English professor Sherry Cook Stanforth, as a member of the Tellico Family Band, took part in the virtual Fraley Festival of Traditional Music in September 2020. This Kentucky heritage event takes place every year and typically draws people from all over the country. For 2020, Carter Caves State Resort Park hosted the event as a livestream to their Facebook page.

Professor Stanforth sings a ballad called “Once I Had a Sweetheart.” This Anglo-Irish piece is a haunting rendition of the sorrow of separation and has documentation of performances as far back as the mid-1700s.  Joan Baez sang it, as well as Annie McPhee, a longtime Fraley Festival balladeer.  McPhee is the inspiration for Stanforth’s own version of the ballad.

To view the entire program, CLICK HERE to visit the Fraley Festival YouTube channel.