbirds.com