In 2009, the North Carolina Arts Council commissioned me to create an audio piece on war stories from Happy Valley NC. The client  1) wanted at least four stories about the Revolutionary War and the Civil War as they were experienced in Happy Valley and 2) wanted these stories to be told by people who were either from Happy Valley or who were closely connected to the area in some way.

All of these stories were to be included in the same piece of audio with no narration. Any music had to be from a musician who was either from Happy Valley or elsewhere in Caldwell County NC. (Etta Baker was from Caldwell County.) Below is a short edit of what I produced for the client. All the stories in the edited piece below are about the Civil War.

The people telling their family stories are, in order, John Coffey, Eliza Bishop and Effley Howell.