Rising Appalachia is a post-apocalyptic sister duo of indie-freak-folk, old-time mountain tunes, fiddle banjo duets, experimental percussion, and piercing vocal harmonies. They enchant the crowd and continue to propel their traditional musical heritage further with genre-bending lyrical prowess.

Sisters Leah and Chloe Smith grew up in the bosom of the Southern Appalachian music renaissance. Born to a fiddlin' mother and a folk-sculptor father, they were raised with old-time mountain melodies as their lullabies. But, having also grown up amidst the underground hip hop and spoken word movements of the urban South, the group has heavy influences in indie-folk, vintage jazz, political hip hop, and roots music from around the world.

Rising Appalachia's eerie banjo originals, gritty lyrics and effortless sister harmonies are compared to that of Ani Difranco, Gillian Welch and even Bjork.
Playing a fiddle and banjo, kalimba, boudrhan, djembe, snare, spoons, jawharp, washboard, and even the bones, the group Rising Appalachia offers a fresh, raw approach to a beautiful old tradition.


Chloe, Leah, and fabulous alternating third member including Forrest Kelly and/or John Bass. Ani Difranco, Tom Waits, Michael Franti, The Be Good Tanyas, Hope for agoldensummer, Tom Robbins, Walt Whitman, Sunni Patterson,Bjork, Nina Simone, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Zap Mama, Nick Drake, The Duhks, Joanna Newsome, The Roots, De La Soul, The Fugees, father Smith, Ben Harper, Yo Mammas Big Fat Booty Band, Anticon, Mos Def, Lila Downs, Buena Vista Social Club, Kila, Band of Horses, Smog, Utah Phllips, Dirk Powell, Bruce Molskey, Tommy Jarell, Buju Banton, Marta Sebestyen, Ali Farka Toure, The Sevens, Muddy Waters, Ray, Louie Armstrong, Hair of the Dog, Lost Bayou Ramblers, John Boutte, Moira Smiley, Elise Witt, Crooked Still, various un-named mountain and swamp fiddler extraordinaries, and a million others.... The Duhks, Ani Difranco, Tom Waits, The Be Good Tanyas, Hope for agoldensummer www.myspace.com/risingappalachia, www.risingappalachia.com, www.cdbaby.com, www.sonicbids.com, www.democracynow.org, www.SOAW.org, www.blueridgebiofuels.com... will factor in travel expenses into each gig/contract We prefer to play about an hour to hour and fifteen minute set but are flexible to do more or less depending on the occasion. Our sets are a harmonious mixture of original songs, fresh arrangements of traditional Appalachian tunes, and general genre bend We are at the mercy of each venue as far as sound equipment goes. Normally we use the following: two vocal mics two DI's for the fiddle and banjo an extra instrument mic ( bodhran, ukelele, etc) extra instrument mics for our third member which wo