Joe McHugh has been telling stories professionally for over thirty years. His storytelling has been described as “inspired,” “genuine,” and “brimming with wit and humor.” He draws on a treasure trove of funny stories, personal anecdotes, myths, ballads, and tales of the supernatural.
    The youngest member of a lively Irish-American family, his grandparents owned a popular restaurant/tavern called Aunt Kate's in the lake country of northwestern New Jersey, Joe learned first-hand how to tell entertaining stories. In 1970 when he was twenty, he went “back to the land” purchasing an eighty-acre farm in central West Virginia where he quickly fell in love with the stories, music, and traditions of the Appalacian mountains. After spending a year in Scotland exploring the legends and fiddle music of the Highlands, he returned to Appalachia and founded the Youth Museum of Southern West Virginia where he used of his storytelling skills to bring history alive for young people. He moved to northern California in 1988 with his wife Paula to direct a summer storytelling camp for children, write radio plays, and study the stories and ballads of the Gold Rush.