Woodshed: An Appalachian Joint

What does it mean to be West Virginian in a post-coal world?

In "King Coal" on PBS, two middle-school girls grapple with their identities inside a state that’s doing the same.

Smokey Bear turns 80, but is he still relevant?

Since 1944, Smokey Bear has taught us the importance of snuffing out campfires and never playing with matches. Now that we know some forest fires are good, experts are asking if Smokey is still “on message.”

FOOD

Get garlicky with 5 of Appalachia’s top ramps festivals.

From Pennsylvania to Tennessee, these ramps festivals celebrate the region’s favorite wild leek.

FOOD

Asheville lady bootlegger inspires today’s women booze-makers

Moonshiner Grace McAbee moved to Asheville in her 20s. Not long after, she met her husband and purchased a home in an industrial community called West End-Factory Hill, known today as the River Arts District. There, she sold and possibly produced booze.

FOOD

Recipe: Elevate your vinegar pie with this secret ingredient

I know what you’re thinking. Vinegar? In pie? That’s disgusting. I used to think so, too. But when I finally mustered up the courage to take a bite, my five-year-old palate was pleasantly surprised.

FOOD

Is kudzu the future of Appalachian food? Chef Sean Brock thinks so.

When Southern Chef Sean Brock sees kudzu, he sees an opportunity for new recipes and new food traditions.

FOOD

Four foraged foods that will wow Thanksgiving guests

From dandelion roots to acorns, wild edibles that you can forage in Appalachia will give you serious outdoorsy cred on Thanksgiving day.

MUSIC

There’s No Right Way to Flatfoot Dance

High-energy and often whip-fast, flatfoot dancing is an ancient tradition rooted in European, African, and Native American cultures, and it’s still going strong.

MUSIC

6 unlikely banjo songs (indie to EDM) we can’t stop playing

These tunes prove the banjo ain’t just for country music anymore. Today, clever instrumentalists are plingin’ and plangin’ banjo strings in almost every imaginable genre.

MUSIC

Playlist: Hellbilly Hits

Many of these Appalachian musicians were punk before punk was even a thing.

MUSIC

Tyler Childers goes gay (but not the way you think.)

Tyler Childers and Silas House craft a heartbreaking love story about a gay Appalachian couple in the 1950s.

MUSIC

One Song: You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive

At first, Patty Loveless had trouble getting into the song that might end up being remembered as her signature tune — "You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive." She first released it back in 2001 on "Mountain Soul," a deeply personal album of bluegrass and old time tunes that sent her career in a new direction while snagging her a Grammy nomination

OUTDOOR+TRAVEL

Weird Appalachia: How “The Simpsons” saved the Sunsphere

Whether you call it Sunsphere or Wigsphere, the history of this Knoxville, Tennessee landmark is almost as strange as the structure itself.

OUTDOOR+TRAVEL

Down and dirty on the Hatfield-McCoy Trails

How do you commemorate the legendary Hatfield-McCoy feud? If you’re the state of W.Va., you do it with 1,000 miles of off-road recreational vehicle trails.

OUTDOOR+TRAVEL

5 reasons the opossum should be Appalachia’s official mascot

Thanks to its toothy snarl, hairless tail, and bulging eyes, the opossum is never going to win a beauty contest, but if this critter were to vie for the position of Appalachia’s official mascot, I reckon it would win big. Here’s why.

OUTDOOR+TRAVEL

Ready to escape the cold? Try caving.

From Kentucky to Virginia to Tennessee, Appalachia is graced with countless cave systems. They range from the longest in the world to one boasting a stalactite organ. There's no better time to check out the region's remarkable caves than winter.

ART+LIT

One Passage: "Sidle Creek," an NPR Book of the Year

They told author Jolene McIlwain to leave Appalachian Pennsylvania and never look back. She stayed and wrote an acclaimed anthology.

ART+LIT

2024 Mountain Mama Gift Guide

This Mother's Day, find the perfect handmade gift for the artsy mama, the outdoorsy mama, the mystical mama, and more.

ART+LIT

Preserving W.Va.’s coal legacy through crafts

To honor her West Virginia family's coal mining legacy, Megan Brown created a stunning handmade necklace crafted from actual coal dust.

ART+LIT

Our most-read stories of 2023

2023 was Woodshed's first full year as a magazine! From every corner of Appalachia and beyond, readers have flocked to our articles — especially these ten, our most-read stories of the year.

OUR FARM

Bringing Christmas cheer to a wrecked family home place

We bought our family farm in 2021, but the wobbly economy has delayed restoration of its historic farmhouse. This Christmas, though, I just couldn’t stand seeing it dark and grim anymore. I mixed up an old fashioned, grabbed my favorite little Christmas tree, and headed out to the old place.

OUR FARM

A very kitschy Christmas: Aluminum trees make a comeback

Tinsel trees, aluminum trees — whatever you call them, these retro artificial trees are making a comeback and being celebrated at the Aluminum Tree and Aesthetically Challenged Ornament Museum in North Carolina.

OUTDOOR+TRAVEL

These four festive trains make the holidays magical

Join Santa on old-fashioned locomotives that chug through the hills and hollers of Appalachia, spreading Christmas cheer one whistle-stop at a time. These four train ride make magical holiday memories.

HISTORY+CULTURE

Prison didn’t stop one moonshine kingpin. His family still distills 89 years later.

Rock Mount, Va.’s Twin Creeks Distillery is built on a legacy of moonshining and fiddling that dates back to the 1930s when folks from the Southern Recording Expedition pulled up to Peg Hatcher’s home, wanting to record the old-time musician’s famous fiddling. But fiddling wasn’t all Peg was known for. He was also a legendary moonshiner, and he wasn’t exactly trusting of strangers showing up at the door.

HISTORY+CULTURE

Finding kinship in the wake of Hurricane Helene

As a skeptical person, I don’t believe in a lot. I don’t believe in Bigfoot tiptoeing around the backcountry, in ghosts haunting attics, or in myths like throwing salt over your shoulder. (That just makes a mess.) But I sure as hell believe in the magic of mountain communities, especially after Hurricane Helene.

HISTORY+CULTURE

The untold story of Pennsylvania’s mine wars

Mining historians often focus on southern parts of Appalachia, like West Virginia and eastern Kentucky, but life was just as hard in Pennsylvania’s mountains, where mine owners resorted to lynchings, rapes, and beatings during the mine wars.

MUSIC

Recovery and grief at the Healing Appalachia music festival

After losing her brother to addiction, poet Crystal Good found herself at the center of the Healing Appalachia music festival which compats opioid addiction in Appalachia.

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A ONE-WOMAN "HEE HAW," A ONE-WOMAN "HEE HAW,"

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RESTORING A FOREST

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Hellbender Sticker

Wheel-thrown Heart Dish

Heart Arrow Necklace

Son of a Gun sticker

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Shit Fire Sticker

Appalachian Mountains Print

You Will Get Through This Card

Meet Me In The Mountains Tee

Almost Heaven Sticker

Green-Gold Mountain Card

The World Is Big Print

Night Owls Tee

Heirloom Popping Corn

Flavored West Virginia Salts

Better Laugh Sticker

I Do Wedding Card

Thanks A Bunch Card

Trout Shot Glass

Tent Shot Glass

Vase Pillar Candle

Flower Pillar Candle

Our South: Black Food Through My Lens

Smoky Mountains Cowboy Chai Tea

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FARMHOUSE POTTERY

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Ash Rolling Pin

Farm Table Runner

Felt Coasters

Felted Buckley Bunny Ornament

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