Bereans for Appalachia (BFA) is a group of students gathered for love of the mountains, in close ties with the Loyal Jones Appalachian Center. Since its revival last semester, the group has affirmed its mission to make a stand for Appalachia's environment and expose students to more cultural events from the region here in Berea. Whether planting trees on a reclaimed mountaintop removal site or bringing in musicians for the BFA concert series, the group shows that Appalachia has not been forgotten by its youth and is still a special place worthy of honor and preservation.

BFA concerts this year have brought a wealth of mountain music old and new before Berea College students. Each concert has filled the Appalachian Center's cozy gallery with wide eyed students who are moved by the ancient lonesome sounds of the fiddle and banjo, current songs written for these expanding hills or the music that falls somewhere between.

Last semester BFA began its concert series with the sweet harmonies of local Berea stringband Sugar Tree, followed by activist powerhouse band Two Thirds Goat, and concluded the semester with the global rhythms of Appalatin.

Last week, BFA brought the campus a true taste of Appalachia's folk roots with Anna Roberts-Gevalt and Elizabeth LaPrelle, two remarkable young women living in the lap of the region's music. Between their heartwrenching ballads, faithful fiddle and banjo tunes, stories and artwork, the two showed that homemade art in Appalachia has no bounds in its beauty or its making, whether it comes through a needle and thread or a song straight from the chest.

Along with their voices and instruments, Anna and Elizabeth brought the product of their many hours work, the handmade quilted illustrations they call "crankies." There was a song and a story for each crankie, told in the rich colors and texture of the calicos, batiks, and linens the two had sewn. The old songs, including "The Devil's Nine Questions," "The Cruel Mother," "Lord Bateman," and others took on new life alongside this breathtaking artwork. According to Anna, crankies aren't a "linear tradition" in the mountains but the quilts and their stories certainly owe their life to the voices who went before.

For BFA's next concert, the Appalachian Center will host a CD release party and concert for Berea student and Blue Ridge folksinger Sam Gleaves' new record, A Little While in the Wilderness. Sam will perform the traditional mountain material from the record alongside his new written songs, joined by his fellow Berea picking pals. Please join us for this special evening on Thursday February 9 at 7 p.m.