Poor Valley Pentecostal Holiness Church, Rose Hill, VA

Poor Valley Pentecostal Holiness Church, Rose Hill, VA

Primitive church building, serviced by a group of teenagers from Virginia, close to the Kentucky border. I assume the church was built and active in the summer and fall of 2013. These kids were signs followers and seem to have taken it quite serious. The church building looks like a remodeled shag, has outhouses and…

All for Jesus Singers

All for Jesus Singers

The book The Persecuted Prophets by Karen W. Carden, Robert W. Pelton mentioned the existence of a music group called the All for Jesus Singers that went “on tour”. This is at least the second mention of a named music project out of the serpent handling community, beside Tommy and Lou Coots. Although only the…

Finster, Mayes and me at the Library of Congress
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Finster, Mayes and me at the Library of Congress

Since I discovered that there are documents that prove that Folk Art Visionary Howard Finster and Roadside Evangelist Harrison Mayes met and exchanged ideas, I was determined to find out what these two old geezers had to tell each other. Also I wanted to hear Mayes voice, how he talked, and maybe there was even…

Connecting the Dots: The Music of Serpent Handlers – the Coots Duo and the Coots Duet.

Connecting the Dots: The Music of Serpent Handlers – the Coots Duo and the Coots Duet.

This photo above, is clipped from the National Geographic Snake Salvation series. Initially I took a screenshot because I collect these kinds of photos, but later I came back for another reason. I discovered the Alabama Astronaut podcast, which explores the music of the serpent handlers. There they mention the Coots family, and that Jamie…

Mayes’ display near Middlesboro, KY, his hometown, in a short documentary about a snake handling church.
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Mayes’ display near Middlesboro, KY, his hometown, in a short documentary about a snake handling church.

Mayes’ display near Middlesboro, KY, his hometown, in a short documentary about a snake handling church. Documentary about ‘snake-handling’ Kentucky church fails to grasp tradition, expert says