Appalachia's Anthems

The Music Plays Top Fiddle in This Documentary

Foot-tapping music, beautiful scenery and memorable stories characterize the three-part series "The Appalachians."

But it is the music that lingers: the energy of the banjos, the melodies of the fiddles, and the clear and haunting notes of the human voice raised in song.

"We are telling parallel stories of the social-economic history and the music -- and using the songs to move the stories forward," said Phylis Geller, who wrote and produced the documentary.

The series has more than 120 tracks and features songs from stars such as Loretta Lynn, Ricky Skaggs and Marty Stuart.

"Music is so integral to the story of Appalachia and to this film," said Mari-Lynn Evans, who conceived and executive-

produced the series. "But I felt like I couldn't tell the story of Appalachia without interviewing Johnny Cash. . . . What drew me to his music was that it told the heartache, the sorrow, the joy, the passion of Appalachia."

She filmed the last interview granted by Cash, who died about a month and a half later. For her, a highlight of the film is seeing the legendary Cash singing "Forty Shades of Green" with his daughter Rosanne.

Evans grew up in what she called "a holler" in Bulltown, W.Va., and longed to tell her story of the Appalachian people, in part to counter negative perceptions.

So many stereotypes associated with Appalachia center around "hillbillies known for violence and feuds," Geller said. "But the story really is one of pioneers and the story of America."

More than 150 people were interviewed for the series, including historians, musicians and residents of Appalachia, which is the southern portion of a mountain range that runs from Quebec's Gaspe Peninsula into southwest Alabama.

The first hour, on Monday, starts with a look at native Americans, primarily the Cherokee, and the Europeans who settled the land in the 1700s and brought their music, religion and traditions with them.

The second hour, airing April 18, includes the Civil War, the Hatfield-McCoy feud, the arrival of the railroad, coal mining and the Coal Wars.

The final hour, airing April 25, showcases the music of the early 20th century, the birth of radio and the Grand Ole Opry, the Great Depression and New Deal, migration, the war on poverty, mountaintop-removal coal mining, and Appalachia today.

Music associated with these events -- from the Cherokee quail dance through "Banks of the Ohio," "Battle of Antietam" and "Coal Miner's Daughter" -- underscores paintings, vintage photographs and film.

"The music helps you identify with what was going on at the time, and it emotionally takes you to those places, so you have some emotion, some feeling, for these people," Evans said.

At first, Geller said, she thought the story was a sad one. "But what I learned was how extraordinary the spirit of the people is, how they managed to survive and maintain a clear sense of who they are, and to hold on to their traditions and culture."

THE APPALACHIANS

Mondays at 10 p.m. on WETA