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This talented musician from Calhoun County started playing her brother’s homemade banjo at age 10, even though he didn’t want her to. Her brother, Noah, was also a well-known musician.
After getting married in 1928, Phoeba stopped playing music for a while. But in the 1960s, she picked up the banjo again. In 1975, she won the banjo contest at the West Virginia State Folk Festival. A year later, she performed in Washington, D.C., at the Festival of American Folklife.
Phoeba was known for her old-time banjo style, singing, storytelling, riddles, and dancing. In 1987, she received the Vandalia Award, the highest honor for folk artists in West Virginia. She said, “Nobody showed me nothing, [but] I learned a lot of people how to play.”
This Exhibit has 8 Sections
This Exhibit has 21 Sections
