It’s been ten years since Lee Hunsaker made her way back home to Roanoke, eager to capture something like the literary and music scene from her time in Austin, Texas.
But she also wanted make something that felt authentic to this region. What resulted is Roanoke’s answer to The Moth Radio Hour, and a simple celebration of stories.
She had been taking writing classes, and holding writing workshops at home, as well as spaces like breweries and libraries. But Hunsaker said the idea literally came together overnight, starting as an outdoor event at a Roanoke coffee shop, with hay bails for seats. Hunsaker said the yard was filled to capacity.
"It really just came as a flash of inspiration," she said. "How can we gather people up, share stories, and celebrate the unique character of the region."
For the last few years, Hoot and Holler has been held at Roanoke's Grandin Theater.
The name, Hoot and Holler, serves a nod to Hunsaker's Appalachian roots. Her family is from the coal mining territory of Richlands, in Tazewell County.
“Hooting and hollering is what we do to celebrate, to speak our truth, to throw a party, and that is the feeling that I wanted Hoot and Holler stories to have," she said. "Let’s gather, let’s have a Hootenany, and let’s celebrate voices.”
The kinds of stories have ranged from Matt Chittum's camping trip filled with car trouble to Tess Wortinger having to clear out four generations of a jam-packed Montgomery County farmhouse after losing her parents. Hunsaker calls the whole experience of getting started a 'trial by fire' that took on a life of its own, but began asking to see stories in writing, editing, and helping people take their work from the page to the stage.
"There in a vulnerability that is required, even if you're telling a funny story, to put yourself out there, to think about sharing in front of a room, a packed room full of strangers."
Hunsaker describes Hoot and Holler as a kind of 'mystical church' connecting the storytellers with the crowd.
“For me, it is very much of a sacred, kind of holy container," she explains. "And that is the intention that set before every show, that I want everyone to feel that, and to respect that.”
Early this year, Hoot and Holler became a program on Radio IQ, heard Sundays at 2pm, giving Hunsaker time to talk with storytellers in studio after addressing an audience. It also allows the program to reach potential storytellers outside the Roanoke area. Hunsaker says the show has started to take written submissions, or for some to tell their stories remotely.
Thursday's tenth anniversary event at the Grandin Theater is sold out. But for those who hold tickets, Hunsaker said the anniversary show will feature a bit of a different flavor, and struggled with the theme for a while.
“I want it to be a Hoot and Holler about Hoot and Holler,” she said “I’ve asked a handful of storytellers, who I know who have profound experiences sharing their stories through the years, or who I know left an impact on the audience.”
Hoot and Holler will hold its first-ever holiday show on December 10th, with six more planned for 2027.
