Cap and Viola Hicks

My first view of Cap was behind a mule in his tobacco field. I wished I’d had my camera available. What a picture that would have made. He stopped plowing and came to the fence where I pulled up and stood. I introduced myself and told him I was collecting music around the area. He told me to come to supper, and he and Viola would sing for me. I was staying with Edd and Nettie Presnell at their home on Beach Mountain, NC. They lived at the end of the road. If you tried to drive any further, you’d fall off the mountain. Edd made fabulous lap dulcimers. I have his #125, solid cherry, concert size model. When I was there collecting music, he said I should see Cap and Viola Hicks. For those of you who are not familiar with the name Hicks, you may remember the name Ray Hicks. He was the teller of Jack Tales, so famous in the mountain community and known to all serious mountain storytellers. Ray’s house was just down the road from Edd’s house. his is what raw recording in someone’s home sounds like.