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THE CROOKED ROAD’S
UNFORGETTABLE MUSIC.
Pick a musical genre: bluegrass, the blues, old time string
music, old world ballads, acapella gospel. These are but
a few of the rich music traditions woven into the fabric of
The Crooked Road. You need only tug on an individual
thread and a hundred stories will unfurl. Consider the
journey of the banjo from Africa to the front porches
of rural Appalachia. Or the Scotch-Irish migration that
transplanted both people and their centuries-old musical
traditions into the folds of Southwest Virginia’s mountains.
At every turn in The Crooked Road, home to the ﬁrst-ever
Mountains of Music Homecoming, there’s a compelling
story to be told.
UNFORGETTABLE PLACES.
It’s a modest little structure, built in 1937 as part of
President Roosevelt’s WPA Program. But the Country
Cabin in Norton, Virginia, has an outsized reputation
for carrying forward the traditions of Appalachian
music. Performers like ballad singer Kate Peters
Sturgill performed regularly at the tiny community
center. In 2002, Country Cabin II was built across the
road, allowing larger audiences to savor its weekly
performances of bluegrass, country and old-time music.
Country Cabin II also hosts an annual festival honoring
Dock Boggs, a banjo playing coal miner who influenced
Bob Dylan, Doc Watson and a new generation of
musicians, including Blue Highway. Today, Country
Cabin (and it’s younger, bigger brother Country Cabin
II) are but two of the not-to-be missed venues for the
Homecoming. Others include The Carter Fold in Hiltons,
The Rex Theater in Galax and the Floyd Country Store.
UNFORGETTABLE FACES.
According to his resume, Joe Wilson has no graduate
degrees and is not listed in the “Who’s Who of
Anywhere,” but as a co-founder of The Crooked Road,
Virginia’s Heritage Music Trail, you might just call him
a “Roads Scholar” of just about everything musical,
cultural and historic across the nineteen counties of this
330 mile route. The Mountains of Music Homecoming
celebrates folks like Joe -- and a whole host of others
who give voice, in words and song, to this priceless
heritage where America’s music was born.
MOUNTAINS OF MUSIC HOMECOMING | MTNSOFMUSIC.COM | (276) 492-2402