Sarah Bryan

Sarah Bryan, a UNC-trained folklorist (MA, 2003), has worked in the field of folklife documentation for more than a decade. Specializing in the cultural heritage of the American South, she has conducted documentary work for and with a variety of organizations including the North Carolina Folklife Institute, North Carolina Arts Council, and the Levine Museum of the New South.

Current projects:

With the North Carolina Arts Council, North Carolina Folklife Institute, and many musicians from Eastern North Carolina, writing African American Music Trails (working title), a visitor’s guide to exploring the region’s African American musical heritage.

For the North Carolina Folklife Institute (NCFI), conducting documentary fieldwork to identify traditional artists in the Uwharrie Mountain region of Montgomery, Stanly, Anson, and Davidson, and surrounding counties, in North Carolina. The project represents the current phase of NCFI’s Statewide Heritage Initiative.

For the South Carolina Arts Commission (SCAC), conducting folklife fieldwork to recognize tradition-bearers in the Pee Dee region of Chesterfield, Darlington, Lee, and Marlboro Counties, SC. The research is part of the inaugural phase of the SCAC’s Survey of South Carolina’s Tradition Bearers.

Editor, Old-Time Herald

Executive Director, Old-Time Music Group

The Old-Time Herald is a six-times-a-year magazine about old-time string band music, from or in the traditions of the American South. Published by the nonprofit Old-Time Music Group, the OTH was founded in 1987 in Galax, Virginia, by Alice Gerrard. Now based in Durham, North Carolina, we are celebrating our 25th year of publication.

Recent publications:

“Bless Her Heart,” an essay in Never a Pal Like Mother: Vintage Songs and Photographs of the One Who’s Always True, a 2011 book-and-two-CD set on the Dust-to-Digital label.

Moon North Carolina,  a 2010 travel guide to the state of North Carolina, in Avalon Travel’s international Moon Handbooks series.

Moon North Carolina Coast, a 2010 travel guide to Eastern North Carolina, in the Moon Spotlight series from Avalon Travel.

Click here for more publications.

Collector of vintage snapshots and vernacular portraits, blogging at Everyday Ago.

Photographs from the collection have recently appeared in:

Talking Pictures: Images and Messages Rescued from the Past, by Ransom Riggs, forthcoming (spring 2012) from Harper Collins imprint It Books.

Never a Pal Like Mother: Vintage Songs and Photographs of the One Who’s Always True, a 2011 Dust-to-Digital release with text by Rosanne Cash and Sarah Bryan.

“Artist Unknown/The Free World,” a 2010/2011 exhibition organized by Oliver Wasow and John D. Monteith at the Art and Culture Center of Hollywood (Florida).