West Virginia Folk Music | WVU Libraries


The West Virginia Folk Music Digital Collection features over a thousand historic field recordings of West Virginia folk music from the Louis Watson Chappell Archive. The recordings are from aluminum and lacquer discs made with a portable disc recorder. Performers were logged with a name, place of recording, and a list of pieces performed. Sometimes a detail like age or occupation of the performers was included, but not always.

More information about the Chappell collection can be found in the searchable descriptive guide. More information about some of the performers and their repertoire can be found on the Folk Music of the Southern West Virginia Coalfields blog.

Content Warning for Potentially Harmful Language

The West Virginia Folk Music digital collection includes some content containing outdated, biased, and offensive views that may be harmful or difficult to view and hear. Descriptions provided by creators that contain harmful language are altered for the digital collection. The original records and songs have not been altered because the content provides historical context for understanding the era, attitudes, and opinions of the creators. The WVRHC is committed to assessing its descriptive practices and preventing harmful language in staff-generated descriptions.

Browse The Collection