Murders, broken hearts and courting- that’s the stuff that makes an Appalachian Mountain ballad.

Sounds like the pages of The National Enquirer, old-old school style.

When you grow up in Southwestern Virginia in a household where mom and dad sing and play traditional music, it’s natural that some of that seeps in. In Elizabeth La Prelle’s case, learning “Barbara Allen” opened the door to a journey in song. She’ll share some of those song-tales on stage with a busload of musicians from the Crooked Road- a musical trail that leads from Central Virginia through the mountains onto the stage at TCC’s Roper Center tonight at 7 p.m.

Elizabeth.

It’s rare for such a young woman (she’s 22) to receive so much attention. Most female ballad singers gain a repertoire over a lifetime, learning knee-to- knee from grannies and mamas. Elizabeth’s links were through the folk-schools of the area, and they filled in the generational gaps.

“I used to sing ballads at summer camp in our talent show, and in my teens I sang ” The Wagoner’s Lad” at the Fiddler’s Convention at Mt. Airy, North Carolina,” she said on a rare day off on this spring tour.

“Somebody said ‘You should go to Singing Week camp at the Augusta Heritage Center,’ so I did, and my teacher was Shelia Kay Adams [storyteller and ballad singer from Western North Carolina]. I found people were so interested in hearing me sing, and I really liked it,” she added.

Hundreds of years ago, ballad singing accompanied regular life, in the  hard scrabble world of uneducated mountain pioneers and settlers – as folks built their homes in rural American, did household chores, or gathered at home to share music. Here in the twenty-first century,  Elizabeth managed to design a degree program at the College of William and Mary, staying faithful to her love of the old songs. She graduated last year.

“Everything I did in college relate to ballads; if I was taking an English class, I studied ballads, in theatre, I was thinking about ballads, in history, I learned Old Time tunes, because by that time I had picked up the banjo.”

Elizabeth says that her peers may admit to disliking country music, but when they hear ballads in a film like “The Songcatcher” or “Cold Mountain,” they are compelled by the story, or the tune, or both.

“I certainly believe that ballads are a bridge to other forms of traditional music for people in my age group,”she said.

Vocally, singing ballads takes on a very specific style, and Elizabeth’s youthful instrument conveys the form beautifully, with a nasal edge that hails back in time to the Irish and Scottish singers who settled in the mountains. Some of the old voices were recorded back in the 60’s and through the 80’s, which gives lovers of traditional song a place to learn. But they could also pay attention to Elizabeth La Prelle, and get a jump start. Her sound is distinctive and true to form.

“Though this style is very different from operatic or concert singing, it has its own sound, like jazz or blues,” Elizabeth said.

The Crooked Road tour gives Elizabeth La Prelle a chance to sing unaccompanied, which is tradition, and with a little back up from members of the bands: The White Top Mountain Band is an Old Timey band, while No Speed Limits is a bluegrass ensemble. She admits that she only gets to sing a few songs at the beginning, and then returns for the “Big Finish,” typical of traditional music concerts, where all the singers and instrumentalists wrap up together. She describes the concert tour as a kind of “Cultural Tourism”, encouraging audiences to visit some of Virginia’s mountain communities, where traditional music is easy to find.

Elizabeth has just finished her 3^rd cd, available through Old ’97 records. She admitted to working on another ballad called “Locks and Bolts,” which she hasn’t recorded yet. She describes it as “plaintive, beautiful and satisfying to sing.”  And yes, it’s a tragic story of a courting couple. If love were easy, it wouldn’t be any fun to sing about.

Music from the Crooked Road: Mountain Music of Virginia is Sun. April 18, 7:00 PM at the TCC Roper Performing Arts Center, Norfolk. Tickets are $35, $25. For more info, click here.