Momma Rhodes

05/19/2025

Currently, Momma Rhodes has occupants until the end of June.

05/10/2025

https://www.gofundme.com/f/preserve-appalachian-ballads-support-a-musicians-quest

A LOT of singing has happened on Grandma's front porch over the years. Since time began on both of my grandmother's porches there were many tales to be told and many songs to be sung. Well, that is my main thing with music these days so check this out for me and for us. Thank you!

All my life I have been a musician from Appalachia, 7th generat… Judy A Rhodes needs your support for Preserve Appalachian Ballads: Support a Musician's Quest

05/06/2025

I love the happy colors inside Momma Rhodes!

03/24/2025

YES!!!! Come stay at Momma Rhodes for a month or longer this summer and enjoy the mountains. Send me a message.

03/24/2025

Momma Rhodes is open for a month or longer rental. Presently it is still furnished. Let me know if you want to rent a place for a few months. Great little farm house with some land.

Send a message to learn more

03/21/2025

Come on out and hear some old mountain songs that our families have sung through the ages. Hope to see yawl.

Old Marshall Jail Ballad Swap Tour continues, making its way to Carrboro, NC!

Sunday, March 30
Doors: 6:30pm : Show: 7pm

Cat’s Cradle Back Room
This is a seated show.
Tix at catscradle.com

The Old Marshall Jail Ballad Swap, hosted by eighth-generation ballad singer Donna Ray Norton, celebrates Appalachian heritage. This informal gathering offers a glimpse into an age-old practice, bringing together singers from across the region to share stories and songs passed down through generations. Madison County’s rich ballad legacy led English folk song collector Cecil Sharp to describe it as a “nest of singing birds” in 1916. This unique custom, spanning more than nine generations, represents one of the oldest unbroken oral traditions in the U.S. Following Hurricane Helene’s devastation of their hometown, the Nest of Singing Birds has been traveling their regular ballad swap at the Old Marshall Jail to raise awareness of the practice’s fragility and the region it depends on.

01/26/2025

Heart Garden,
May 21, 2009 by Judy Rhodes
place me in the heart garden
the rocks, the weeds, the seeds
where forgotten bulbs lie
in the back of the home where
grandma and granddaddy
loved, lived, and raised
heroes of wars,
and singers of songs,
talented and beautiful youngsters
just let me grow in the dirt they walked on
grasping, I missed
let me forget
and turn under in the rich
black, brown, red earth under
the homeland pine
where children ran
chickens balked
wild cats stalked
where Grandma hung her clothes
let me rest there
and dream of better times
under her clothes line
where life’s sorrows
were placed in
a canning jar
and buried there
under an Indian fire
a Scots-Irish desire
of buffalo nickels
and chicken wire

01/22/2025

Helene tore up these mountains in ways that none of us and none of our local ancestors had ever witnessed. She tore through lives, hillsides, old trees, well made roads, highways and bridges as if they were toothpicks.
A farmer knows that the roots of a plant are prepared for new life. I think we have all seen that the Appalachian people are connected to the roots of these mountains. And I for one, could not be more proud to say my family has all been here for 200 to 300 years.
Tomorrow night a group of us will be singing some old ballads from here in the mountains. Most of them came over from Europe and were continued to be passed down from generation to generation through our oral tradition. Come to the White Horse Black Mountain in Black Mountain and join with your community to see the strength of the ages in song. I'll be there with some of my dear friends. Entry is a donation which will be split with the community and us musicians. I may not be able to get out there and pull stuff out of the way, but I can give you what I have been given from my ancestors. Let's keep showing Appalachia Strong!

12/10/2024

Momma Rhodes has been housing people who are here to work on the disaster of our area. In the meantime, my fellow ballad singers and musician friends have been performing to help raise needed funds for the area. This weekend we will be in Floyd, Va. You can tune in here: https://www.floydcountrystore.tv
Thank you to everyone who has cared about us!

Your home for Appalachian Music & Dance

10/10/2024

Momma Rhodes did not sustain any damage. All the trees are fine and so are the koi. The home has some friends moving in next week who are displaced. It is good to have a resource at times like this. You all be careful out there and take good care.

10/04/2024

https://www.wowktv.com/national-news/blue-ridge-parkway-to-be-closed-indefinitely-national-park-service-says/?utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=referral&fbclid=IwY2xjawFsyDJleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHXZ0Yfam-zZ1_SWsnKRnYQhX6eRppDwI1R51PsRZMPM5DLXapHz9xettbw_aem_36g2BZw2ZQ8IEjvd8BMP6Q

It comes right as the region – and road – typically sees a boom in usage as weather cools and the leaves change colors.