ReString Appalachia pairs donated instruments with musicians who lost theirs in storms

The Appalachian Mountain region is well-known for its traditional folk music. But when Helene hit, many musicians lost their instruments. ReString Appalachia is an initiative to help them out.

Not long after the floodwaters receded, Nicholas Edward Williams started hearing stories about mountain musicians in need — people who had to abandon their instruments in the rush of evacuation and storage units that flooded, leaving artists without the means to make a living.

Williams, a musician himself as well as host of the roots music podcast American Songcatcher, says he worried about the potential impact the losses could have on the next generation.

That’s why he started ReString Appalachia, to gather donated instruments for people who lost theirs to Helene.

“Appalachian music history is absolutely one of the crucial foundations of all the music that we have today," he says. "And those are still people that are learning how to, you know, carry that tradition forward and evolve it in their own way, through their own lens. The thought of that just being even on pause was enough for me to try this.”

Williams says the biggest needs are acoustic guitars, banjos and fiddles.

He’s working with about a half-dozen main volunteers and around 40 others are helping with deliveries and other tasks.

ReString Appalachia began in the Asheville area. Williams says he’s now reaching out to musicians in the entire region, from southern Virginia and the High Country to areas of Florida affected by Hurricane Milton.