"I did not set out to be a folksinger. I just am a folk singer. It is difficult to write about where I fit into the traditional music picture. I just know that I am bound to sing it and play it. Everyone knows some songs, but the questions of why I have pursued the songs so, why I have stayed with traditional music, why I am able to learn and retain so many songs - these are questions that I cannot answer. I just have this awful curiosity and a feel for what is good and authentic, both in collecting and in selecting what I will sing."

Betty Smith, through her musical gifts, has led thousands to rediscover the inherent beauty of the music which evolved in America's South during the past two centuries.
- Calvin College

Betty is a music scholar and a wonderful singer, who accompanies herself on dulcimer, guitar, and psaltery.

Her programs reach children and adults of all ages who respond to and participate in music that has been passed down by generations of singers and players. With her extensive repertory of Southern, Appalachian, and British ballads, folk songs, hymns, and children’s songs and games, she takes her audience on a cultural voyage.

Singing unaccompanied or accompanying herself on psaltery, mountain dulcimer, guitar and autoharp, she has been recorded by Folk Legacy Records, June Appal Records, Bluff Mountain Music, and Children’s Music Workshop. She can also be heard on recordings from Berea Celebration of Music, Fiddler’s Grove, Galax Fiddler’s Convention, Asheville Dance and Folk Festival, and Georgia Folklife Festival.

Recognized as an accomplished teacher, Betty Smith has taught college courses in Folk Music, Appalachian Music, Elementary Music and Dulcimer, as well as classroom teaching in Early Childhood. Her music curriculum for early childhood has been published by Open Court Publishers and Children’s Music Workshop.

Education

The University of North Carolina, Greensboro. BA Sociology 1948

Alpha Kappa Delta. National Sociological Fraternity

Who's Who Among Students in American Universities & Colleges

Columbia University, New York. Summer School 1947

Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA. M.Ed. Early Childhood 1973

Appalachian Summer Workshop. Berea College, Berea, KY. 1976

Appalachian Writer's Workshop, Hindman Settlement School,
Hindman, Kentucky, 1982, 1992, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000