State

Fronk Proffit— a phofo by Jim Kcitb. It was by unusual good fortune that 1 found Frank Noah Proffitt so quickly. 1 had driven over 15 miles of twist¬ ing road, heading southwest from Boone in Watauga County, in search of this man who is well known to col¬ lectors of recorded authentic folk music. His fame has spread with the recent surge of interest in folk music. Across the land, on college campuses and in big-city night clubs, folk music is the rage. Frank Proffitt's flat, deep voice can be heard on Folkway Records. Yet he is largely unknown in his own state, especially outside the mountains. Before leaving the state highway I had been told that Frank Proffitt lived "up and over the gap.” not very’ explicit directions. Finally, after vir¬ tually watching the taillight of my car follow me around a succession of hair¬ pin curves, 1 saw a man chopping wood. Tall and I .can The man was tall, lean and leathery, clad in overalls. Did he know Frank Proffitt, the folk singer? The man put down his ax. "I'm Frank Proffitt," he said. THE STATE, млясн 30. 1963 Together, this friendly man and I. we walked up the road, across a small footbridge over a mountain stream and up to his house, a modest six-room frame dwelling he built a dozen years ago. Proffitt explained that he was clearing timber in order to build a new’ house. The Proffitts have six children, four of them still at home, and would like more room. Proffitt is 49. l ie has been a moun¬ tain man all his life and has no long¬ ing to be anything else. As a small boy he moved with his family across the ridge from Tennessee. His under¬ standing of the mountain people, his ability to play a banjo or dulcimer, and his singing voice make him an authentic folk singer. I !e has little regard for the so-called professional hillbilly singers. Of such singers. Proffitt has said. “They're not mountain men. They don’t care about tradition.” Proffitt is soft-spoken and modest. He is articulate, however. He answers questions fully and easily, seeming to anticipate what a visitor wants to know. As far as the outside world is con- A Proflit Not Without Honor Hut this folk singer, pop¬ ular abroad, is little kuoun in \ortli Carolina. By JIM KEITH cerncd. the Frank Proffitt story proba¬ bly began in 1938 when a folk singer named Frank Warner came down from New York to visit the Appalachians and hear authentic folk singers. War¬ ner met Proffitt and the two struck up an enduring friendship. “Tom Dub” Among the songs that Proffitt sang for Warner was one called “Tom Dula," later to become famous as "Tom Dooley.” In turn it catapulted the Kingston Trio to fame. But Frank Warner, too, helped popularize this song that Frank Proffitt had learned from his father. Wiley Proffitt. Warner introduced Frank Proffitt to the world outside the Appalachians. He arranged for tape recordings of Proffitt's playing and singing. Some of the recording was done right here in the mountains, on a portable ma¬ chine. Together they sang at the Chi¬ cago University Folk Festival in 1961. and twice Proffitt has been a guest at Folk Music Week in Massachusetts. Proffitt has recorded three albums of authentic folk music. Recently, Time magazine carried his picture in an ar¬ ticle on folk-singing. Proffitt knows dozens of songs. He has written many others, most of them (Continual on раце 26) 15