Martin Douglas Wallin (July 30, 1919 – March 15, 2000) was a ballad singer and fiddler born in
Madison County, North Carolina
Madison County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 21,193. Its county seat is Marshall. Madison County is part of the Asheville, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area.
History
The co ...
, and a recipient of a 1989
North Carolina Heritage Award
The North Carolina Heritage Award is an annual award given out by the North Carolina Arts Council, an agency of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, in recognition of traditional artists from the U.S. state of North Caro ...
.
Biography
A member of the Wallin Family, Wallin's parents, father Lee and mother Berzilla, were singers; Lee also played the fiddle and banjo and Doug's younger brother Jack plays banjo, fiddle, and guitar. His song selection and style respectfully reflected the Wallins' long family heritage. His singing was unusually refined, characteristically rendered with subtlety, precision, and a silent passion. His extensive repertoire was made up of centuries-old ballads and songs, many of which were of British ancestry, which he learned from members of his family and the mountain community he grew up in; he particularly favored love ballads, which he sang without instrumental accompaniment. Wallin often played the tune of a ballad on the fiddle before singing the words, or added a fiddled refrain between verses. Like his singing, his fiddling was straightforward and traditional, emphasizing the simple beauty of each song's melody.
He performed at several music festivals, including the Mountain Heritage Festival at
Bascom Lamar Lunsford
Bascom Lamar Lunsford (March 21, 1882 – September 4, 1973) was a folklorist, performer of traditional Appalachian music, and lawyer from western North Carolina. He was often known by the nickname "Minstrel of the Appalachians."
Biography
...
Festival at
Mars Hill, North Carolina
Mars Hill is a town in Madison County, North Carolina, Madison County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 1,869 at the 2010 U.S. Census, and was estimated at 2,032 in 2018 by the U.S. Census. It is the home of Mars Hill University, t ...
, the Celebration of Traditional Music at
Berea, Kentucky
Berea is a List of cities in Kentucky, home rule-class city in Madison County, Kentucky, Madison County, Kentucky, in the United States. The town is best known for its art festivals, historic restaurants and buildings, and as the home to Berea Coll ...
, and the British American Festival.
In 1990, Wallin received a Heritage Fellowship from the
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...
, which is the United States government's highest honor in the folk and traditional arts. He was also a 1989 recipient of a
North Carolina Heritage Award
The North Carolina Heritage Award is an annual award given out by the North Carolina Arts Council, an agency of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, in recognition of traditional artists from the U.S. state of North Caro ...
for his loving preservation of traditional music. Although performances by Doug appeared on the Folkways album '' Dillard Chandler: The End of an Old Song'' and on a couple of privately released cassettes, his music did not become widely known until the 1995 release of Smithsonian-Folkways' ''Family Songs and Stories from the North Carolina Mountains'', a CD of field recordings which also features Doug's brother Jack on three tracks.
Doug Wallin died on March 15, 2000, at 80 years old.Doug Wallin's Biography. /ref>