Kalia Yeagle (kuh-LEE-uh YAY-gull) is an award-winning folk music educator, empowering people to use the arts as tools for self-expression, community strengthening, and connecting with what feels real and good in the world. A celebrated fiddler and singer, Kalia’s music is nimble, deeply intuitive, and shines in collaboration.

Kalia has been a teacher almost as long as she’s been a musician. Sharing knowledge is at the core of who she is, and she can be heard sharing her infectious love of music and culture on podcasts, in classrooms, from stages, and in conversation. East Tennessee State University brought Kalia on as a full-time faculty member in order to grow their Old-Time Music program in 2018. As part of that growth, Kalia helped design a number of new courses, the first of their kind in higher education. She also teaches Shape Note Singing, seminars on creativity and musicianship, lessons on regional and era-specific old-time styles, and directs stringbands. In 2023, she received the Lecturer Award from the College of Arts and Sciences.

With a Master of Arts in Appalachian Studies, Kalia brings an interest in place identity and the role of folk knowledge in strengthening communities. As a scholar she studied the rich heritage of Appalachia with special interest in early country music’s pioneering female artists as well as transcription of traditional music. She works as a consultant for museums and community arts programming. She’s managed teaching studios and led classes and workshops throughout Europe and North America. Kalia is also a skilled facilitator with experience in strategic planning and collaborative decision-making. 

With stringband Bill and the Belles (2015-2023), Kalia accomplished a great deal, including receiving critical acclaim from Rolling Stone, a cultural exchange with indigenous Purépecha musicians in Michoacán, Mexico, half a dozen IBMA nominations, winning fiddlers conventions, and touring across Europe and North America. Bill and the Belles was also the house band for PBS tv show and radio show Farm and Fun Time, which reached 20 million homes across the Southeast US in 2020-2023. Behind the scenes, she skillfully learned how to wear many hats: accounting, advancing, tour managing, copywriting, graphic design, arranging, coaching, and managing merchandise. 

Kalia has performed and recorded with additional artists and projects including the Virginia Historical Society, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Willi Carlisle, Stephen Wade, Jonathan Edwards, Amythyst Kiah, John Lilly, Melissa Carper, the New Reeltime Travelers, and a Grammy-nominated project with the Great Smoky Mountain Association.