The Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina and Virginia are the heart of a region where traditional music and dance are celebrated as nowhere else in America. This book is a comprehensive traveler’s guide to discovering the many places where this unique music-making legacy thrives. The book leads readers to more than 160 venues and events filled with bluegrass and string band music, ballad singing, fiddling, shape-note singing, gospel music, clogging, and other traditional forms of music and dance.
Vivid descriptions bring the mountain music scene to life in all its diversity. Nearly 150 color photographs are partnered with the moving words of musicians themselves, allowing readers a glimpse into the hearts and minds of the bearers of this enduring folk legacy. Concise driving directions and up-to-date maps accompany the entries for the events covered, which range from small, local jam sessions to well-known festivals that draw thousands of fans.
An engaging and essential resource for music lovers, this guide invites everyone to experience a great American musical tradition.
Fred C. Fussell is a writer, curator, and documentary photographer whose work focuses on the study and interpretation of the traditional folk culture of the American South. His recent professional activities include creating exhibits for the Gertrude “Ma” Rainey House and Blues Museum in Columbus, GA; serving as exhibits consultant for The Carter Family Memorial Music Center (Carter Family Fold) in Hiltons, VA; and co-curating an exhibit for the Alabama Humanities Foundation on the Roots Music of Alabama. Fussell is an independent folklorist who currently is working on a guidebook to traditional music venues in Alabama. He lives in Columbus, Georgia.