REPLAY: Music as Escape

With Good Reason

The Soulmasters was a 1960’s interracial soul band from Danville, VA. Jerry Wilson and John Irby were the two African-American lead singers and the other band members were white. Jerry reflects on what it was like touring the South during the height of segregation. And: We all have that one song that soothes our soul. This ability to escape through music was a lifeline for American troops during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Later in the show: Meet Folklorist Katy Clune! Her passion for diverse folklife traditions stems from growing up all over the world as the child of a parent in the foreign service. Plus: Back in the early 1980’s, Grace Toney Edwards developed Radford University’s first Appalachian Folklore class and when she retired, Ricky Cox took over the class. They reflect on some of their favorite student projects - which have all been digitized at Radford’s Appalachian Folklife Archive.