“A new carrier of local singing traditions” -Thomas McGowan, North Carolina Folklorist 

“Susan Pepper is an authentic tradition-bearer, a cultural broker bridging the gap between generations of musicians past and present.” -Brad Farthing, Town of Boone, Cultural Resources

~BIO~

Susan's foray into traditional music was at the age of 11 when she attended her neighbor's Western square dance in Southwestern Ohio. At the end of the event, she cried knowing it would be another year until the square dance would happen again. That dance planted a seed for Susan--she experienced the joy and meaning in a community music tradition.

Susan has been on a lifelong path of deepening her knowledge and practice of old time singing and music traditions. Steeped in the musical traditions of western North Carolina, she is a ballad singer, multi-instrumentalist and creative, who relishes the opportunity to facilitate others' participation in mountain music traditions.

Susan performs singing and storytelling programs, teaches mountain music to adults and chilrden and also branches out into creative realms such as theater, folklore, songwriting, and multimedia performance. Oxford American notes her “celestial upper range.” Most recently, she played the role of a pregnant Mary Sands in the world premiere of Singing Mary, a musical based on the ballads and life story of ballad singer Mary Sands of Madison Co., NC. A featured artist in the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area’s Traditional Artist Directory, she is honored to share and teach songs that were given to her by an older generation of singers from the Appalachians. 

She currently is an adjunct faculty member in the music school at Western Carolina University, where she teaches their Mountain Music Ensemble. She also instructs at the John C. Campbell Folk School and the Swannanoa Gathering. Over the years, she has taught and worked in a number of capacities for Junior Appalachian Musician (J.A.M.) Programs across the region. Pepper holds a Master of Arts degree in Appalachian Studies with a concentration in music. Her thesis, entitled A Whistlin' Girl and A Crowin' Hen Always Come to Some Bad End documents the lives and music of three singers from Western North Carolina: Hazel Rhymer, Zora Walker and Pearl Hicks. Pepper has produced five albums, including three solo albums, a collection of field recordings of ballad singers and a musical compilation for the Alleghany JAM Program. Pepper co-produced the award-winning feature length Appalachian music film The Mountain Minor and her singing appears in the film.

Pepper makes her home on a small homestead in Western North Carolina with her husband, two children, 9 chickens, 2 rabbits, 4 cats and a dog.