Some Dark Holler: A Murder Ballad Podcast

Episode 19: Knoxville Girl Oh my word! It’s been 7 months since we recorded this! Life, theater jobs got in the way, but finally we got our frickin’ ducks in a row and we have to present to you, with many trials and errors, an episode based on my (Allison here) favorite murder ballad: Knoxville Girl. This was the first murder ballad I’d ever heard, and was horrified and fascinated all at the same...

Welcome back!! We hope you’re enjoying the podcast - we’d love to hear from you! In yet another after hours episode, this week Amelia tells yet another outlaw story! This is becoming a habit! We look at the wild story of the incredible, elusive, mysterious Railroad Bill - both his exploits and the extraordinary story of what happened to him after death... We also announce a slight programming adju...

This time we give you 3 songs in one episode! Hear the more than unhinged story of Pearl Drew the Murderous Mississippi Poetess, and the murder ballad that inspired her! Spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5QICy0rHKJYNsthGlumjHE?si=WM80i0P4QdumEcrIa0eaNw Sources: Time.com Murder in Rhyme Newspapers.com: “Poet from Miss confesses to Murder in poems.” The Evening Journal, Wilmington,...

The Murder of PC Lines, Hanging of Jeremiah Corkery and the Real Peaky Blinders! We’ve headed back to Blighty for this week’s episode and delved further into the world of the Gallows Ballad. Amelia examines the real Peaky Blinders, how they differed from the TV series’ portrayal, and looks at the tragic murder of PC Lines and the harrowing account of the hanging of the perpetrator Jeremiah Corkery...

It’s Some Dark Holler Day! And this episode, we bring you the sad story of Freeda Bolt! A young girl from Virginia who elopes with her sweetheart in hopes of a happily ever after. Alas, what happens next is the theme of the ballad Young Freda Bolt. We sing and tell her story and Allison rewrites history for her version of the song. Sources: Appalachianhistory.net “The Story of Freeda Bolt” posted...

IT'S SOME DARK HOLLER TUESDAY!! We're back in your podcast feed every 2nd Tuesday. IN this week's episode, we FINALLY leave North Carolina, and in fact the US of A! Amelia tells us the story of the truly awful and irredeemable Elizabeth Vickers, and her murder of William Jones in Brixton, London in the 1850s. Sources for this episode - Paul Slade and planetslade.com, the British Newspaper Archive,...

Episode 13: The Ballad of Frankie Silver Wow! It’s been a while! BUT WE’RE BACK with a new episode just in time for Christmas! This ballad has all the components to make a great A24 film: The remote Appalachian woods, a bleak snowy night, a drunk abusive white man, a small pissed off woman, and AN AXE, and a legacy that leaves us asking WHY! We’ll discuss the ins and outs of one of the most famous...

Welcome to Stagolee Part 2! In this episode we hear how Lee Shelton may have got the nickname ‘Stack’, how the ballad circulated throughout the country in a multitude of musical and cultural forms, crossing racial divides, and how its legacy can still be seen in the music of today. Sources - Hear My Sad Story, by Richard Polenberg - Stagolee Shot Billy by Cecil Brown - Wikipedia Spotify Playlist h...

On this week’s episode we have the first of another 2 parter, this time told by Amelia! we cover the fascinating and very culturally significant Stagolee aka Stacker Lee aka Stack O’Lee. Here who exactly Stack Lee was and why over 450 versions of the song have been recorded, in almost as many different iterations! And who knew a Stetson could be the cause of so much trouble?! Sources: Stagolee Sho...

Episode 10: Tom Dula (part two) Amelia and Allison (and our special guest) carry on with the highly dramatic “love pentagon” of Tom Dula! Find out what happens to poor Laura and who got away with it! All ending with Allison’s ballad of the secret instigator of this whole mess! Also please note our accompanying playlist of all the various versions of The Ballad of Tom Dooley to enhance your listeni...

Episode 9: Tom Dula (part one) Dula? Dooley? Potato? Potahto? Amelia and Allison dive deep into the real story behind one of the most popular songs responsible for the big folk boom of the 50s and 60s. This one is SCANDALOUS! Fetch your smelling salts and clutch your pearls as Allison tells the true story of the “round-heeled” Tom Dula! Sources: The True Story of Tom Dooley by John Edward Fletcher...

Special Episode 8 - A Necessary Hiatus (Put on Your Own Oxygen Mask First) WE’RE BAAAAAACK!!! Did you miss us? So our return episode marks a departure from our regularly scheduled programming… Amelia tells her story and the reason behind our absence. Trigger Warning - this episode discusses PMADs (Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders) and suicidal ideation. In NYC and the US: The Motherhood Center...

It’s SOME DARK HOLLER DAY!! On this week’s episode we finally leave North Carolina and take you to the state of Georgia. We cover the tragic murder of young Delia Green at the hands of her also young boyfriend, Moses ‘Cooney Houston’. Her death inspired songs which crossed borders, and generations, sung by the likes of Harry Belafonte, Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan. And Amelia adds her own song to thi...

Episode 6: Poor Ellen Smith *AUDIO NOTE: there is a mildly annoying rattle of our mics throughout that Allison only noticed after recording and could not be edited out. My apologies. Lesson learned. Thank you for your patience In our 6th episode we stay in Good Ol’ North Carolina in the late 1800’s as we sing and tell the story behind the ballad of Poor Ellen Smith. Another good gal lead astray wi...

CONTENT WARNING: This episode may be upsetting for some audiences! Listening Discretion Advised. In Episode 5, Amelia dives into the dark story that’s behind the ballad of the Lawson Family. This one is grim! BUT Allison does the best she can to try to bring up the mood somewhat, with questionable success. For this one, we go back to… you guessed it, NORTH CAROLINA during Christmas in 1930, where...

In Episode 4, we have the second part of The Ballad of Poor Omie Wise! In the last episode we told Braxton Craven’s flowery, fairytale-like version of the story, and in part 2, we get to the truth behind the life of a single mother done wrong by her conniving boyfriend! Also, Allison rewrites the story in her own version of the ballad at the end of the episode! If we’re gonna have a fairytale, let...

In our third episode, we explore yet another reason why you SHOULD NOT GO DOWN BY THE RIVER! We head back to North Carolina to sing and discuss the ballad of POOR OMIE WISE. Naomi Wise was just like any single mom wanting to have it all in the early 1800’s, that is, until she met John Lewis! Source material: Naomi “Omie” Wise: Her Life, Death and Legend By Hal E. Pugh and Eleanor Minnock-Pugh Play...

We head to the land of Amelia’s birth- Australia! The Wild Colonial Boy is one of the most famous folk songs in Australia, but who exactly was he? What’s a bushranger? And have you ever wondered what a real Tasmanian Devil looks and sounds like? All this and more in SOME DARK HOLLER Episode 2! Playlist : https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5v5DRR7qXQ8oMN44sZ7B9p?si=_Ig3fRSEQReSiCmxHYc15w&pi=u-zwOLeH...

Episode 1: Frankie and Johnny In our first ever episode, Amelia and Allison tackle one of the biggies: the ballad of Frankie and Johnny! Alan “Albert” Britt and Frances “Frankie” Baker were a young couple in St. Louis 1899 when an infamous argument ended their relationship and started a song that would haunt Francis for the rest of her life! Make sure to check out our Spotify playlist of all the v...