It is said that Bascom Lamar Lunsford would "cross hell on a rotten rail to get a folk song" - his compilation of Southern Highlands folk songs now constitutes one of the largest collections of its kind in the Library of Congress - but he did much more than acquire songs. He preserved and promoted the Appalachian mountain tradition for generations of people, founding in 1928 the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival in Asheville, North Carolina, an annual event that has shaped America's festival movement.<BR>Loyal Jones pens a biography of a man considered to be Appalachian music royalty, and the book includes a "Lunsford Sampler" of ballads, songs, hymns, tales, and anecdotes, as well as a discography of Lunsford's recordings.