Randy Wilson
Randy Wilson is a native of the mountains of eastern Kentucky and continues the storytelling and music traditions of this culturally rich region. Grandson of one of the last frontier families, Wilson brings those values alive in song, story and dance. His performances often take him out of the region and he has performed extensively in music and storytelling festivals such as the Great American Dulcimer Festival, The University of Rome in Italy, Kentucky Folklife Festival, as well as the Smithsonian Appalachian Festival on the mall in Washington, D.C.
Wilson has also worked as an artist-in-residence in the schools for the past 20 years with an “almost magical ability to get kids involved,” states Mike Mullins, Hindman Settlement School Director. Collaborations with students have included books, recordings, videos, herbal remedies, folk dances and old mountain recipes.
Wilson uses instruments ranging from the Celtic drum, penny whistle and concertina to the mountain style banjo, guitar, dulcimer and autoharp. Publications include several CDs of original and traditional songs, as well as a poetry production with Kentucky poet laureate James Still. As Still pointed out, it’s "hard nowadays to find a genuine Appalachian singer of superior talent untouched, untainted and unspoiled by media, stage and screen. Randy Wilson is the one."