Ridgway Holler is in West Virginia, where my wife Arlene and I have lived for the past 19 years. It is a secluded place. The deer and wildlife wander in from time to time, and for someone like myself, it is a great spot to be. Here in Ridgway Holler, we have had the peace and privacy that just could not be found any longer in New Jersey.

Not to say it was all bliss, far from

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This is our first serious effort to build a web site.  We have a lot of information;  so it will be some time before it is done, if ever. I am a musician and a songwriter, etc.; and spent a good part of my life as a Bayman on Barnegat Bay in Ocean County New Jersey. Since March 7, 1987 my wife Arlene and I have made our home in Shirley, West Virginia. Arlene will be editing and adding pages of her own.

We are happy to be able to give you a link that will lead you to a site where you will find music from the New Jersey Pine Barrens including my original music; and the original music of my father, and traditional music from the area.              Merce Ridgway and the Pinehawkers on iSOUND.COM

      Please be patient as we upload the music, it is slow work. I will also be uploading a genealogy of the Ridgway family, dating back to 680 in England.  

We will offer photos, commentary, and so forth. All of this in a printer friendly format, for the use of friends, family, and visitors.

I am not sure how it happened, but we seem to have lost some links we had installed here. Lets start over again with: Ridgway Holler, our little spot in west Virginia.

www.ridgwayholler.merce-ridgway.com  

This is where you will find The Pine Barrens Song; and other music and information concerning my Dad , Merce Sr.

www.merceridgwaysr.merce-ridgway.com

This site will have my music, beginning with a tune I called a Peice of Cake www.mymusic.merce-ridgway.com

I am the author of a book titled "The Bayman." It recounts my earlier life as a bayman on Barnegat Bay, New Jersey. This is my publisher,  and,  information and reviews can be found here; along with other fine books about the New Jersey shore.

www.down-the-shore.com

Saturday, the 19 of January, I cut myself bady while working on an old fiddle. To make a long story short, I found myself in the Wheeling Hospital. From my room I had a view overlooking 2 ridges, the one close and the other about a half mile away. The first night there, I saw a huge gang of Crows flying to the ridge near me. This flight was followed by another group of about 50 crows. I could see them landing on the huge trees and commented to my roommate, they must be roosting for the night. The Crows made me think of Chief Listens To Whippoorwill and the storys he used to tell. I began with the story of Crow, which you can find at,

  http://nativeamericanstorys.merce-ridgway.com/