The Mountain Folk

If you ever grew up near Appalachia, or even happen to drive through a speak to a local, you’d often hear strange instructions about what is and isn’t recommended. You might see people doing odd things like using copper to find water, making homemade medicines, or telling eerie stories about what happens at night. The Mountain Folk in Suncatchers have allll that know-how, and boy you’d be better off listening to Momma Playtus than just goin’ off on yer own.

Inspired by the Melungeon people of Appalachia, the Mountain Folk are a blended world, filled with rich traditions, folklore, and beautiful music. Much like the Free Beings, the Mountain Folk are an expression of humanness - and unfortunately forgotten about, too. Forced to leave their home, the Mountain Folk eventually settled north near the Opal Observatory as it was familiar.

I think the Mountain Folk are my deepest love letter to Appalachia. Having spent my childhood just south of the mountains in East Alabama, the ways of Appalachia were surprisingly similar to poor families in the Deep South. I often see these two places intertwined: poverty, hardship, ignored by most of the country, seen as dirty. But moreso, magical, utilitarian, optimistic, relentless, gritty, and the very definition of resilience. I remember listening to my grandmother play the lap dulcimer and even now, I can’t be around mountain music too long or else I end up a puddle.

There’s healing when you watch the places most overlooked.