While West Virginia flies under the radar for most people for most things, it is known around the world for its traditional roots music. This week’s column highlights Gerry Milnes, the 2026 recipient of the National Endowment of the Arts Bess Lomax Hawes National Heritage Fellowship. Established in 2000, the Bess Lomax Hawes Fellowship honors an individual who has made a significant contribution to the preservation and awareness of cultural heritage.
Also included are five notable roots music gatherings in the state I regularly attend. It should come as no surprise that Milnes continues to play at all of them and others around the region. Most of the photos in the gallery below have never been featured before.
The state’s traditional music has been a staple in my life ever since I began going to the Braxton County Homecomings in the 1960s with my parents as a child. It also led to my first No Depression article in 2009 on the Morris Family Old Time Music Festival (1969-1973), which I first attended as a teen.
More recently, a Lens column in 2023 was devoted to two of festivals discussed below.
Gerry Milnes
Gerald “Gerry” Milnes, with his wife Mary Alice Milnes, moved to the state in 1975 with a back-to-the-land lifestyle in mind. That became the foundation for a deep, community-centered folk life work that also includes being a musician, filmmaker, and an author whose work over five decades has played a central role in documenting, preserving, and sharing the folk traditions of Appalachia. Milnes' field recordings, films, books, and public programs have brought national attention to the everyday artists, musicians, and communities that carry cultural traditions forward.
