By Lydia Hamby
In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene’s devastating impact on many Appalachian communities in Western North Carolina and Upper East Tennessee, many turned to something deeply ingrained in Appalachian culture: music. Whether casual gatherings of local musicians and friends, or more organized events such as church services and benefit concerts, a common thread has been music as a soothing and expressive cultural ritual in response to trauma. Music can be the backdrop for both spiritual solace and practical support for individuals facing crisis and devastation within their personal lives and communities.
When catastrophic floodwaters cut a path of devastation through mountain towns, traditional gathering spaces like churches and public buildings often were transformed into sites of communal sharing and healing through music. Concerned artists and fans from outside the region also stepped up to contribute benefit concerts with proceeds helping to offset hardships faced by those affected. Gatherings both large and small served multiple functions — fundraising, communal processing, and comfort found in the ritual structure of hymns and sacred songs.
Benefit shows
The Concert for Carolina, organized by country artist Luke Combs — who grew up in Asheville and attended Appalachian State University in Boone — was held on Oct. 26, 2024, at the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina. More than 82,000 attended the event, which raised more than $24 million for hurricane relief efforts. The lineup of artists included headliners Combs and Eric Church along with Billy Strings, James Taylor, Sheryl Crow, Keith Urban, Bailey Zimmerman, The Avett Brothers, Scotty McCreery, Chase Rice and Parmalee.
Dana Sorrells of Asheville attended the concert and described it as a very emotional event. She said she was surrounded by many people at the concert who, like her, had been directly affected by the hurricane.
“I definitely felt the love and support from all of the entertainers that were there, and I think everyone else did as well,” Sorrells said. “It was an amazing experience, and I’m grateful that I was able to be part of it.”
Concert for the Carolinas is unique because of its size and reach, but there have been numerous concerts, festivals and events at small venues successfully raising money and bringing people together. Events such as a Nov. 30 benefit at the Martin Center for the Arts in Johnson City, headlined by the band 49 Winchester. The sold-out show was available to livestream, with all proceeds going to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Northeast Tennessee for its flood relief efforts.
The annual Blue Highway Festival in Big Stone Gap, Virginia, transformed its traditional instrument raffle, which raises money for roots music in higher education, into a crisis-response effort. Band members themselves are from flood-affected communities including Newland, North Carolina and Greene County, Tennessee. Fundraising from the raffle was expanded to include flood relief through auctioning several instruments in addition to the usual banjo raffle. By raising funds for flood relief, the festival demonstrated how an existing musical tradition can be reimagined to address immediate community needs. Blue Highway has participated in several other flood-benefit concerts as well, including January’s “Picking for a Purpose” in Afton, Tennessee.
Benefit shows also happen outside the affected areas. The Appalachian Aid bluegrass benefit was held at the City Winery in Nashville with performances by Jim Lauderdale, Sister Sadie, the Po Ramblin’ Boys, Authentic Unlimited, Becky Buller, and several others. The event raised over $43,000 dollars with all proceeds going to relief efforts through Samaritan’s Purse and the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) Trust Fund.
ReString Appalachia
Just after the flooding, on the “Friends of Swannanoa, NC” Facebook page, a request was made for a guitar “just to lend” that would be used to raise spirits in the hard-hit community. The loss of musical instruments was widespread, inspiring ReString Appalachia, an initiative launched by Nicholas Williams, host of the podcast “American Songcatcher.”
“Our mission is to get free, quality instruments back in the hands of musicians throughout Appalachia and the Southeast due to Hurricane Helene or Milton,” Williams said. “It doesn’t matter if you just started, if you’re a hobbyist, a front porch picker, or professional, were looking for you and want to help.”
Supported by more than 150 musicians, instrument makers, nonprofits, venues, visual artists, actors, and media outlets, ReString Appalachia has implemented a “donor match” program, pledging to provide instruments of equal or comparable quality to the ones that were lost. The initiative has helped professional musicians in the region who lost high-quality instruments important to their livelihoods.
As of Jan. 30, Williams said ReString had replaced more than 280 instruments. He expects that number to grow considerably. “This experience isn’t really something I can articulate well, or at least it falls short,” he said. “The range of reactions people have varies, but needless to say to have built a bridge between the people that have instruments and want to donate, to the people who need them — it’s an honor of my lifetime, no doubt about it. Being a spark for anyone who went through such unfathomable trauma isn’t something I’ve experienced until now, and it’s a gift that I cherish, however long it lasts for each person we help.”
Songs for the soul
Musicians have always written songs as an artistic means of dealing with life experiences. Emi Sunshine, a 20-year-old singer/songwriter from Madison, Tennessee, wrote the song “As the Waters Rise” with her mother in response to devasting floods in West Virginia in 2015. She posted the song on social media last year, dedicating it to “my mountain people who have been affected by this horrific hurricane.”
Wesley Keith Holmes, a rising country music singer known as Wesco, co-wrote the song “Helene” with JD Williamson shortly after the hurricane. The song includes the line, “We didn’t know violence till we met Helene,” and offers an analysis of media coverage with, “it’s sunshine and roses on that TV screen, those talking heads they ain’t seen what I’ve seen.” The song reflects desperate scenes of a mother holding a baby on the roof of a house, and “a brother hanging on to that limb.” The powerful and emotional lyrics have been used by other social media creators as a soundtrack behind hundreds of storm photos and videos posted online. Wesko was invited by Luke Combs to perform “Helene” at the Concert for Carolina event in Charlotte.
“This song is for the people that live in Swannanoa,” Wesko said introducing the song on stage. “It’s a song for people that live in Avery County, and Asheville, and Old Fort. This song is yours.”
Digital spaces
Social media platforms became extensions of traditional music spaces during the weeks and months following Helene. Short-video formats have become prevalent in the aftermath of natural disasters, offering ways for those directly affected to share eye-witness experiences and viewpoints not commonly available among traditional media’s news coverage. Video creators often pare video images with traditional music recordings that tap into place-oriented feelings and emotions. There were posts, for intance, that pared images of destruction with well-known bluegrass songs such as “Rocky Top,” adapted to sound dark and ominous. Another song that was often used was a spooky adaptation of Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues.” These creators repurposed familiar, emotionally resonant songs to frame their current community experiences. The personal-documentary technique set to iconic songs rooted in the region is a way for people to transform their experiences into a collective storytelling experience. The music chosen can aid in processing grief, loss, and recovery.
Musicians have also used social media to document their own use of music to personally encourage and lift spirits among those impacted by the flooding. Ketch Secor, founding member of the band Old Crow Medicine Show, drove a truckload of supplies from Nashville to flood-ravaged areas, where he used his fiddle to deliver a bit of musical joy. One of the people he met was Leniavell Trivette of Zionville, North Carolina.
“Leniavell is the daughter of Elsie Harmon, National Heritage Award winner,” Secor said. “She has made quilts and dolls for Watauga County folks for 60 years or more.”
Recognized in research
For graduate students at Appalachian State University, the storm brought an opportunity to highlight relief efforts across affected areas, many in Boone, North Carolina, where the university is located. At last year's 24th annual Appalachian Collegiate Research Initiative (ACRI) symposium in Washington, D.C., students from ASU presented findings on how organizations adapted to assist those affected by Helene. Led by faculty members Trevor McKenzie, Dr. Tammy Haley, and Dr. Julie Shepherd-Powell, the students were among 15 research teams from 15 colleges and universities in eight Appalachian states participating in the symposium. Sponsored by the Appalachian Regional Commission, the ACRI capstone symposium is administered by the Center of Excellence for Appalachian Studies and Services at East Tennessee State University.
The team from ASU had planned a research project focusing on Mountain Home Music, a nonprofit organization in Boone that celebrates Appalachian arts and also serves as a music venue. After the storm, both Mountain Home Music and the ASU students shifted their focus toward recovery.
Mountain Home Music’s “Wake of the Flood: A Benefit for and by Appalachian Artists” was originally slated to be the 6th annual “An Evening of Appalachian Murder Ballads.” When Helene hit, the people of Mountain Home Music, Carolina Ramble Productions, Kattagast, and many others worked together to rename the event and give it a new purpose. Wake of the Flood took place on Nov. 15 and saw musicians, visual artists, makers, and photographers from around the region come together to raise more than $14,000 for the NC Arts Disaster Relief Fund.
Show director Kat Chaffin spoke to the Watauga Democrat about the event. “I knew I wanted to include as many artists as possible,” she said. “The outpouring of support from the local art community was a beautiful thing and we hope you will support these artists.”
Students from ASU highlighted this event and several others in their research and subsequent ACRI presentation. Alongside Mountain Home Music, Lost Province Center for the Cultural Arts in Lansing, North Carolina, was also highlighted. Lost Province worked toward preserving Appalachian traditions such as basket weaving and canning. Like many other businesses in East Tennessee and Western North Carolina, Lost Province became a donation center after storm relief efforts.
ASU's presentation included an interview with Caroline Renfro, director of the center, about what the aftermath looked like for her community. “Renfro also emphasized the crucial role that the arts play in the recovery process and return to normalcy,” students reported. “In an effort to maintain their original mission, the pottery studio at Lost Province has now opened, offering classes and serving as a space for artists who rely on their craft for income.” Lost Province’s efforts to provide a calming space for those affected mirror those of local musicians attempting to organize similar events.
The hardship many in the region faced after Hurricane Helene inspired everyone from internationally known musicians to local individuals to look for ways to help. Communities continue working together to use their skills, strengths, and available resources to assist and bring some peace to those who had to rebuild their entire lives. For a region often defined by its music, it seems only appropriate that for many, the way to heal is through song. Through both formal initiatives like Restring Appalachia and sometimes impromptu concerts, people were brought to action by the notion that music can serve as a medium for emotional release after even the most disruptive of catastrophes.
Lydia Hamby is a bluegrass musician and a student in the Master’s in Appalachian Studies program at East Tennessee State University.
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