MOUNTAIN BORN was recorded in 1995, 50 years into Jean Ritchie's influential folk career. Many of the songs that the then 72-year-old singer recorded here are ballads that she learned while growing up with 13 siblings in a cabin in the Kentucky mountains. Her two sons provide sturdy backing vocals and a range of instruments to the recording. Ritchie describes her music as "traditional Appalachian," and the texture of MOUNTAIN BORN is tinged with fiddle, dulcimer, and pedal steel. On the title track, Ritchie recalls the verdant days of her youth, singing "my parents gave me country manners and the mountains for my friends." The sparsely arranged track "Barley Bright" highlights Ritchie's mastery of the dulcimer. The light and memorable "Loving Hannah" even contains a melody line that seems drawn from Irish folk. Indeed, it's the surprising musical variety of MOUNTAIN BORN that makes it most endearing.

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MOUNTAIN BORN was recorded in 1995, 50 years into Jean Ritchie's influential folk career. Many of the songs that the then 72-year-old singer recorded here are ballads that she learned while growing up with 13 siblings in a cabin in the Kentucky mountains. Her two sons provide sturdy backing vocals and a range of instruments to the recording. Ritchie describes her music as "traditional Appalachian," and the texture of MOUNTAIN BORN is tinged with fiddle, dulcimer, and pedal steel. On the title track, Ritchie recalls the verdant days of her youth, singing "my parents gave me country manners and the mountains for my friends." The sparsely arranged track "Barley Bright" highlights Ritchie's mastery of the dulcimer. The light and memorable "Loving Hannah" even contains a melody line that seems drawn from Irish folk. Indeed, it's the surprising musical variety of MOUNTAIN BORN that makes it most endearing.