COVE CREEK BOYS AND SUMMER GIRLS

Between Ireland and Appalachia, a river flows. 

Cove Creek Boys and Summer Girls tells the story of Sam and Summer--born of the same stream, but separated by time and memory. 

Through the shared Irish and Southern American traditions of storytelling, ballad singing, and folk music, we explore two worlds separated by distance and connected through a lifetime of history, geography, and culture. 

This is not a historical record, but a collective memory.

The inspiration for Cove Creek Boys and Summer Girls came from my upbringing in the Appalachian region of South Carolina, and the time I spent living in Ireland. When I first moved to Ireland, I began to notice the unusual similarities between these two cultures. Upon investigating further, I learned that these ties were more prevalent and deeper rooted than I could have imagined.  The two bodies of land were once connected in the most literal sense, and continue to display the same geological features and plant life. Ancient Celtic symbols were found carved into South Carolina’s rocks. Irish migrants played a fundamental role in settling and cultivating the South. Appalachian stories and folk music are rooted in old Irish folk tales and songs. 

Cove Creek Boys and Summer Girls captures this connection in a way that is not historical but emotional, concerned with the inherited memories of these places. Two voices--one Irish, one American-- tell the almost love-story of Sam and Summer and the natural world they live in. As the danger and embodied trauma of their connection begins to surface, we must ask ourselves how deep “home” runs within us.