When Mike Seeger passed away at his home in Lexington on Aug. 7, America lost more than a great singer and entertainer. The country lost one of its great cultural treasures. There was no doubt that Mike was an accomplished musician, seemingly able to pick up any stringed instrument and play it better than anyone else. Then there was that voice that not only reminded his audience of another time and place, but seemed actually to transport them back to that other time and place. Mike Seeger did not just sing old-time American music, he was its very embodiment.

During the presidential race, the stereotype of Appalachia once again reared its ugly head. The national media could not resist taking yet another potshot at the last place they can slander without penalty. The region’s embrace of Hillary Clinton over Barack Obama in the primaries had to be based upon racism, the conclusion went, although many Northern state and city polls showed that race was a determining factor at a higher rate there than in the mountains.