#ella haley

[brandonraykirk]

Ella Trumbo postcard #Lexington #KY (1910s) #Appalachia #history #blind

[brandonraykirk]

In Search of Ed Haley 332

#BrandonKirk talks with George Carr about #EdHaley. #Ashland, #Kentucky #music #history #amwriting

The next day, at the fiddling contest, Brandon met George Carr of Madison, West Virginia. George said Ed was the reason he started playing the fiddle many years ago.

“I was raised in Calhoun County,” he said. “I first saw Ed Haley as a small boy in the one-room Walker School House. Sometime in the early ’30s, about ’34, ’35, I’d say. Him and his wife came and they played for us and he fascinated…

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[brandonraykirk]

In Search of Ed Haley 331

#JohnHartford and #BrandonKirk visit with the Haleys in 1996. #Ashland, #Kentucky #history #EdHaley #music #amwriting

About an hour later, Brandon showed up at Pat’s, followed by various members of the Haley clan: Noah, Clyde, and a bunch of children and grandchildren. The house was soon full of people – talking and eating. It was a bittersweet moment due to Lawrence’s absence, although his spirit was everywhere. I watched the Haleys – Ed’s children and grandchildren – business executives, gamblers, bar owners —…

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[brandonraykirk]

In Search of Ed Haley 313

John Simon writes #JohnHartford about #JohnLozier and #EdHaley. #Appalachia #music #EdHaley

Early in June 1996, I received a letter from John Simon, which conveyed more information about John Lozier’s memories of Ed Haley. Basically, Lozier said he played music with Ed and Ella around 1932 at the YMCA in Portsmouth, Ohio. Dinky Coffman, who was in charge of the entertainment, hired the three musicians often. “Sometimes Dinky would also take them into the railroad yards to play for…

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[brandonraykirk]

In Search of Ed Haley 293

#JohnHartford speaks with Mona Haley about her late father, #fiddler #EdHaley. #Appalachia #history #amwriting

The more I played for Mona, the more Pat’s little dogs barked at me – especially when I got up and danced. Their commotion caused Mona to say, “We always had an animal. We used to have an old blue-tick hound named King and every time Pop would play the fiddle he’d howl. Uncle Luther gave him to Pop when I was a baby. I don’t know if it was as much Pop as it was Mom, but they all loved King. All…

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[brandonraykirk]

In Search of Ed Haley 287

In 1996, #JohnHartford visits Curly Wellman in #Ashland, #Kentucky. #Appalachia #history #music

In the spring of 1996, I made my way back to Ashland where I dropped in on Curly Wellman. Curly was an old guitarist in town who grew up watching Ed Haley on Horse Branch. I hadn’t visited him since a trip with Lawrence Haley some four years earlier. Unlike last time, he was quick to comment on Ed’s poverty.

“Now this story about Ed Haley, this was during the thirties – right after the Great…

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[brandonraykirk]

In Search of Ed Haley 281

In a 1996 interview, Ugee Postalwait recalls #EdHaley. #Appalachia #history #amwriting #music #WestVirginia

I got my fiddle back out to play more for Ugee. When I finished “Going Across the Sea”, she said, “I’ve heard that. ‘Blackberry Wine’, that’s what he called it. They got ‘high’ on it. Dad and Ed would play it and say, ‘Boy you got a little high on that wine that time, didn’t ya?’ That meant they was getting smoother on the playing.”

I played more tunes for Ugee, who said, “You’re better on that…

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[brandonraykirk]

In Search of Ed Haley 279

Ugee Postalwait continues her memories of #EdHaley in #CalhounCounty, #WestVirginia. #Appalachia #history #amwriting

Ugee also remembered French and Sol Carpenter coming to her father’s house. They were regarded by many as two of the best fiddlers in central West Virginia, so I had to ask, “How did your Dad and Ed regard the Carpenters?”

“There wasn’t nobody as good as Ed and Dad,” she said quickly. “They’d say, ‘Oh, you’re good,’ to the Carpenters and brag on them. Then get away from them and Ed’d say, ‘They…

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