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MARK FLANAGAN GO STAFF

In the hills of Kentucky and Virginia in the days before radio, there was front-porch music. And there was front-porch music brought to a level of artistry by unschooled virtuosos like Addie Graham and Uncle Charlie Osborne.

Undiscovered by commercial labels, singer Graham and fiddler Osborne were recorded by June Appal Recordings, a division of Appalshop, a non-profit arts and education center in Whitesburg, Ky., in the late 1970s.

The two, both born in the late 19th century, have since passed away. Classics to the oldtime music cult, the recordings - Graham's "Been A Long Time Traveling" and "Uncle Charlie Osborne" - became hard to find and, on vinyl platters only, hard to play.

Thanks to the Appalshop Archive's audio preservation and grant support, the albums have been remastered and rereleased on CD, with several previously unreleased tracks added to each. Extensive notes are included by Rich Kirby, Graham's grandson, who was introduced to her singing as a 3-year-old sitting on her lap, and Tommy Bledsoe, who had a long association with Osborne. "His distinctive bowing style and repertoire make him an important part of Southwest Virginia's musical history," writes Bledsoe of Osborne, who fiddled for more than 90 years. "His cheerful outlook and infectious laugh made his music a delight. Charlie was a good neighbor. After hearing his music, you'll feel like he was yours too."

Would that you had a neighbor who could turn tunes like "Old Dan Tucker," "Ida Red," or "Old Joe Clark" into masterpieces, then reel off a knee-slapping story about preachers in Hell.

Graham spins a good tale as well and has a unique piano-playing style (folk piano?). She is at her finest as an a capella singer. Her "We're Stole and Sold from Africa" and Old Regular Baptist hymns are unforgettable.

While June Appal is publishing the old music again, its release of "Cold Icy Mountain" by Brett Ratliff affirms that new artists are still making music like Graham and Osborne used to.

Based in Van Lear, Ky., Ratliff is a polished multi-instrumentalist who presents his 17 cuts with the utmost respect for the oldtimers who handed the music down to him. His music is far from New Age, yet you might wonder if he is channeling the spirit of Banjo Bill Cornett, who died in the 1950s, when he performs "Born in East Kentucky," learned from a Cornett recording and played on Cornett's Bacon Beaumont banjo. Not to be missed is his "Last Payday at Coal Creek," a commemoration of a mining disaster that took 216 lives.

The Graham and Osborne recordings belong in the collections of any serious fans of oldtime music from the Southern Highlands. And it appears likely that the elevation of Ratliff's "Cold Icy Mountain" to the ranks of classics is only a matter of time.

JUNE APPAL RECORDINGS is at 91 Madison Ave., Whitesburg, KY 41858. Online: appalshop.org.