Young artists in Appalachia have been told for decades that if they’re serious about their craft, they have to leave the region. Our films about Appalachian musicians like Ralph Stanley and Hazel Dickens, writers like James Still and Harriette Arnow, and fine artists like Jerry Brown and Sarah Bailey put the lie to that narrative — as do the Appalshop filmmakers who told their stories in our catalogue of more than 100 films.

Appalshop’s radio station WMMT 88.7 FM broadcasts traditional Appalachian music over the airwaves, and we support it live and in person, too. With an annual music festival, Seedtime on the Cumberland, and an after-school Appalachian music program, Passing the Pick and Bow, we’re passionate about preserving old-time music even as we continue to expand the definition of “mountain music.”

Our belief that people should get to tell their own stories drives all of the art and media we produce at Appalshop. Through Roadside Theater, Appalshop developed a name for that practice, partnering with Zuni people in New Mexico, Puerto Ricans in the Bronx, residents of West Baltimore and the Great Plains, Liberian refugees, central American immigrants — all to create “art in a democracy.”

Our state-of-the-art, climate-controlled vault holds thousands of hours of film, videotape, audio recordings, photographs, and print materials spanning almost a century of life and history in Appalachia. Among our collections are Appalshop’s own films and all of the albums released on our record label, June Appal Recordings, all preserved by Appalshop’s professional archivists.

With almost 100 albums released on our record label, we’re still representing working musicians who are actively putting out work today. The latest albums  on Appalshop’s June Appal Recordings are the special vinyl release of Cornelius Eady Trio's "Don't Get Dead: Pandemic Folk Songs," the compliation "No Options: Hip-Hop in Appalachia," Matthew Stallard's "Hobe," and The Local Honeys's “The Gospel.” 

Appalshop has made space for young people to develop their passions through formal and informal programming since we got our start in 1969. Today we host interns, our annual filmmaking institute, and even punk shows.

We’re proud to have partnered on Whitesburg's Tanglewood Trail, sponsor community events like the annual Levitt AMP concert series, and support projects like the Letcher County Culture Hub. Our Community Media Initiative's All Access EKY program also works with young people and health advocates throughout Kentucky to ensure access to a full range of reproductive health services, knowledge, and contraceptive methods. 

We’re generating almost all of our own energy usage and demonstrating what’s possible in the coalfields with a freestanding “solar pavilion” on Appalshop’s grounds. Our solar pavilion is now the permanent home of our annual Seedtime on the Cumberland festival, and constitutes a brand new, permanent venue for live performances in downtown Whitesburg.