Berzilla Wallin

The Wallin Family is an American family of traditional ballad singers from Madison County, North Carolina. Their repertoire of Appalachian folk ballads— many of which were rooted in “Old World” ballads traceable to the British Isles— brought them to the attention of folk music enthusiasts during the American folk music revival of the 1960s. Wallin family members have recorded numerous times over a period of nearly four decades, and have appeared in several independent documentaries. Members of the Wallin family are either descendants of or married to descendants of Hugh Wallin (1829—1864), a Union Army recruiter assassinated by Confederate soldiers during the U.S. Civil War. Among the children of Hugh and his wife, Rosannah, were sons Mitchell Wallin (1854—1932) and Thomas Jefferson “Tom” Wallin (1857—1948). After Hugh’s death, Rosannah married John Bullman, and their children included daughter Mary Bullman Sands (1871—1949). Children of Thomas Jefferson Wallin included Robert Lee Wallin (1889—1973) and Cas Wallin (1903—1992). Robert Lee (usually listed as simply "Lee Wallin") and his wife Berzilla (née Berzilla Chandler) had more than 10 children, including Martin Douglas "Doug" Wallin (1919—2000) and Jack Wallin (1932—2005). Berzilla was the sister of ballad singers Lloyd Chandler and Dellie Chandler Norton, and a cousin of Dillard Chandler. Around 1960, folk music enthusiasts Peter and Polly Gott moved to Madison County. They quickly met Lee Wallin, who played the banjo regularly at local events, and Lee introduced them to his relatives. In August 1963, Gott and folk musician John Cohen recorded Lee, Cas, Berzilla and several relatives for the album, Old Love Songs and Ballads, which was released by Folkways Records the following year. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.