Community

Legacy Continued: Reflecting on the Success of the Korn Kutters' CD Release

This past fall, nine students, including me, from the Handmade Music School collaborated with the Field Recorders’ Collective and the Old Church Gallery, and were supported by the Virginia Humanities to create a CD of the 1970 and 1980s Floyd band, Korn Kutters.

Members of Floyd's Handmade Music School dress in 1970s clothing for the Korn Kutters Tribute and CD Release Party in March. Photo submitted

By Rochelle Grim, 12-year-old student of the Handmade Music School

Anyone who missed the highly anticipated Korn Kutters CD release party and tribute in March can now enjoy the celebration for free online through the Floyd Country Store’s streaming service, www.FloydCountryStore.TV.

This CD-making project highlighted students and teachers from the Handmade Music School, volunteers from the Old Church Gallery, members of the Field Recorders’ Collective, and a supportive crew of family and community members. Two hours of the tribute event's best moments on Saturday, March 7, can be viewed here.

For those unfamiliar with the project: This past fall, nine students, including me, from the Handmade Music School collaborated with the Field Recorders’ Collective and the Old Church Gallery, and were supported by the Virginia Humanities to create a CD of the 1970 and 1980s Floyd band, Korn Kutters, that had never recorded any of their music to sell to the public. We conducted interviews, learned how to select art and music for a CD, and learned how to plan and market an event. To celebrate the completion of our six-month project, we hosted a community-centered CD release and musical tribute party at the Floyd Country Store.

For weeks our Korn Kutter’s team planned the “feel” of the night from time-period attire and curated food, to stage decor and comfortable layout. Guests at the March 7 party may have noticed the Floyd Country Store felt like a living room — that was intentional. We had vintage furniture, original paintings (see the CD’s background) from the original living room where the Korn Kutters were recorded by the Library of Congress in 1978, a student-made bunting, and warm lighting, all to resemble a welcoming living room.

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The Korn Kutters were beloved musicians at dances and fund-raising events, but were most fondly remembered as a living-room band; friends and family gathering on Saturday nights to play music together. That is what we captured at our party!

The Korn Kutters dressed sharply for events, even for living room gatherings, wearing ties and pressed shirts. The wives were legendary for their hospitality. We celebrated that spirit by dressing up in 1970s clothing. I personally had a great time sporting my great-grandmother’s dress and serving themed foods. We had biscuits with fresh jam, homemade cookies, lemonade (a drink said to have been served at Korn Kutters’ gatherings), and milk for the cookies because most of the Korn Kutters were dairy farmers. Lastly, we had to serve popcorn because you can't have a Korn Kutters event without corn on the menu!

We also had a student and teacher-curated memorabilia table including student art and collages, Korn Kutters’ original instruments, band member bios, 1950s songbooks, 8-tracks and cassette tapes of their music (recorded by Maurice Slusher and by wives of the band members) and even student-designed Korn Kutters bobble-head figures.

At the party guests heard music and stories from Handmade Music School students and the tribute band, as all celebrated the arrival of the new Field Recorders’ Collective CD celebrating Floyd’s own Korn Kutters. And yes, expressing “thank you” along the way, starting with the Field Recorders’ Collective for helping share the Korn Kutters’ music with the world.

Four students from the Handmade Music School were the MCs for the night. They led in sharing with the audience the story of how the Korn Kutters – all of whom were dedicated to Floyd County farming – impacted our community. Every student also got the chance to share what they learned through this project, and our Korn Kutters tribute band – George S. Slusher, Mac Traynham, Andy Buckman, and Phil Woodall – shared their music. George S. Slusher was our musical curator and the storyteller for the night, which was fitting as he is a relative of two original Korn Kutters and was vital to this project in supplying and organizing the original recorded music.

**The Korn Kutter tribute band with descendants of original band members, including Janet Keith (front).** Photo submitted

All of the songs performed by the students and tribute band highlighted the musical selections on the CD. Throughout the night many different guests played with the tribute band, including descendants of original members, Devin Keith and Michael Williams, and a special solo by Janet Keith, daughter of Korn Kutter member Freeman Slusher.

Of course we had dancing as the Korn Kutters were known countywide as a dance band. Their joy in playing dance music naturally drew audiences. They were favorites at Ruritan shows and Fourth of July celebrations. The Korn Kutters always played for free for local groups holding dances as fund raisers. Dancing even inspired homemade dancing dolls such as Willard Clower’s limberjack doll, Olive Oyle, a gourd-topped doll he made and Willard’s wife dressed (see inside CD cover). On Saturday evening we continued the dancing spirit and good humor of the Korn Kutters. Each of us students got to design our own dancing dolls during this project, and our younger siblings got to demonstrate our dolls dancing and keeping time to the music.

Though this project evolved to include many skills and related side projects, it all started as a CD-making project. The process of making a CD included learning about reel-to-reel recordings, observing and conducting interviews, and making song and art selections. The CD included Korn Kutters’ music from the 1960s and 1970s, banter from band members, clips from the interviews we conducted, and an iconic welcome at a live,1970s performance in which the MC heralded, “Ladies and gentlemen, the Korn Kutters!” Though 75 CDs were made accessible for purchase at the CD release party, they sold out before the end of the night, and there are already orders in for more.

During the event, everyone was excited. It was really special to see guests noticing and enjoying all the small details. Three daughters of Korn Kutters attended the party: Janet Keith (Freeman Slusher), Frances Lee (Ivan Weddle), and Donna Welch (Willard Clower). They all agreed that their fathers "would have been surprised about being rediscovered, humbled by the attention given to them and their music, and so very pleased that young people are appreciating and enjoying their music."

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Truly, I don’t think it could have turned out any better than it did. From fantastic music and lively storytelling to the excitement of debuting a unique CD, the night was magical. If you have never had the amazing feeling of holding in your hands for the first time something that you had worked hard on for 26 weeks, I can only tell you that it is truly wonderful! At the end of the night, I felt sad that such an amazing project was over, yet I felt exhilarated from the entire experience and most of all, ecstatic about how perfect the night had turned out. I think the tribute band felt the same as they hung out on stage for a long time, enjoying the living room setting. We joked that the stage should stay set up that way forever.

The HMS students and the tribute band played “Home Sweet Home” together to end the night, and we chose to conclude the CD the same way. Janet Keith had shared, “When ‘Home Sweet Home’ was played, we all knew it was the signal to say our goodbyes and go home.”

One quote from George S. Slusher became iconic during this project when he endearingly shared about the Korn Kutters:

“They liked what they did, and they knew they were playing good music. None of them were doing it for money or glory. They were friends; they liked being together; and they liked to play music. When you get that combination, you can’t beat it.”

We agree with that, you can’t beat that combination, and that is just what we had at our party! Good friends and family gathered together for great music, none of us looking for money or glory, just the joy that comes from music and friendship.

Special thank yous to: Emmerson Brantingham, Analiese Hess, Aaron Hess, Gideon Farmer, Olivia Woodruff, Misha Machsweeney, Scarlett Mills, Rylah Grim, Rochelle Grim; All the Students’ parents, George Slusher, Andy Buckman, Phil Woodall, Mac Traynham, Heather Krantz, Morgan Grim, Kyler Stanley, Dylan Locke, Jared Boyd, Sue Bibeau, Alice Slusher, Janet Keith, Melinda Wagner, Frances Lee, Leigh McKagen, Field Recorders Collective, Virginia Humanities, the Old Church Gallery, Traci and Oscar Elliot.