Before you leave...
Take 20% off your first order
20% off
Enter the code below at checkout to get 20% off your first order
Discover summer reading lists for all ages & interests!
Find Your Next Read

Before radio. Before cinema. Before phonographs.
How did Eastern Kentucky entertain itself?
In Fiddles, Parlors & Camp Meetings, Joe Clark explores the rich and often overlooked entertainment culture of Eastern Kentucky during the 18th and 19th centuries.
From elegant courthouse balls and parlor music among wealthy townsfolk...
To barn dances, fiddle tunes, storytelling, and shooting matches in rural mountain hollows...
To the emotional spectacle of camp meetings and the cultural disruption of the Civil War...
To the arrival of railroads, medicine shows, and vaudeville...
This narrative history reveals a region far more vibrant than stereotypes suggest.
Drawing from historical records, newspapers, diaries, and documented scholarship, Clark reconstructs a world where entertainment was communal, participatory, and deeply rooted in identity.
This is not a story of isolation.
It is a story of gathering.
Perfect for readers interested in:
Appalachian history
American cultural history
Folk music traditions
Kentucky heritage
Social class and regional identity
Discover the laughter, music, faith, and spectacle that shaped Eastern Kentucky long before modern media arrived.
Thanks for subscribing!
This email has been registered!
Take 20% off your first order
Enter the code below at checkout to get 20% off your first order