It might only be the height of summer, but the Music In the Mountains Folk Festival will be here before you know it! Mark your calendar for Saturday, September 13, 2025, at Homeplace Beer Company & Hog Hollow Pizza in Burnsville, North Carolina.
While the committee is still finalizing the lineup, we’re thrilled to announce our first workshop offering for this year, “Singing Your Truth: How to Find Your Voice” with Sarah “Songbird” Burkey. Experience her unique approach to vocal technique which meets you wherever you are in your singing and storytelling journey. Everyone from curious beginners to seasoned artists can benefit from this incomparable vocal artist. Sarah will demonstrate first-hand how our stories can teach us how to sing.
The workshop will begin at 2pm and run until 3:30. The fee is $35 per participant. Workshops are a great way for festival attendees to engage with performers in an intimate setting while learning and are great for those who are looking to participate in addition to watching the performances. Please register online at https://toeriverarts.org/
About Sarah “Songbird” Burkey
Sarah Elizabeth Burkey grew up in rural Kentucky, raised in and influenced by Appalachian, Indigenous, and Black cultures. Her childhood instilled in her a love of the land, traditional music & dance, storytelling, and creating things by hand, all of which became the foundation of her life’s work. Though college wasn’t part of her original plan, she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Campbellsville University, where she sang her first ballad in public. That moment created a connection to her heritage that would last a lifetime.
In the year 2000, she met Jean Ritchie, who became a mentor and encouraged her to embrace her Appalachian roots through song. A VHS of Sheila Kay Adams further deepened her passion, and after moving from Kentucky to Western North Carolina in 2013, she formed close bonds with Sheila Kay Adams and Bobby McMillon. For Ms. Burkey, ballads are timeless—they connect generations, foster community, and serve as a source of healing and inspiration.
Sarah Elizabeth Burkey, affectionately known as “Songbird” is a torchbearer. Her prolific songwriting and incomparable vocals have been featured in numerous films and over 19 albums including Door of the Moon, When the Redbuds Bloom, Don’t Die Yet, and Honeysuckle Vine. She has toured in 19 countries and earned an international reputation as an authentic voice for Roots Music.
As evidenced in her walk and talk, Ms. Burkey is deeply committed to the natural world and the continuation of traditional knowledge which is vital to cultural and environmental preservation. BarefootSongbird.com
