Jean Ritchie came from a large musical
family in Viper, Kentucky.  After college,  she moved to New York City where she joined the thriving folk scene along with Alan Lomax, Pete Seeger, and many more. She shared the songs of her youth, sometimes playing her dulcimer, an Appalachian stringed instrument. Her collection of traditional folk songs was so impressive and vast that she became known as the Mother of Folk.