First held in 1969 in Spivey’s Corner, North Carolina, the annual National Hollerin’ Contest is a daylong celebration of Southern American cultural heritage and preservation of an archaic means of long­ distance communication. Originally a method of delivering messages to workers out in the fields, contestants project their loudest, most entertaining vocal exclamations out into the audience to be judged accordingly. The result is a confounding mix of sophisticated vocal technique and wildly free outbursts.