Rising Appalachia is an American Appalachian folk music group, led by multi-instrumentalist sisters Leah Song and Chloe Smith.

Their musical palette spans from sister harmonies, ballads, banjos, fiddle, cello, upright bass, baritone guitar, djembe and world percussion.

Their commitment to uniting art with activism and community engagement led to the inception of the Rise Collective—a diverse assembly of performers, educators, activists, and artists.

Rising Appalachia's journey has seen them traverse continents, gracing stages at musical festivals across the globe—from the United States to countries like Colombia, Costa Rica, Canada, India, Italy,[2] Bulgaria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Sweden, Ireland and Scotland.

The album was meant as a gift for family and friends but they received so much support and recognition for it that they decided to officially start a band called Rising Appalachia.

[11] On June 29, 2008 the group played their last show under the name Rising Appalachia during Concrete Pandemonium III at the Eyedrum Art Gallery in Atlanta[12] before it was changed to R.I.S.E.

The Rise Collective activities include acro-yoga, aerial performance, fire spinning, sound workshops, yoga, meditation, and youth education.

[24] John Malkin, writing for Spirituality & Health Magazine noted that "The inviting songs of Wider Circles focus on community, gratitude, and healing.

"[25] Desdemona Dallas, reviewing for Lost in Sound, noted that "Songs 'Medicine' and 'Oh Death' light upon the Smith sisters’ wordsmithing ways as slam poets.

"[26] Thandiwe Ogbonna, writing for No Depression, said The talents of Biko Casini (world percussion) and David Brown (stand-up bass/baritone guitar) pair with Leah and Chloe's signature vocal harmonies and banjo/fiddle duets to explore elements of folk, jazz, and soul and topics ranging from mountaintop removal to herbal medicine.

The release was covered by Kath Galasso of OnStage Magazine, who wrote that "Alive moves from traditional to contemporary to spiritual smoothly, never forgetting the global narrative.

Rising Appalachia allows the performance to take on its own energy, up and down, like the life cycle of joys and sorrows that it aims to replicate,"[30] although he was disappointed at the lack of variety and had hoped for more of a "political edge.

[32] The video, which features dancers Quentin Robinson, Justin Conte, Lukas van der Fecht, and Amy Secada, was reviewed by Bob Boilen for NPR Music's All Songs TV,[33] and by Steph Castor for the June 2018 issue of Girl Guitar Magazine.

[32] During this tour, Rolling Stone described the band's work as "Protest music for the modern age, bolstered by delicate, skillful musicianship and otherworldly vocal harmonies.

We wanted to weave lines of connections aurally with both traditional music from those places as well as contemporary lyrics..."[37] Leylines was ranked on the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart, peaking at No.

Regarding this turn of events, Chloe wrote, "Now, in the time of corona, we are seeing the necessary roles of music and healing practices in our abilities to see through this pandemic and stay steady on our course of compassion and strength.

[citation needed] Also during this period, Leah and Chloe, together with Tina Malia, Ayla Nereo, and Marya Stark, formed an a cappella spirit-folk ensemble, Starling Arrow.

"[57] Doug Deloach reviewed it for Songlines, giving it five stars and writing, "Across nine tracks culled from a one-day recording session after ten months of COVID-induced isolation, Rising Appalachia have delivered one of 2021's sweetest world music albums.