Music legends and traditions of the North Carolina mountains and foothills.
…
continue reading
1
Episode 20: The Creative Community of Rare Bird Farm
10:55
10:55
Lejátszás később
Lejátszás később
Listák
Tetszik
Kedvelt
10:55
Rare Bird Farm in the mountains of Madison County is an agricultural arts center that hosts performing arts, classes, workshops, and community events, all centered around the ideas of creativity, connection, and collaboration. While not a commercial farm, Rare Bird also raises animals, medicinal plants, and food. We spent some time with Mitchell Da…
…
continue reading
1
Episode 19: The Ridgetop Riches of Red Spruce
12:18
12:18
Lejátszás később
Lejátszás később
Listák
Tetszik
Kedvelt
12:18
An intersection of the natural and musical heritage of WNC can be found in the high mountains. Red Spruce (picea rubens) is prominent at altitudes above 5,000 feet in the Southern Appalachians. It’s also one of the primary tonewoods used in traditional construction of mandolins and guitars. For this episode, we spent time with conservationist Marqu…
…
continue reading
1
Episode 18: Claire Armbruster and Planning Stages
10:06
10:06
Lejátszás később
Lejátszás később
Listák
Tetszik
Kedvelt
10:06
Traditional music in WNC is a cultural practice that expands into many ways to make a living. We most often think of performers, but for every live music event that takes place, there are folks behind the scenes crossing “I’s” and dotting “T’s” to make sure everything goes off without a hitch. One of the leaders in the event promotion industry is C…
…
continue reading
1
Episode 17: Rhonda Gouge and the Joy of Musical Connection
16:29
16:29
Lejátszás később
Lejátszás később
Listák
Tetszik
Kedvelt
16:29
Rhonda Gouge has done a lot. She’s been a fixture in the Mitchell County music scene since the 1970s, she can play at least a dozen instruments, she’s recorded multiple albums under her own name as well as with others, she’s performed with legendary musicians such as Red Wilson, she’s taught traditional music to more than 1,000 students, and in 202…
…
continue reading
1
Episode 16: A Reading of Louise Wright Price's Charlie & His Banjo: The Story of Charlie Pool
8:30
In Season One of Down the Road on the Blue Ridge Music Trails of NC, we introduced you to banjo stylist Charlie Poole. In Season 5, we're excited to bring you a reading of Louise Wright Price's children's book, Charlie & His Banjo: The Story of Charlie Pool.
…
continue reading
What do you get when an MD and Professor Emeritus of Pathology and Surgery takes up the banjo? An expertly conducted survey of 32 WNC banjo players! Dr. William Allsbrook, Jr. turned his skills and attention to such a project when he noticed just how many great banjo players lived in Haywood County. His study resulted in a book, Making Music: The B…
…
continue reading
Western North Carolina musical icon Betty Smith passed away on December 1, 2023. Betty was a performer of ballads and traditional songs for decades, but to say only this would be falling short of her large and living legacy. Throughout the course of her life, Betty also took on roles as an educator, an activist, an author, a playwright, and honorar…
…
continue reading
Madison County is home to a centuries old ballad singing tradition which has attracted interest for over a century. In 1916, Englishman, Cecil Sharp traveled to Western North Carolina to hear the old ballads that were no longer being freely sung in England. A new album revives this Transatlantic connection. We sat down with Thomm Jutz, singer-songw…
…
continue reading
1
Episode 12: Terry Roberts Talks Writing, Music, and Storytelling in the Mountains
10:49
10:49
Lejátszás később
Lejátszás később
Listák
Tetszik
Kedvelt
10:49
Terry Roberts was born and raised in Asheville, NC. An award-winning author of five novels, much of Terry’s writing takes place in and around the mountains of WNC. Music finds its way into much of Terry’s work, including novels entitled A Short Time to Stay Here and That Bright Land. In our conversation with Terry, he shared his thoughts on particu…
…
continue reading
In Seasons 4 and 5, we’ve had the honor and privilege to bring you stories of the Blue Ridge Music Trails’ Fine Tuned project. This mentorship and collaboration-based professional development project has sought to foster development in WNC’s traditional music ecosystem. This episode explores the musical partnerships and the music they created with …
…
continue reading
Plott-Tober fest is a new festival set to take place in Canton in 2023. This festival celebrates North Carolina's State Dog, the Plott Hound, as well as the German heritage of Haywood County. We spoke with festival organizer Bob Plott to learn more about the Plott Hound, German influence in Haywood County, and the festival itself, which will featur…
…
continue reading
Music inhabits its purest form when people get together to make music with one another. In this spirit, the fiddlers’ convention is an essential element of the traditional music ecosystem in Western North Carolina. This episode is adapted from an article by music writer Derek Halsey revisiting a newspaper article from the Watauga Democrat published…
…
continue reading
1
Episode 8: Cherokee Language Repertory Choir
18:27
18:27
Lejátszás később
Lejátszás később
Listák
Tetszik
Kedvelt
18:27
The Cherokee Language Repertory Choir started in the spring of 2023. This choir uses the Christian Harmony shaped note tradition, but instead of singing it traditionally, in English, this choir sings in the Cherokee language. This effort revives a documented tradition of shaped note singing in the Cherokee community while helping to keep the Cherok…
…
continue reading
The Peacock Performing Arts Center in Hayesville presents a wide range of programming. It's Songwriters Series is a highlight of the lineup. Hosted by local songwriter Rob Tiger, the series brings some of the top songwriters in the field to Clay County. The Showcase functions as a songwriters round, giving some audience members a new way to experie…
…
continue reading
1
Episode 6: Kelley Breiding and “The Place Where the Stories Come From”
14:50
14:50
Lejátszás később
Lejátszás később
Listák
Tetszik
Kedvelt
14:50
Kelley Breiding is a musician who wears a lot of hats, at least one of which is often a cowboy hat and complements a vibrant, handcrafted outfit. Kelley is part of multiple bands and projects including her Blue Ridge Opry and the Blue Ridge Music Trails’ Fine Tuned project. This episode features a conversation with Kelley in which you can learn mor…
…
continue reading
1
Episode 5: Roseland Gardens: Black Moutain Juke Joint
10:43
10:43
Lejátszás később
Lejátszás később
Listák
Tetszik
Kedvelt
10:43
Did you know that Black Mountain had an integrated juke joint and that Bessie Smith performed there? On this episode we feature an oral history with Katherine Debrow, courtesy of the Swannanoa Valley Museum & History Center, that discusses her grandfather, Horace Chambers Rutherford; his juke joint, Roseland Gardens; and the culture and history of …
…
continue reading
The Blue Ridge Music Trails covers 29 counties throughout the mountains and foothills of Western North Carolina. The Blue Ridge Parkways runs directly through this territory and is never far from authentic traditional music. In this episode, we outline more of the stops you can take on the Blue Ridge Music Trails while you travel the Blue Ridge Par…
…
continue reading
The Blue Ridge Music Trails covers 29 counties throughout the mountains and foothills of Western North Carolina. The Blue Ridge Parkways runs directly through this territory and is never far from authentic traditional music. In this episode, we outline some of the stops you can take on the Blue Ridge Music Trails while you travel the Blue Ridge Par…
…
continue reading
1
Episode 4: Darren Nicholson Remembers a Mentor and Charts a New Path
14:16
14:16
Lejátszás később
Lejátszás később
Listák
Tetszik
Kedvelt
14:16
Darren Nicholson has been a fixture in the WNC and national music scenes for almost two decades. The year 2023 marks a series of new endeavors for Darren. In this episode he talks about learning from Steve Sutton, the inaugural Steve Sutton Festival, WNC's unique style of bluegrass, and his own path as a solo musician.…
…
continue reading
The Blue Ridge Music Trails’ Fine Tuned project is a mentorship and collaboration-based project aimed at professional development for emerging artists playing traditional music in Western North Carolina. This episode focuses on the Josh Jones' work with his mentor Sav Sankaran. Josh studies classical voice at the UNC School for the Arts. Sav also s…
…
continue reading
1
Episode 20: Fine Tuned: Bayla Davis and Cary Fridley
10:06
10:06
Lejátszás később
Lejátszás később
Listák
Tetszik
Kedvelt
10:06
The Blue Ridge Music Trails’ Fine Tuned project is a mentorship and collaboration-based project aimed at professional development for emerging artists playing traditional music in Western North Carolina. For this episode, we spent time with Bayla Davis and her mentor, Cary Fridley, to learn more about their work together. These two women have worke…
…
continue reading
Fine Tuned is a mentorship and collaboration-based project aimed at professional development for emerging artists playing traditional music in Western North Carolina. In this episode, David LaMotte and Benjamin Barker talk about why they play music, music in North Carolina, what they have gained from working on the Fine Tuned project, and more.…
…
continue reading
1
Episode 19: Fine Tuned: The Allen Boys with DaShawn Hickman and Kelley Breiding
13:30
13:30
Lejátszás később
Lejátszás később
Listák
Tetszik
Kedvelt
13:30
The Blue Ridge Music Trails’ Fine Tuned project is a mentorship and collaboration-based project aimed at professional development for emerging artists playing traditional music in Western North Carolina. For this episode, we sat down with the Allen Boys, DaSahwn Hickman, and Kelley Breiding to discuss their collaboration and the inspiring collision…
…
continue reading
Fine Tuned is a mentorship and collaboration-based project aimed at professional development for emerging artists playing traditional music in Western North Carolina. Jarrett Wildcat and Keaw'e Bone are are both deeply connected with traditional music in Cherokee, NC, but for their work on the Fine Tuned project, Jarrett and Keaw’e decided to do so…
…
continue reading
1
Episode 16: Introducing the Fine Tuned Project
10:44
10:44
Lejátszás később
Lejátszás később
Listák
Tetszik
Kedvelt
10:44
Fine Tuned is a mentorship and collaboration-based project aimed at professional development for emerging artists playing traditional music in Western North Carolina. Fine Tuned has brought together five groups of musicians to work together on personal goals and professional recording.
…
continue reading
We’re coming to you this week to answer an age-old question: is it a fiddle or a violin? Few folks in Western North Carolina are better equipped to answer that question than master fiddler Roger Howell. At his shop on Banjo Branch just outside of Mars Hill, he has not only recorded more than 600 fiddle tunes for his memory collection, but he also r…
…
continue reading
1
Episode 14: Bobby Hicks: A Fiddling Icon
10:38
10:38
Lejátszás később
Lejátszás később
Listák
Tetszik
Kedvelt
10:38
Bobby Hicks is a fiddling icon. His career as a recording artist and performer has spanned more than 7 decades. During this time, Bobby’s style, session work, and touring have helped to define the bluegrass fiddle. We sat down with Bobby to chat about Western North Carolina, his time with Bill Monroe, and much more.…
…
continue reading
Donna Ray Norton is no stranger to the musical community of Western North Carolina. She’s an 8th generation ballad singer who grew up in the legendary Sodom community of Madison County, a county which folklorist Cecil Sharp likened to “a nest of singing birds.” Her grandfather was Byard Ray, a fiddler and singer who took his style of mountain music…
…
continue reading
Earl Scruggs hailed from Flint Hill in rural Cleveland County. In his decades-long career he helped define bluegrass music as we know it today. The Earl Scruggs Center, in partnership with WNCW, the Tryon International Equestrian Center, and Come Hear North Carolina, will present the inaugural Earl Scruggs Music Festival in September 2022. The Blue…
…
continue reading
1
Episode 11: The 51st Smoky Mountain Folk Festival
11:35
11:35
Lejátszás később
Lejátszás később
Listák
Tetszik
Kedvelt
11:35
The 51st Smoky Mountain Folk Festival. returns to the shores of Lake Junaluska in Haywood County this August. Now in its 6th decade, the festival coincides with a time when communities would gather at harvest time to share music and dance. The festival welcomes an outstanding array of the region’s finest tradition performers including fiddlers, ban…
…
continue reading
If well-constructed and properly cared for, an instrument will outlive generations of musicians that play it. Many of the instruments that have influenced our music still sing long after their owners have gone on. The Southern Appalachian Archives in the Ramsey Center for Appalachian Studies at Mars Hill University hold some of the most well-known …
…
continue reading
Carl Sandburg dedicated the American Songbag, “To those unknown singers–who made songs–out of love, fun, grief–and to those many other singers–who kept those songs as living things of the heart and mind–out of love, fun, grief.” It is fitting that so many carried on this important work begun by the old troubadour and poet of the people.…
…
continue reading
The imprint of Western North Carolina’s vibrant musical tradition can be seen and heard time and again as our music has worked its way into the arena of popular culture. From the moment Jed Clampett spotted that bubbling-crude through the current decade, the soundtrack of the mountains and foothills has been the soundtrack for countless television,…
…
continue reading
The history of Western North Carolina has long been a subject of study for local and international scholars. Many of those efforts have been focused on only a portion of the culture and experience of the region. With its exhibit Jagged Path: The African Diaspora in Western North Carolina in Craft, Music, and Dance, the Blowing Rock Art and History …
…
continue reading
Originally from Connecticut, Derek moved to Elk Park, NC in the spring of 2022 to continue exploring the singing traditions of the Bare family and the communities throughout Western North Carolina. With his work collecting and sharing these recordings, Derek is helping to shine a light on the stories and songs of a noteworthy community in the Blue …
…
continue reading
Billy Edd Wheeler came to North Carolina from the coal camp of Highcoal in West Virginia. As a boy, he began playing guitar and penned his first song “Paper Boy Blues,” about delivering newspapers at 5:30am, at the age of eleven. His archtop Kay guitar was purchased for fourteen dollars out of the Sears and Roebuck catalog. He learned three chords …
…
continue reading
The Asheville music scene is known for its depth of talent, wealth of offerings, and sense of exploration. You might think this music scene has sprung up over the last 20 years during the city’s own renaissance, but Alli Marshall of the Asheville History Walking Tour is here to disabuse you of that notion. The tour winds for a mile and half through…
…
continue reading
The Happy Valley community lies between Lenoir and Blowing Rock along the Yadkin River. This fertile valley is so scenic and peaceful that early settlers gave it the name “Happy Valley.” The valley was home to General William Lenoir, for whom the Caldwell County seat of Lenoir was named. His home, Fort Defiance, is on the National Register of Histo…
…
continue reading
You can hardly hear a set of bluegrass music without hearing a train song. Some are poetic like the Wabash Cannonball. “Listen to the jingle the rumble and the roar, as she glides along the woodland, through the hills and by the shore.” Some tell tragic tells of trains running out of control.
…
continue reading
Bobby McMillon passed away on November 28, 2021. His passing leaves a great void in the traditional music and Appalachian cultural landscape. Throughout the course of his life, Bobby took this awareness he gained from his grandfather’s passing and turned it into a legacy of collecting, performing, and friendships.…
…
continue reading
David Holt grew up in Garland, Texas. He says “I grew up in a family of informal storytellers, and there was plenty to tell about our wild and wooly Texas forefathers. Storytelling was just a natural part of family life for me. I never thought about telling stories in public until I began to collect mountain music and came across interesting and un…
…
continue reading
Of all the fiddlers in the fiddler-rich region of Western North Carolina, Arvil Freeman was a veritable North Star of Western North Carolina fiddling and traditional music as a whole. Arvil is likely the most heard “in-person” fiddler and likely the most influential. On October 21, 2021, Western North Carolina lost fiddling legend Arvil Freeman.…
…
continue reading
Across Western North Carolina, people looking to learn to play an instrument or musicians looking to step up their game can enjoy many opportunities to learn in immersive settings. Many camps offer week-long packages of music instruction, food, and lodging. The whole package provides a chance for the musician to spend a week completely focused on t…
…
continue reading
The English folksong “The Cuckoo,” often sung as a round or canon, celebrated the arrival of summer recalling the sights and sounds of English barnyards and meadows. Some scholars consider the song a parody and possibly too coarse for polite society. The manuscript in which it is preserved was copied between 1261 and 1264. The song evolved into a m…
…
continue reading
The Bascom Lamar Lunsford Mountain Music Festival is the only one that Lunsford allowed to carry his name. In 1928, Lunsford started the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival in Asheville as part of the annual Rhododendron Festival. The festival was such a hit that the local newspaper declared it should be an annual event. The Mountain Dance and Folk Fe…
…
continue reading
Do you know the legend of Tom Dooley? Do you know he was a real person and lived in Western North Carolina? Do you know he was convicted of murder and sentenced to hang? The ballad “Tom Dooley”, originally recorded by Frank Proffitt in the 1930’s or 1940’s became a nationwide success in 1958 when The Kingston Trio released their recording of the so…
…
continue reading
Everybody and everything has a story. What is her story, what is his story? Did you ever wonder about the cautionary messages in the fairy tales? Folklorists will tell you that story plays a very important role in human culture. Stories were used to preserve history, to teach the young important cultural lessons, and to provide entertainment.…
…
continue reading
As soon as the crops are canned, frozen and laid by for the fall, communities in Western North Carolina gather to sing shaped-notes from the Christian Harmony songbook. Now, over 129 years since the first shaped-notes were sung in the Dutch Cove, singers still gather to heist a tune and enjoy the riches of a D.O.G.…
…
continue reading
Step It Up & Go: The Story of North Carolina Popular Music was released by David Menconi in 2020. Taking its title from one of the signature songs of Durham blues artist Blind Boy Fuller, the book explores the musical history of the state and examines the impact North Carolina music has had on the rest of the world. Menconi writes that North Caroli…
…
continue reading
Dance is an essential part of the musical traditions of Western North Carolina. Dancing and music go hand-in-hand, and for many years, dances with live music were a central meeting point for communities. One dance team that has been a fixture in Western North Carolina for almost 50 years is the Green Grass Cloggers. Clogging is a distinct form of d…
…
continue reading