Appearances, Projects, and Awards
AWARDS
SPARKY & RHONDA RUCKER
Been to the Mountaintop Award for High Achievement in Appalachia, 2022
SE Regional Folk Alliance Award for outstanding contributions to folk music, 2022
Robert H. Chambers Award for Excellence in the Traditional Arts, 2021
Underground Railroad Free Press Award, 2018
Artists of Change Award, 2015, Community Shares
Spirit of Freedom Commemorative Medal of Honor, 2014 (African American Civil War Memorial, Washington D.C.)
MLK Art Award, 2013; Dr. Martin Luther King Commemorative Commission, Knoxville, TN
Howard "Louie Bluie" Armstrong Legacy Award, 2011
Grammy-nominated Anthology CD "Singing Through the Hard Times" 2009
Nomination, W.C. Handy Award, Best Traditional Recording, 1991, "Treasures & Tears"
Certificate of Appreciation, 2003 Multi-Cultural Festival, Marquette High School, MO
JAMES "SPARKY" RUCKER
Black Appalachian Storytellers Fellowship, 2022
Certificate of Appreciation, 2003 Smithsonian Folklife Festival
Storytelling World Award 2001 Honor Title
Knoxville Music History Mural 2000
Knoxville Civil War Roundtable Award 2000
NAACP Appreciation Award 1998
Spirit of the Buffalo Soldier Award 1997
Nomination for W.C. Handy Award for Best Traditional Artist
The Hurston-Hughes Award, 1989
Kentucky Colonel 1989
John Henry Award, 1976 and 1982
Personalities of the South 1975-76
RHONDA RUCKER
Crystal Kite Award 2014 Finalist for the novel, Swing Low, Sweet Harriet
DISCOGRAPHY
SPARKY & RHONDA RUCKER
Down by the Riverside (Tremont, 2017)
Let Freedom Ring (Tremont, 2012)
One Earth (Tremont, 2009)
The Mountains Above and the Valleys Below (Tremont, 2008)
Done Told the Truth Goodbye (Tremont, 2006)
Midnight Memories (Tremont, 2004)
Patchwork Tales (Tremont, 1996)
The Blue & Gray in Black & White (Flying Fish, 1992)
Treasures & Tears (Flying Fish, 1990)
Eventide: Songs of Celebration (Tremont, 1990)
SPARKY RUCKER
A Magic Night (Makin’ Jam, 1988)
Drive Back the Night (L&R Records, 1984)
A Home in Tennessee (A Gentle Wind, 1981)
Heroes and Hard Times (Green Linnet, 1981)
Cold & Lonesome on a Train (June Appal, 1977 and Tremont, 1990)
Bound to Sing the Blues (Traditional, 1972)
Sparky and Rhonda have also appeared on many anthologies.
CONCERT APPEARANCES (partial list)
SPARKY & RHONDA RUCKER
Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
National Folk Festival - Australia
National Folk Festival - Scotland
Smithsonian Folklife Festival
International Storytelling Center
National Underground Railroad Freedom Center
Tennessee Homecoming Festival
Kerrville Folk Festival
Walnut Valley Festival - Winfield, KS
Mississippi Valley Blues Festival
Clearwater Folk Festival
Robert Johnson Memorial Blues Festival
National Conference of the Center for Black Music Research and the College Music Society
Vancouver Folk Festival
Old Songs Festival - NY
SPARKY RUCKER
National Storytelling Festival
Piccolo Spoleto Festival - Charleston, SC
International Children’s Festival - Wolf Trap Farm Park
American Folk Blues Tour, Europe, 1983 and 1985
Gurten-Bern International Festival in Switzerland
World’s Fair, 1982
Mariposa, Winnipeg, and Philadelphia Folk Festivals
MEDIA PROJECTS AND APPEARANCES (partial list)
SPARKY & RHONDA RUCKER
"All Things Considered" NPR
Love & Solidarity (Bullfrog Films)
"On Point" NPR
“The Wild West” Time-Warner TV miniseries
“Storytelling in North America” -- National Geographic Society, 1992
Scholastic Teaching Resources Projects
“Old Music for New Ears” - Kentucky Educational Television, 1992
“Tall Tales of the Blue Ridge” - Eastern National Park & Monument Association video, 1992
Mississippi Valley Blues Festival; WQPT-TV; PBS; Moline, IL
“Live at Studio One” KUNI-FM
“Folkscene Music” KPFK-FM, Calif.
“KUNM-FM, Albuquerque, NM
SPARKY RUCKER
“Stories of North America” video, 1994, National Geographic Society
“Catch the Spirit” Cable-TV (BET & CBN)
“Carry It On” PBS series
“Amazing Grace: Music in America” PBS
“Stage 9” KIXE-TV; Redding, CA
“Tonight at Ferlinghetti’s” WPBA-TV in Atlanta
“Rockpalast” WDR, West Germany
“Hier 11 um” East Germany
“Morning Edition” NPR
“Prairie Home Companion” NPR
“Mountain Stage” NPR
“Sandy Bradley’s Potlock” NPR