In Episode 4, we have the second part of The Ballad of Poor Omie Wise! In the last episode we told Braxton Craven’s flowery, fairytale-like version of the story, and in part 2, we get to the truth behind the life of a single mother done wrong by her conniving boyfriend! Also, Allison rewrites the story in her own version of the ballad at the end of the episode! If we’re gonna have a fairytale, let’s let Naomi live happily ever after!
Source material: Naomi “Omie” Wise: Her Life, Death and Legend
By Hal E. Pugh and Eleanor Minnock-Pugh
Playlist of popular versions of the ballad including the first recorded version of Omie Wise by Vernon Dalhart!: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6myWyNwL7ZK0Wk3eTq4Cec?si=-0p_BoXNS5KWptr8_H7W5g
Thanks to Ted Olson and Ronald Roach, professors of Appalachian Studies at East Tennessee State University for their help in research!