Appalachia in the Bluegrass Series: Ella Webster

Ella Webster is a songwriter, studio musician, and performer in folk, Kentucky old time, Bluegrass, rock and Americana genres. Her work addresses womanhood, grief, a sense of place, Kentucky, heritage, preserving her grandfather’s songwriting, and preserving traditional Kentucky old time fiddle tunes.

She tours nationally with Cole Chaney, has played with the Local Honeys, and the indie act Nari. She has been featured on many country, bluegrass, and old time recordings including The Local Honeys “The Gospel.” She is from Lexington, but her grandparents are from Pikeville. She was raised in the east Kentucky old time music community and was mentee to Pike County fiddler Jimmy McCown. She is a young woman who is a primary tradition bearer of East Kentucky fiddle music.

Concerts presented as part of “Appalachia in the Bluegrass” are free and open to the public and begin weekly at noon on Fridays, in the Niles Gallery of the John Jacob Niles Center for American Music, located at the University of Kentucky’s Lucille C. Little Fine Arts and Design Library.

An annual series, “Appalachia in the Bluegrass” celebrates the old-time roots of American folk music, while simultaneously representing a variety of different musical expressions, featuring performances by noted Appalachian soloists, duos and groups. The “Appalachia in the Bluegrass” concert series is sponsored by the John Jacob Niles Center for American Music, the Appalachian Studies Program, and the Appalachian Center of the University of Kentucky.