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Sourwood Mountain Dulcimers/John Jacob Niles

I.D. Stamper, a master dulcimer builder and player from Letcher County, Ky., and John McCutcheon, a young musician, play together, swap tunes, discuss musical traditions, and demonstrate the difference between hammered and mountain-style dulcimer. And, a portrait of John Jacob Niles, the adding machine repairman who came to eastern Kentucky in 1909 and became a much-noted "arranger, expander, collector, recorder, and performer" of traditional Appalachian ballads. The film shows Niles in concert, at home, at work arranging his music, and explaining the historical place of balladry in American music.
Season 1 Episode 10 Length 56:40 Premiere: 03/10/11 Rating: TV-G

Appalshop @ 40: Classics from the Collection

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Season 1 Episodes

Beyond Measure
S1 E11 Premiere Date 03/17/11

Sourwood Mountain Dulcimers/John Jacob Niles
S1 E10 Length 56:40 Premiere Date 03/10/11

Harriette Arnow/Ourselves and That Promise
S1 E9 Premiere Date 03/03/11

Nimrod Workman: To Fit My Own Category/Coal Miner: Frank Jackson/UMWA: A House Divided
S1 E8 Premiere Date 02/24/11

Long Journey Home
S1 E7 Premiere Date 02/17/11

Strangers and Kin
S1 E6 Premiere Date 02/10/11

Buffalo Creek: An Act of God/Buffalo Creek Revisited
S1 E5 Premiere Date 02/03/11

Hand Carved
S1 E4 Premiere Date 01/27/11

Coalmining Women/In Ya Blood
S1 E3 Premiere Date 01/20/11

Big Lever
S1 E2 Premiere Date 01/13/11

Sunnyside of Life
S1 E1 Premiere Date 01/06/11

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TV Schedules

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Big Lever - S1 E2

Premiered On: 01/13/2011

In 1978 Richard Nixon chose Leslie County, Ky., for his first public appearance since resigning the presidency. Priceless footage of his visit introduces this incisive and sometimes hilarious look at the engines that drive American politics. The film explores the machinations of party politics in this rural and staunchly Republican county. A 2011 Production.

  • Thursday April 2, 2026 8:00 am ET on KETKY
  • Thursday April 2, 2026 7:00 am CT on KETKY

Coalmining Women/In Ya Blood - S1 E3

Premiered On: 01/20/2011

Interviewed at home and on the job, women coal miners tell of the conditions that led them to seek employment in this traditionally male-dominated industry and the problems they encountered once hired. And, the story of a typical young man from Appalachia in the summer after his senior year in high school. He must face the difficult decision faced by many Appalachian youth - whether to stay in the mountains or leave in search of a "better life." A 2011 Production.

  • Thursday April 9, 2026 8:00 am ET on KETKY
  • Thursday April 9, 2026 7:00 am CT on KETKY

Hand Carved - S1 E4

Premiered On: 01/27/2011

Chester Cornett made chairs for Presidents and his work is displayed in museums across the country. In this film, Chester fells a tree on the site of his family's homeplace on the top of Pine Mountain in southeastern Kentucky and transports it back to his small apartment and workshop in inner-city Cincinnati. He uses simple hand tools to chop, whittle, and carve the wood into an exquisite, eight-legged, "two-in-one" rocker. A 2011 Production.

  • Thursday April 16, 2026 8:00 am ET on KETKY
  • Thursday April 16, 2026 7:00 am CT on KETKY

Buffalo Creek: An Act of God/Buffalo Creek Revisited - S1 E5

Premiered On: 02/03/2011

On February 26, 1972, a coal-waste dam owned by the Pittston Company collapsed at the head of a crowded hollow in southern West Virginia. The disaster left 125 dead and 4,000 homeless. Interviews with survivors, representatives of union and citizen's groups, and officials of the Pittston Company are juxtaposed with actual footage of the flood. Filmed ten years after the Flood, "Buffalo Creek Revisited" looks at the second disaster, in which the survivors' efforts to rebuild the communities are thwarted by government insensitivity and a century-old pattern of corporate control of the region's land and resources. A 2011 Production.

  • Thursday April 23, 2026 8:00 am ET on KETKY
  • Thursday April 23, 2026 7:00 am CT on KETKY
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Recent

Sunnyside of Life - S1 E1

  • Thursday March 26, 2026 8:00 am ET on KETKY
  • Thursday March 26, 2026 7:00 am CT on KETKY

Beyond Measure - S1 E11

  • Thursday March 19, 2026 8:34 am ET on KETKY
  • Thursday March 19, 2026 7:34 am CT on KETKY

Sourwood Mountain Dulcimers/John Jacob Niles - S1 E10

  • Thursday March 12, 2026 8:00 am ET on KETKY
  • Thursday March 12, 2026 7:00 am CT on KETKY

Harriette Arnow/Ourselves and That Promise - S1 E9

  • Thursday March 5, 2026 8:00 am ET on KETKY
  • Thursday March 5, 2026 7:00 am CT on KETKY

Nimrod Workman: To Fit My Own Category/Coal Miner: Frank Jackson/UMWA: A House Divided - S1 E8

  • Thursday February 26, 2026 8:25 am ET on KETKY
  • Thursday February 26, 2026 7:25 am CT on KETKY
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