Jeffrey A. Keith was in line to become a sixth-generation Kentucky tombstone salesman, but he discovered a different way to engage with the past.  He earned a doctorate in history from the University of Kentucky, and now he teaches courses on U.S. foreign relations, Appalachian studies, environmental history, and globalization as a professor at Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa, North Carolina.  He also served on the graduate faculty for Warren Wilson College’s MA program in critical craft studies from 2020-2022.  Keith writes essays and reviews about rural life, cultural history, and U.S. diplomacy, and has published work in popular outlets (Oxford American and Bitter Southerner) as well as academic journals (Journal of Appalachian Studies, Diplomatic History, and The Journal of American-Southeast Asian Relations). His chapter contribution to Hidden in the Mix: The African American Presence in Country Music (Duke University Press, 2011) as well as his ongoing research into the song “Swannanoa Tunnel” speak to his enduring interest in Black contributions to musical traditions in the American South. He also serves as the Vice Chair of the South Asheville Cemetery Association, a non-profit that seeks to restore and improve the oldest public Black cemetery in Western North Carolina. As a guitarist, mandolinist, and vocalist, Keith has toured throughout the U.S. and abroad, playing old-time and bluegrass music.