The Birthplace of Country Music Museum hosts an evening of music at their “Nest of Singing Birds” Ballad Swap concert Saturday, Nov. 8 at 7 p.m. Led by eighth-generation ballad singer Donna Ray Norton and featuring Sheila Kay Adams, Leila Weinstein, Songbird Burkey and Darci DeWulf, the Nest of Singing Birds celebrates Appalachian heritage and shares a glimpse into an age-old practice, bringing together singers from across the region to share stories and songs passed down through generations.
Madison County’s rich ballad legacy led English folk song collector Cecil Sharp to describe it as a “nest of singing birds” in 1916. This custom, spanning more than nine generations in Norton and Adams’ family, represents one of the oldest unbroken non-indigenous oral traditions in the U.S. Following Hurricane Helene’s devastation of their hometown, the Nest of Singing Birds has been traveling to raise awareness of the practice’s fragility and the region it depends on.
As Norton says, “After all our communities have been through with Hurricane Helene, it means even more to bring these old songs to the Birthplace of Country Music Museum. Ballads have always carried the weight of memory and resilience, and singing them here reminds us that this tradition is still strong and worth holding onto. Ballads are one of the main veins in the roots of music and sharing them in this space helps people see how deeply they run through our history and culture. It reminds us that what we carry forward still matters.”
Ballads – narrative songs that tell a story – are often passed down orally over time. Many ballads that are familiar in American music, particularly in Appalachia, derive from songs that originated in England, Scotland, Ireland and Europe and that came over with immigrants to the New World. There are also numerous “native” ballads, which are original compositions that have been passed down through North American oral traditions; these include blues ballads that mix together Anglo-American and African American traditions. Ballads are usually sung in a distinctive style – singers tend to perform solo and without instrumental accompaniment. It was often Appalachian women who preserved these songs, singing them on their own while doing work around their homes or sharing them with others in private and public spaces.
“Norton and her fellow singers are steeped in the ballad tradition through their families and communities, learning these old songs and sharing them across generations,” says Museum Director Rene Rodgers. “The Nest of Singing Birds concert – with the theme of ‘love and murder a capella’ – explores the ballads of Appalachia, with singers sharing their versions of the songs and the stories that go along with them. It’s going to be a wonderful evening.”
Though Halloween will have come and gone the week before, the Nest of Singing Birds is keeping the spooky season alive Nov. 8. The singers share haunting murder ballads, eerie tales and ghostly stories that have been passed down for generations.
Tickets are $20 and can be purchased through the Birthplace of Country Music website at www.birthplaceofcountrymusic.org/main-events.
