Hosted by eighth-generation ballad singer Donna Ray Norton, and featuring Sheila Kay Adams, Leila Weinstein, Sarah “Songbird” Burkey, and Darci DeWulf, this event will celebrate the haunting and beautiful ballads passed down for generations in southern Appalachia.

This performance comes from Madison County, North Carolina, once described by folk song collector Cecil Sharp as a “nest of singing birds.” After Hurricane Helene’s devastation of their hometown, the group has been traveling with their ballad swap to raise awareness of both the fragility of this centuries-old tradition and the resilience of the region that sustains it.

The Nest of Singing Birds has been featured in Rolling Stone (March 2025) and Oxford American (Dec 2023), earning national recognition for their work preserving this vital piece of Appalachian culture.

For more information and to purchase tickets visit Love & Murder A Capella: A Nest of Singing Birds Ballad Swap Concert - The Birthplace of Country Music