About the Artist/Ensemble

The Crooked Road: Virginia’s Heritage Music Trail concert celebrates the traditional music that has been kept by families and communities of Southwest Virginia since colonial times. Settlers of this mountainous region since the 1700’s have brought various ingredients – a cappella gospel music from German tradition that lives in the Old Regular Baptist churches today; spirituals, emotive singing and a musical gourd we now call a banjo from African tradition; and ballads and fiddles brought by the Scots-Irish and English. Mixed together, these ingredients have produced one of the richest musical traditions on earth. This region produced the Carter Family, the first family of Country Music; Jim and Jesse, Grand Ole Opry stars and one of the most innovative bluegrass groups of the golden era of bluegrass; Ralph & Carter Stanley, who took their home place and its mountains and distilled their very essence down into songs we can all sing. But the real heart and soul of The Crooked Road are the everyday folks who keep this music in their homes, country stores, in churches, and in weekly jam sessions. The variety of it is amazing – old time string bands, a cappella gospel, blues, 300 year-old ballads, bluegrass, and more! It is a music tradition that is as vibrant today as it has ever been.

The Crooked Road On Tour is a concert program of exemplary artists of The Crooked Road region who are steeped in heritage music traditions.

Concert/Performance Description

To give audiences a sense of the diversity present in Southwest Virginia’s heritage music, each Crooked Road On Tour concert includes several artists (typically 2-3 artists) showcasing a number of aspects of heritage music such as old time, bluegrass, gospel, traditional singing, and dance. Concerts are woven together by this common heritage of music and by a Master of Ceremonies who provides context for the artists, their music and their place in the larger community of musicians and performers, many of whom represent generations of music making in specific families. A short video entitled “The Homeplace of America’s Music” at the start of the concert also provides an excellent context for the live performance that follows. Presenters may also reserve and display museum quality exhibits (approximately 6’ tall x 3’ wide vinyl banner style) about the music of The Crooked Road region for up to a month prior to the concert to help promote the event in their community.

Technical Requirements

Professional quality sound and lighting, qualified sound and light technician (will be provided if needed). Stage size minimum 20’ wide by 10’ deep and surface suitable for dance. Projector and large screen for showing introductory video requested.

 

Audience

• All Ages