Saro Lynch-Thomason

Saro Lynch-Thomason (she/her) is a singer and educator working within a variety of traditional genres, though she focuses primarily on balladry. “Ballads are a distinctive style of narrative song that crystallized in Europe in the Middle Ages,” Saro explains, “the form and literary techniques of which have remained much the same in succeeding centuries. My practice as a ballad singer is chiefly informed by the genre's usage in historic Appalachian communities, with singing communities in Western North Carolina serving as my main influence.” Saro has studied with Sheila Kay Adams, the late Bobby McMillon, and other members of the Western North Carolina ballad-singing community, learning through the traditional “knee-to-knee” method and absorbing the songs’ important social functions—“from fostering debates on morals and ethics, to expressing personal grief and conflict”—along with their lyrics.

Saro’s repertoire also includes other singing traditions from in and around Central Appalachia, such as Shaker songs, shape-note singing, and work and protest songs from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. “Traditional songs expand a singer’s understandings of the beliefs and lifeways of past peoples, creating broader perspectives on contemporary issues,” she says. “I've also found these genres to be an innate tool to advocate for social change and conveying strategies of resistance.”

Saro has a Bachelor’s degree from Bard College and an MA in Appalachian Studies from East Tennessee State University, where she completed her Master’s thesis about the gendered experiences of women ballad singers. She is dedicated to educating others about the music that she loves through delivering workshops around the country; planning community singing events near her home in Asheville; and her ongoing YouTube series, Songs that Speak, supported by her Patreon subscribers and an Emerging Artists Grant from the Country Dance and Song Society.

Saro will also use her Emerging Traditional Artists Program award to support Songs that Speak, by purchasing new equipment and taking courses on how to grow her online presence. “Making this series is an opportunity for me to take deep dives into the historical backgrounds of traditional songs and to explore the questions and common experiences which the songs evoke,” Saro says. “My hope is that this series can maintain the interest of people who already have a love of traditional song, but also attract audiences who have interests in the related topics I explore, from European folklore to social justice history, serving as a venue for new fans of historical song genres.”