Donna Ray Norton is no stranger to the musical community of Western North Carolina. She’s an 8th generation ballad singer who grew up in the legendary Sodom community of Madison County, a county which folklorist Cecil Sharp likened to “a nest of singing birds.” Her grandfather was Byard Ray, a fiddler, and singer who took his style of mountain music across the globe. Her mother, Lena Jean Ray, carried on the Ray musical legacy. We sat down with Donna Ray to learn more about her new album, her background, and what the music means to her.
Carol Rifkin is excited to host Donna Ray Norton, who has a new release of Appalachian a cappella songs, Forevermore I’ll Sing. Donna Ray hails from Revere, a.k.a. Sodom Laurel, in Madison County, NC. She is an 8th-generation singer, the granddaughter of famed fiddler Byard Ray, daughter of singer Lena Jean Ray (and cousin of singer/storyteller Sheila Kay Adams.) She’s known for the extensive trove of ballads she’s collected over the years, and has shared them at countless venues across Appalachia as well as Washington, D.C. for the 50th annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival.