Jean Ritchie was born and raised in Viper, Kentucky in the heart of the Southern Appalachian Mountains, youngest in a family of fourteen children born to Balis and Abigail Ritchie. Walled in by the rugged Cumberland ridges, the Ritchies and their neighbors farmed their hillsides using primitive methods and entertained themselves with play-party games and ballads handed down through the generations from their Scottish, English and Irish ancestors. Jean is a graduate of Cumberland College and the University of Kentucky where she earned a Phi Beta Kappa key, taking her bachelor's degree in social work.
By 1950, Ritchie was an important figure on the New York folk scene, her influence probably best shown by the fact that dulcimers, previously relatively foreign instruments in New York, began selling at a brisk rate. Today Ritchie is credited with almost singlehandedly reviving interest in the mountain dulcimer and with helping to gain prominence as more than a regional folk instrument. As Ritchie's reputation grew, Oxford Press encouraged her to begin working on a book about her family and its music. Singing Family of the Cumberlands, as it came to be known, published in 1955, was reviewed as "an American classic". Nine more books, including the prize winning Celebration of Life, were to follow. The early 50's continued to be eventful for Ritchie. Three months after marrying New York photographer George Pickow, Ritchie met a Haverford College student named Jac Holzman, who told her he and a friend had just started a small record company they called Elektra and asked if she'd consider launching their folk music division. The result - the first record for Elektra and for Jean - was the 10-inch LP Jean Ritchie, Singing Traditional Songs of Her Kentucky Mountain Family. Since then, Ritchie has recorded more than 30 albums for different labels, including her own Greenhays label, which she and Pickow set up in '79 to assure availability of Ritchie's records.
Even though Ritchie still resides in New York she stays active performing in many of Kentucky's summer music festivals, telling her stories of family and experiences growing up in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky.
She says it best, "I believe that old songs have things to say to the modern generation, and that's why they've stayed around. That's also why I am still singing. I'm not afraid to be myself. Agents say you have to change and grow, but I believe you can sing the same songs and sing them better. I guess if I had to categorize myself or pin down a description of what I do, I'd have to say I'm a carrier of tradition. "
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