May 17, 2025 | 7 pm @ Birthplace of Country Music Museum
The public is invited to a special evening steeped in Appalachian heritage at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum May 17 at 7 p.m., as the museumhosts "The Nest of Singing Birds Ballad Swap: Love & Murder A Capella," an informal and deeply moving gathering of traditional ballad singers.
This event, hosted by eighth-generation ballad singer Donna Ray Norton, brings together some of the region's most respected voices in this centuries-old tradition, including Sarah "Songbird" Burkey, Sheila Kay Adams, Leila Weinsteinand Darci DeWulf.
Channeling the spirit of the region's oral history, the ballad swap offers an intimate glimpse into a practice passed down through generations. Ballad singing in the Appalachian mountains, and particularly in Madison County, North Carolina, holds a vital place in American folk history. It was there in 1916 that English folk song collector Cecil Sharp famously described the area as a "nest of singing birds," a phrase that continues to resonate over a century later.
Today, this unique tradition — spanning more than nine generations — faces new challenges. In the wake of Hurricane Helene, which devastated parts of the singers' hometown, the Nest of Singing Birds collective has taken their regular ballad swap, traditionally held at the Old Marshall Jail, on the road to raise awareness of the fragility of both the practice and the region it comes from. For more information about The Nest of Singing Birds, visitNestOfSingingBirds.com.
Tickets to "The Nest of Singing Birds Ballad Swap: Love & Murder A Capella," are on sale now for $15 (+tax, fees) and may be purchased through theEvents pageatBirthplaceOfCountryMusic.org.