My wonderful undergraduate education at Emory & Henry College in Virginia first exposed me to Uncle Wendell and I have always recommended him to people looking for solid, simple, and good writing. Like a bowl of soup beans and a plate of cornbread, he isn't pretty, but he will fill your soul to the marrow. Reading Wendell Berry is nearly religious and there is wisdom yet plumbed from his works. Deeply progressive, thrifty, and profound in a homespun manner, you can apply him to anything from Black Lives Matter, to home economics.
And like fresh cukes and vinegar with pepper, the Reel Time Travelers go with Uncle Wendell. If you look at my CD collection from late high school and early college (when you do really have your head on the shoulders when it comes to music) you will find all of the RTT records. I still listen to them when I feel most homesick and ready to make a dash to the mountains. Anytime I see an old truck (though they are fewer and farther between out here in the big city) I am apt to sing "Halleluiah." Light, and breezy with great banjo and fiddle songs, RTT can lift your soul on the darkest days. There is nothing "newgrass" about them but they have a modern sound to bluegrass reels unlike many who try.
Not all of us can be so fortunate to grow up in Appalachia. If you were lucky (and let's be honest, at times unlucky) enough to, you understand. If you didn't, you can get a glimpse of the simple pleasures of mountain living by stopping by the library and picking up anything (and I mean anything) by Wendell Berry. Then stop by wherever you get music for "Livin' Reeltime, Thinkin' Old-Time" by the Reeltime Travelers
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