Maggie Hammons was born at the
turn of the 20th Century in Pocahontas County, in the southeastern
highlands of West Virginia. Her family had lived in various parts of Appalachia
for generations. And although Maggie would live part of her life in Cleveland,
Ohio, before returning to West Virginia, she and her kin carried forward an
earlier pioneer culture, with its own musical, agricultural, and other
traditions. Dwight Diller and others learned from the Hammons family, and
documented their music and a wealth of other lore, starting in the late 1960’s.
Gail Hatton has spent a lot of
time learning and singing the traditional songs which were collected from the
Hammons family, particularly the ballads of Maggie Hammons. With Dwight Diller,
her husband Russ Hatton, and others, she has been working on "The Hammons
Legacy," a project aimed at making Hammons family music more accessible. She
taught with Dwight at Augusta's Vocal Week in 2004 and has also been teaching
banjo and voice at Dwight's own music camps. Gail has recently recorded a CD of
Maggie Hammons' ballads.