Appalachian Vibes Radio Show

‘Stories of the Stitch’ 2022
Appalachian Vibes Radio Show from WNCW
By: Amanda Bocchi

Stories of the Stitch, the 17th annual outdoor quilt show in Galax, VA took place this past weekend.

GPS will lead you the wrong way, best to follow the small wooden signs pointing the way down a winding road, through the hills of Appalachia to Matthews History Living History Farm Museum.

Dozens of quilts hung from clothes lines, brightly woven fabrics blowing against the sky. Any quilter will tell you, quilts are more than a blanket to keep you warm on chilly evenings. They are one of the first forms of art in Appalachia, often commemorating a life event, like the story of a birth, a death, an injury, or a wedding.

Laura Romanowski, director of the Arts and Cultural Council for the Twin Counties tells Amanda Bocchi, “Quilts are part of living history. Aren’t they supposed to be seen on clotheslines flapping in the breeze? It’s like a kaleidoscope. You walk into the field and you are surrounded by pattern and color, and the most amazing functional art there is. Not only does it keep you warm on a winter's night, it warms your soul when you look at them.”

Ashley Jurney is a painter turned quilter and organizer for the Stories of the Stitch quilt show. She started quilting 7 years ago when she saw a quilt she wanted to buy and decided the price was too high, and she could do it herself. Jurney wasn’t immediately a success, but her dedication and artistry paid off in 2020 when she was named the international quilt show winner for that year. She started a business helping other quilt artists sew their quilts, now she has clients from California to Maine. If you attend a major quilt show, you’re bound to find one of Jurney’s quilts or a quilt she helped prepare on display.

Before the quilts are hung along the clothes lines and judged, they are separated into different categories: classic quilts, hand pieced/hand quilted, half and half, quilts that don’t fit into any category, story quilts and machine pieced/machine quilted.

One story quilt was submitted by Barbra Moncrief, the pattern was vivacious and busy with fabric and ribbons twisting and turning across the squares. The title of her story quilt? “Life’s Twists and Turns”

“Life is fickle, constantly changing no matter what we plan. We plan our lives and there are constant twists or turns here and there. Fun, horrific, exciting, acceptable, okay, serendipitous, grand moments etc...much of what we make of these twists and turns is our choosing. We can choose to accept some of these twists and turns, and be happy or sad, it’s our choice. Having had some of all of these various twists and turns, I’ve chosen happiness, and I’m ready for the new day. I turned 80 during the pandemic and I had a glorious adventure planned. But instead I celebrated at home alone. It was and is my choice to celebrate each day in a wild glorious way. Wearing wild colors, and doing whatever strikes my fancy. Therefore this quilt is a reminder that life’s twists and turns are to be celebrated daily.” - Barbra Moncrief

Moncrief’s inspiration for her submission “Life’s Twists and Turns” is derived from a twist of fate many years ago when her husband was suddenly killed by a train while he was taking photos. She lost the love of her life that day with no warning, and yet she makes a point to choose happiness every day.

These aren’t just quilts. The fabric holds the soul of the artist in every stitch, and if you’re ever lucky enough to be gifted one of these incredible pieces of art, never let it

Appalachian Vibes Radio Show from WNCW is listener nominated, you can nominate an artist by emailing Amanda at [email protected].
Appalachian Vibes Radio Show is created and produced by Amanda Bocchi, a neo soul singer-songwriter, multi instrumentalist and journalist hailing from the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia.

The James Lagueux Band is the the brain child of 2 artists that think as one. James Lagueux, a classical prog rock inspired guitarist and Ben Eperly his synth heavy keyboardist. Every note in their compositions appear to be well thought out and deliberate. In our conversation they reveal that this synchronicity is just the magic sparked between two musicians. They often improvise together Ben responding to every melody line James throws in his direction. The result is a very delicate woven flurry of notes, bouncing ideas back and forth, rhythms changing unexpectedly. It's like brain candy. 

This week is an exciting episode for the growth of Appalachian vibes. Appalachian Vibes was officially picked up by Radio IQ/NPR in southwest and central Virginia! Welcome new listeners! If you're new to the show, the way it works-we receive artist nominations from listeners and musicians about YOUR favorite, inspiring musicians (you can make a nomination by going to appalachianvibes.net on the main page there's a button to fill out a contact form).
This week we repeated Fanoplane from Season 2 Episode 1 because lets face it, is there really a better first week on NPR than featuring Bob Boilen (creator of All Songs Considered and Tiny Desk Concerts) as well as Ted Zook, a classical guitarist with their experimental improv ensemble, Fanoplane. For more information: [email protected]
Nickie Calhoun was my second guest. She's a self professed wanderer and down tempo singer-songwriter. Her most recent album is called 'Heart of Slate'
Listen to Nickie on Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/artist/01BdhZM0oPcoZUW9U7zUuz?si=17dME059T0S1BAnwKCUNIw&nd=1
My last guest is an Appalachian writer and musician. We did something a little different and featured a story of his called, Cell Phone.
Cell Phone by Will Henson (from Will Henson & the Willies)
So the last 48 hours of my life have been a psychotic roller coaster.Monday night I got off the phone with my mechanic who's been working on my car for the last 8 months.... My phone has been dying and running out of juice for the last week so any info I needed to give or receive has been done quickly and frantically... Before I went to sleep I plugged it in and laid it on top of the laptop at the foot of my bed... Oftentimes I will stretch my legs and somehow kick it or pull it to where it drops on the floor with a loud crash and it is almost always laying on the floor the next morning...

Well this must have happened in the middle of the night cuz I heard it and of course it woke me up, a couple of hours later I got up and looked down but this time it was nowhere to be seen...a five-minute search started turning into a 20-minute search which started turning into a 40-minute search... It had vanished.... I mean there was no logical place for it to go it only had a foot to slide in any direction... I was starting to get pissed... No this can't be one of those days where all I do is futilely look for something that has vanished... But about three or four hours later after looking in ridiculous place s it just was not there... And a horrific conclusion was starting to creep in...

There's a woman I had been dating that I have finally had to put on block... That was about a month ago...I was convinced she had come into the room in the middle of the night and had taken it.... My bloodstream was Frozen with ice water... Not only was she going to see a thousand pictures of nude females of all shapes and sizes... There were so many other things she was going to have access to... And each new revelation brought a fresh wave of horror in my brain... She was going to see text messages, phone calls, phone numbers of every person I have been in contact with for the last 2 years.... She was going to have free access to my bank account.... She could post anything she wanted to in my name on my Facebook page.... Upon hearing about my fears my roommate said there is absolutely no fucking way anybody's going to break into this house... And I knew that... I knew that and I am mediately was relieved...

And with a fresh wave of confidence and calm I bounde

Appalachian Vibes Radio Show from WNCW is listener nominated, you can nominate an artist by emailing Amanda at [email protected].
Appalachian Vibes Radio Show is created and produced by Amanda Bocchi, a neo soul singer-songwriter, multi instrumentalist and journalist hailing from the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia.

Happy Valentines Day! C. David Gelly is a mystery suspense novelist hailing from the small town of Fancy Gap, VA where he draws inspiration from the tiny hollows and interesting folk that live in the gap roads off I77.
"For travelers along the Blue Ridge Parkway at Fancy Gap, the fog often hangs like an azure dreamscape over the rolling green hills. But when a madman abducts two children and disappears into the wisps with the young brother and sister, the landscape becomes a nightmare for the children’s parents and local residents. The county sheriff remains under intense pressure to track down the predator, yet all leads come up cold and the officers are sickened when a horrific act at the Devil’s Den challenges them all to act quickly. To solve the crime before the Labor Day Flea Market and Gun Show, sleuths Quinn McSpain and Louisa Hawke are drawn into the mystery and head into the hills and hollows of the southwestern Virginia mountains."
-Amazon.com
Learn more about the author and find Fancy Gap series here:
https://www.amazon.com/Fancy-Gap-C-David-Gelly-ebook/dp/B008GWEXX4?ref_=ast_author_dp

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00T6TPAR4?notRedirectToSDP=1&ref_=dbs_mng_calw_1&storeType=ebooks
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XJ7CXL3?notRedirectToSDP=1&ref_=dbs_mng_calw_2&storeType=ebooks
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07NC4CRYJ?notRedirectToSDP=1&ref_=dbs_mng_calw_3&storeType=ebooks
Thank you to my guest this week, and a special thanks to Palmyra the band for the intro and outro music.

Appalachian Vibes is brought to you by Galax, tourism, made possible by Virginia is for Lovers.

Galax tourism, building our future while celebrating our past. You can learn more about galax at visitgalax.com.

I’m Amanda bocchi, I’ll see y’all Saturday morning at 6AM FOR THE FULL HOUR OF APPALACHIAN VIBES RADIO SHOW FROM WNCW!

Appalachian Vibes Radio Show from WNCW is listener nominated, you can nominate an artist by emailing Amanda at [email protected].
Appalachian Vibes Radio Show is created and produced by Amanda Bocchi, a neo soul singer-songwriter, multi instrumentalist and journalist hailing from the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia.

August 21 21
This week on Appalachian Vibes, my guests are Forest, VA's Caleb Michael Settje who self admittedly writes a lot about love but has never actually been IN love and Durham, NC's songstress, Emily Musolino who spills the tea on her experience being a full figured lesbian in the music festival industry. My last guest is Waynette Anderson, the president and owner of Dr Pepper Park at the Bridges, she gives us the scoop on what's coming up at Dr Pepper Park.

Appalachian Vibes Radio Show from WNCW is listener nominated, you can nominate an artist by emailing Amanda at [email protected].
Appalachian Vibes Radio Show is created and produced by Amanda Bocchi, a neo soul singer-songwriter, multi instrumentalist and journalist hailing from the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia.