Some Dark Holler: A Murder Ballad Podcast
Welcome to “Some Dark Holler”: a murder ballad podcast! What’s a murder ballad? Well, it’s a song that tells a story about… you guessed it… murder! They started before radio, television, and was an original way to tell true crime stories, and chill its listeners to the bone with their darkly intriguing stories! Join folk singers, Broadway and tv actors Amelia Cormack and Allison Guinn as they sing the traditional murder ballads, tell their true crime origin, and then write their own ballad about each story! If you love true crime, folk music, and spooky folklore, this podcast is for you!
Episodes
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 adjustment which we hope will ensure we...
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, Delaware, Fr, Jan 10, 1930
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. She also comes up with a r...
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 by Dave Tabler
Roanoke Times...
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, Wikipedia and The Slaveholder ...
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 murder ballads of all time and sing...
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
https://open.spotify.com/pl...
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 Shot Billy by Cecil Brown, Hea...
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 listening experience: https://open.spo...
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