Judd Wants Pocahontas To Be The Home of Old Time Music

I caught up with long-time Pocahontas poet Kirk Judd at the 2024 Pioneer Days celebration in Marlinton.  We spoke as contestants were performing during the third annual Hammons Family Fiddle and Banjo contest. Judd says the county is very special to him.

“Pocahontas County has had a place in my heart since the early 70’s,” said Judd. “I fell in love with it then and I’ve come back ever since.  I was out there on the river with the Hammons family and the Bings when they were out there playing music. I met Sherman [Hammons] in ’71 and I was just amazed by him, so I kept going back and visiting him every chance I got for 17 years until he died in ’88.  We were friends and I really valued that.”

Later on, in the 90s, Judd became a founding member of Allegheny Echoes, along with Mike Bing.

“That was the idea that Mike and I had,” he said. “We went to the Vandalia Gathering and we went to Augusta; it just wasn’t celebrating West Virginia artists, the real old-time stuff and we just said, well, let’s do it ourselves.”

“So, we started Allegheny Echoes and never, never, was any place else considered.  Snowshoe is where we started, they gave us some time to go up there and they treated us pretty well when we left there. They got a little too big for our britches after about 7 years, so we moved down to the Motor Inn [in Marlinton] and we’ve been there ever since, and all-around town here.  And people have treated us just wonderfully here.”

Allegheny Echoes is a yearly week-long event with classes in everything from fiddle to banjo to poetry to acapella singing and it’s all focused on old time music.  Judd says Marlinton seems like the perfect home for this type of music.

“Nashville is country music, so why not Marlinton for Old Time music,” said Judd. “You’ve got the downtown area that’s got all these beautiful old buildings; you’ve got the music here and everyone can feel it. [It] would be a perfect place for a center for old time music.  There’s not one in the United States.”

Judd says engaging younger musicians is critical to keeping this music alive.

“It’s not just learning the tunes, it’s learning how to feel about playing the tunes, and how to feel about the music whatever that is,” he said. “Some of the kids who started out with us are now instructors [like] Steven Casto, Ben Davis.  We’ve created some monsters out there and that’s really gratifying.”

“But the basic premise has stayed the same, hand it down one-to-one and just offer it out there, and if you’re interested, pick it up and go with it.”

And if the number of young musicians participating in the Hammons Family Fiddle and Banjo contest is any indication, Kirk and Mike are well on their way to claiming Pocahontas County as the rightful home of Old Time Music.