Sheila Kay Adams
| Sheila Kay Adams | |
|---|---|
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Sheila Kay Adams |
| Born | March 18, 1953 |
| Origin | Sodom Laurel, Marshall, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Genres | Traditional, Old-time music, Storytelling |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, Ballad, singer-songwriter, Storyteller |
| Instruments | Vocals, banjo, guitar |
| Years active | 1970-present |
| Associated acts | Jim Taylor |
| Website | www |
Sheila Kay Adams is an American storyteller, author, and musician from the Sodom Laurel community in Madison County, North Carolina.
Adams was named among eight North Carolina artists to receive the 2016 North Carolina Heritage Award for outstanding contributions to the state’s cultural heritage.
In 2013, Adams was one of nine individuals to receive a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.
In 1998 Adams received the Brown Hudson Award from the North Carolina Folklore Society in recognition of her valuable contributions to the study of North Carolina folk traditions.
A seventh-generation ballad singer, storyteller, and claw-hammer banjo player, Sheila Kay Adams was born and raised in the Sodom Laurel community of Madison County, North Carolina, an area renowned for its unbroken tradition of unaccompanied singing of traditional southern Appalachian ballads that dates back to the early Scots/Irish and English Settlers in the mid-17th century.
Adams learned to sing from her great-aunt Dellie Chandler Norton and other notable singers in the community such as, Dillard Chandler and the Wallin Family (including NEA National Heritage Fellow Doug Wallin). She began performing in public in her teens and, throughout her career she has performed at festivals, events, music camps, and workshops around this country and the United Kingdom.
In 1975, Adams graduated from Mars Hill College. In 2003 she was named Alumna of the Year and later received a LifeWorks recognition in appreciation for her shared commitment to service and responsibility, presented at the college's LifeWorks 150 Alumni Celebration in April 2007.
After teaching in the North Carolina public schools for seventeen years, Adams turned to full-time music and storytelling.
Adams performs ballads from English, Scottish, and Irish traditions as she learned them from her ancestors, as well as innovating other tunes with a signature drop-thumb clawhammer style on the five-string banjo, an ability which has won her recognition and awards, Adams' extensive knowledge of balladry has also been featured in National Public Radio's The Thistle & Shamrock program with Fiona Ritchie.
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