Donna Ray Norton

Donna grew up in Madison County, North Carolina. She is an 8th generation descendant of the original settlers of the county, and of its music tradition. She is the granddaughter of the legendary fiddler Byard Ray, and of Morris Norton, mouth bow and banjo player. Daughter of Ballad Singer Lena Jean Ray. She is 26 years old, and resides now in Asheville, North Carolina. She grew serious about singing in the ballad tradition after doing a Senior Exit Project on the Southern Appalachian ballads at Asheville High School, although she had been exposed to the traditional music of the area throughout her lifetime. She has performed at the major traditional music events of the area, including the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival, the Smoky Mountain Folk Festival, the Bascom Lamar Lunsford Memorial Festival, and the Bluff Mountain Festival. She received the Lunsford Youth Award for Balladry at the 2005 Lunsford Festival at Mars Hill College in Mars Hill, NC. In September 2006 she performed as a ballad singer with the North Carolina Symphony Orchestra in their "Blue Skies/Red Earth" concert series in Raleigh, NC. She also toured Western North Carolina with the Symphony concert at the end of May 2007. In September 2007 Donna performed in Berkeley California at the Berkeley Old Time Music Convention. She performed at The Laurel Theatre in Knoxville, TN in February, 2008. Which then led to her second performance at The Laurel Theatre in March 2008, for the 39th Annual Jubilee Festival. Interest in her music led her to her first CD, "Single Girl". She now has a new CD available entitled "Forks in the Road", featuring more of the traditional ballads of the Southern Appalachian mountains. Donna was also featured in the documentary "The Madison County Project", which was the winner of an Audience Award at the Asheville Film Festival, in 2005. Donna is very happy to carry on the ballad tradition of her ancestors.