The state is the home of the genre's 'Big Bang', and the 330-mile Crooked Road links its heritage music venues, weaving between folk dances, fiddle shops and barn house jams via the mist-shrouded peaks of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
The state is the home of the genre's 'Big Bang', and the 330-mile Crooked Road links its heritage music venues, weaving between folk dances, fiddle shops and barn house jams via the mist-shrouded peaks of the Blue Ridge Mountains.The spotlights begin to fade on a stage in Floyd, not far from the misty Blue Ridge Mountains in southwest Virginia, and a banjo begins to play. Gradually, the strings pick out the notes to an Appalachian melody that’s at least a century old.
I’m here to celebrate the trail’s 20th birthday by driving part of it, starting in the post-industrial lumber town of Floyd, an hour’s drive south west of the gateway city of Roanoke, and finishing three days later in Bristol, the birthplace of country music, as designated by US Congress. For the past two decades, this lyrical nook of Virginia has drawn in lovers of the genre from far and wide.
Southwest Virginia was at one time the end of the known world for settlers in America. Historically, the region was geographically isolated due to the thick ribbon of dense woodland around it and the barricading effect of the surrounding mountains, and today it remains a wild corner of the nation. Around this time, German settlers arrived, bringing with them their tradition of congregational singing, as well as the scheitholt, the predecessor to the Appalachian dulcimer, a folk instrument with metal strings. The Scots and Irish, meanwhile, arrived with religious ballads and songs, while enslaved Africans introduced banjo-like lutes such as the akonting and ngoni.
That evening, I finally reach the city of Bristol. The town that country music built, it was the pin-up for southwest Virginia’s musical revival, and its grid of neon-lit, red-brick buildings is full of enormous murals of 1930s-era stars such as Ernest Stoneman and Jimmie Rodgers, and half-lit honkytonks that waltz across the state line between Virginia and Tennessee on busy Main Street.
France Dernières Nouvelles, France Actualités
Similar News:Vous pouvez également lire des articles d'actualité similaires à celui-ci que nous avons collectés auprès d'autres sources d'information.
2024 College Basketball Conference Title Odds - ACC, Big Ten, Big East, Big 12, Pac-12, SECNCAAB college basketball conference tournament title odds and past champions for the ACC, Big Ten, Big East, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC.
Lire la suite »
4 dead after plane crash at airport near Virginia, West Virginia border, officials sayFour people died in a plane crash Sunday at Ingalls Field Airport in Bath County, Virginia, according to an airport representative.
Lire la suite »
Texas-Sized Rock Paper Scissors Showdown to Benefit Big Brothers Big SisterNEW BRAUNFELS, Texas - Get ready to throw down in a fun and unique competition that will determine the ultimate Rock Paper Scissors champion – all for a good ca
Lire la suite »
Big 12 Conference Honors: UH's Shead, Sampson receive big honorsHouston's Jamal Shead claims both Player and Defensive Player of the Year honors, with Coach Kelvin Sampson named Coach of the Year in the Big 12 Conference, setting the stage for the 28-3 Cougars' pursuit of victory in the upcoming Big 12 tournament.
Lire la suite »
Big Ten coaches name Zach Edey Big Ten Player of the YearJames Howell joined WRTV as a digital content producer in March 2022.
Lire la suite »
Big Ten, Big East, ACC and other conference tournament predictions, odds, picksMarch Madness is here and so is the drama! Read on as John Fanta gives his top two picks for each of the big seven men's college basketball conference tournaments, including a super long-shot sleeper in the SEC.
Lire la suite »