The Crooked Road: Virginia’s Heritage Music Trail
by Cherie Yurco
The tradition of folk, country, bluegrass, and mountain music heard today was passed down from generation to generation throughout Virginia’s southwestern Appalachian region bordering Kentucky, Tennessee, and North Carolina. Many people are surprised to learn the extent to which that old-time music and heritage lives on in the region. Visitors to Virginia’s Crooked Road experience and celebrate that musical heritage firsthand through numerous weekly concerts, live radio shows, informal jam sessions, and yearly festivals that abound in the region.
The 250-mile music trail follows a picturesque mountain route of Southern Virginia from Clinton, Virginia, on the Tennessee border, through to Ferrum, Virginia, or vice versa.
Clintwood, in the mountains of southwestern Virginia, is home to the Ralph Stanley Museum and Traditional Music Center. The state-of-the-art, interactive museum honors the legacy of the bluegrass museum through exhibits, services, and resource information. And if visitors are lucky they may even catch a glimpse of the legendary Ralph Stanley himself. (www.ralphstanleymuseum.com/276-926-8550, or 276-926-5591)
The Country Cabin in Norton, Virginia, was built in 1937 under President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s WPA program as a community recreational facility and is a National and State Historic Landmark. Local musicians still gather at the cabin and its nearby descendent, Country Cabin II, every Saturday night to perform traditional bluegrass and country music. Mountain-style clogging classes are held in Country Cabin II. (www.appalachiantraditions.net/276-679-2632)
The Carter Family Fold and Carter Family Memorial Music Center in Hiltons, Virginia, promote “old-time” music and honor the legendary first family of country music whose 1927 recordings are often credited with the start of the country music industry. The Fold’s Saturday night concerts follow traditional music styles and no electrical instruments are allowed. Shows are family-oriented; no alcohol is permitted, but plenty of home-fixed snacks are available. (www.carterfamilyfold.org/276 386-6054)
Side trips: A.P. Carter’s birthplace; Carter family homes; family grave sites at Mt. Vernon Church and cemetery; A.P. Carter Store (now The Carter Family Museum).
The Birthplace of Country Music Alliance Museum recognizes the people of the Southern Appalachian region, their musical and cultural heritage, and the region’s role in the development of country music and music around the world. It is located in Bristol, Tennessee/Virginia, the official birthplace of country music, on the site of the “Bristol Sessions,” the first commercial recordings of country music. This year Bristol celebrates the 80th anniversary of the recordings. (www.birthplaceofcountrymusic.org/276-645-0111)
The Blue Ridge Music Center was established by US Congress to honor and commemorate an important strand of the cultural history of the US. It is a tribute to the huge influence the relatively small communities of southwestern Virginia and adjoining North Carolina have had on the nation’s music. Located 12 miles from Galax, Virginia, high atop a mountain, the center includes an outdoor amphitheater, interpretive center, luthier shop, and natural areas. Weekend events are held June through September offering performances and educational exhibits. (www.blueridgemusiccenter.org/276-236-5309)
Next door in Galax—the “World’s Capital of Old-Time Mountain Music”—visitors from around the world come every Friday night to be part of the audience and/or participate in the Blue Ridge Backroads live radio music show broadcast from the historic Rex Theater. (www.rextheatergalax.com/276-236-5309)
Side trips: Bobby Patterson’s Heritage Shoppe sells musical instruments, records, and sundries; old-time music jam at Shaylyn’s New River Trail Café, Thursday evenings; Henderson Guitar Shop, home of famed guitarist and luthier Wayne C. Henderson.
The Floyd Country Store, home of Friday Night Jamboree, was constructed around 1913 and was originally the place in Floyd, Virginia, to buy everything from groceries to sundries. The former owners’ bluegrass band gathered there on Friday nights for practice. Weary of interruptions from people who wanted to listen or join in, they decided to leave the doors open. The crowds grew and, eventually, the stage was enlarged and a new sound system was installed. Today, Jamboree gets visitors from around the world and is one of the best places to hear bluegrass music. (www.floydcountrystore.com/540-745-4563)
Side trips: Old-time music at Mabry Mill (Sundays 2-5 p.m.); County Sales (countysales.com) in Floyd claims to carry the world’s largest selection of traditional music CDs, videocassettes, and books.
Ferrum, Virginia, is home to the Blue Ridge Institute and Museum, a repository of rural and mountain culture and history, of which music plays a big part. The institute provides many quality programs aside from its exhibits including documentary television productions, festivals, and public school presentations. It actively collects photos, video recordings, books, and documents related to folklife, and some of those holdings, especially hundreds of musical performances, can be accessed online at www.aca-dla.org. (www.blueridgeinstitute.org/540-365-4416)
For more information about The Crooked Road visit www.thecrookedroad.org or www.virginia.org/crookedroad.
