Added to the archives today is one of the many Asheville, North Carolina albums of Appalachian folk standards performed by Roger Howell, with assistance from Doug Phillips. Roger Howell has recorded over 500 traditional songs, helping preserve folk music from days long passed. The collection of music has been donated to the Southern Appalachian Archives at Mars Hill University. To be precise, 532 songs in total were recorded from memory, each rendition accompanied by historical information and personal reminiscences from Roger himself. Dr. Karen Paar, Director of the Archives, says “this collection preserves the music of important musicians from this region. Roger’s work to record these tunes and attribute them to these musicians will live on for generations.”
Born in Banjo Branch, North Carolina, Howell fell in love with the native music at an early age. “An old lady used to live in the house up on the hill across the valley from here, and she had this big old loud, obnoxious banjo,” Howell once told an interviewer. “I thought that was the prettiest thing I ever heard.” That same lady, nicknamed “Aunt” Pearl Ball, taught him the banjo at twelve years old with assistance from neighbors neighbors Charles Ball and Lloyd Ray. Roger was at one point the fiddler for the Carol Best string band, and was a founding member of the award-winning Carolina Old-Timers String Band and Bailey Mountain Ramblers, he also frequently plucks strings with Bobby Hicks. He is renowned through the North Carolina state for his violin restoration savvy, and owns Bailey Mountain Fiddle Shoppe on Banjo Branch. The store is a popular destination for musicians from all over the country, and has had folks flock from Japan, New Zealand, and the British Isles. In 2015 he was awarded the Brown-Hudson Folklore Award by the North Carolina Folklore Society for his work in preserving and celebrating traditional music from his region. The documentary A Mighty Fine Memory is focused on Roger’s history and contributions and was premiered at the Minstrel of Appalachia Festival in October 2015. More information and song histories available upon request. More videos below the album, which is also on YouTube.