Doug Elliott is a naturalist, herbalist,
storyteller, basket maker, back-country guide, philosopher, and
harmonica wizard. For many years made his living as a traveling
herbalist, gathering and selling herbs, teas, and
remedies.
He has spent a great deal of time with traditional
country folk and regional indigenous peoples, learning their
stories, folklore and traditional ways of relating to the natural
world. In recent years he has performed and presented programs at
festivals, museums, botanical gardens, nature centers and schools
from Canada to the Caribbean. He has been a featured storyteller at
the National Storytelling Festival. He has lectured and performed
at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, the Royal
Ontario Museum in Toronto and conducted workshops for the
Smithsonian Institution. He has led ranger training sessions for
the National Park Service and guided people on wilderness
experiences from down-east Maine to the Florida Everglades. He was
named harmonica champion at Fiddler’s Grove Festival in Union
Grove, N.C. He is the author of five books, many articles in
regional and national magazines, has recorded a number of award
winning albums of stories and songs, and is occasionally seen on
PBS-TV, and the History and National Geographic
Channels.
Links:
Doug Elliott’s Bandcamp page, where you can listen to and
download all of his full length albums and story recordings:
https://dougelliott.bandcamp.com/
Article
on Bessie Jones, whom Doug mentions in a story on the podcast,
national treasure and African American singer (also see video
alongside others, displayed on blog post page for this episode)
The Ground Shots Podcast is an audio project exploring our relationship to ecology through conversations and storytelling with artists, ecologists, farmers, activists, story-tellers, land-tenders and more.
How do we do our work in the modern age, when the urgency of ecological and social collapse feels looming? How do we creatively and whole-heartedly navigate our relationships with one another and the land?