This story originally appeared in the Charleston Daily Mail on August 27, 2014. RIPLEY — Dwayne Freeman makes his moonshine almost the same way as the old-timers. He uses big sacks of corn and a kettle connected to shiny copper lines. There are a few minor differences,…
This story originally appeared in the Charleston Daily Mail on Wednesday, August 27, 2014. RIPLEY — Dwayne Freeman makes his moonshine almost the same way as the old-timers. He uses big sacks of corn and a kettle connected to shiny copper lines. There are a few minor differences,…
This story originally appeared in the November/December 2015 issue of West Virginia Focus magazine. Imagine your great-great-great-grandpa rambling down some cobblestone street, out on the town with his buddies. They bust through swinging doors into a dark saloon, step past the tables and brass spittoons, and belly up to the…
This story originally appeared in the May/June 2015 issue of West Virginia Focus. West Virginia’s secret government warehouse isn’t quite what I thought it would be. It was easily visible from the interstate, although I suppose that could be part of a hiding-in-plainsight strategy. Driving…
This story was originally published in the Charleston Daily Mail on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2014. My conversation with songwriter Todd Snider started off pretty normal. Normal, at least, considering Snider’s confessed love of psychedelic drugs. We talked about Snider’s upcoming appearance on this Sunday’s “Mountain…
This story was originally published July 3, 2014 in the Charleston Daily Mail. There aren’t too many living people who can say their songs are in hymn books, but James Easter is one of them. His song “Thank You Lord For Your Blessings on Me,”…