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Grayson County is a county located in the southwestern part of the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 15,333. Its county seat is Independence. Mount Rogers, the state's highest peak at 5,729 feet (1,746 m), is in Grayson County.
Galax is an independent city in the southwestern part of the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 6,720.
Virginia's musical contribution to American culture has been diverse, and includes Piedmont blues, jazz, folk, brass, hip-hop, and rock and roll bands, as well as the founding origins of country music in the Bristol sessions by Appalachian Virginians.
Old-time music is a genre of North American folk music. It developed along with various North American folk dances, such as square dancing, contra dance, clogging, and buck dancing. It is played on acoustic instruments, generally centering on a combination of fiddle and plucked string instruments, most often the banjo, guitar, and mandolin. Together, they form an ensemble called the string band, which along with the simple banjo-fiddle duet have historically been the most common configurations to play old-time music. The genre is considered a precursor to modern country music.
Appalachian music is the music of the region of Appalachia in the Eastern United States. Traditional Appalachian music is derived from various influences, including the ballads, hymns and fiddle music of the British Isles, and to a lesser extent the music of Continental Europe.
Wade Ward (1892–1971) was an American old-time music banjo player and fiddler from Independence, Virginia. He was widely known playing the clawhammer banjo and frequently won the Galax, Virginia Old Time Fiddler's Convention. His instrument, a Gibson RB-11 5-string banjo, is now in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution. Along with Kyle Creed, Wade Ward is known for his 'Galax' style of playing the clawhammer banjo.
WBRF is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Galax, Virginia, and serving Southwestern Virginia, Southside Virginia and the western Piedmont Triad, including Winston-Salem. It is owned and operated by Blue Ridge Radio, Inc., with studios and offices on Poplar Knob Road in Galax. WBRF plays a mix of Classic country, Bluegrass and Americana music. Most programming is simulcast on WKBA 1550 and 93.1 in the Roanoke, Virginia.
Albert Green Hopkins was an American musician, a pioneer of what later came to be called country music; in 1925 he originated the earlier designation of this music as "hillbilly music", though not without qualms about its pejorative connotation.
Estil Cortez Ball (1913–1978) was an American singer-songwriter, fingerstyle guitarist, and country gospel and folk musician from Rugby in Grayson County, Virginia.
Charles Thomas Bowman was an American old-time fiddle player and string band leader. He was a major influence on the distinctive fiddle sound that helped shape and develop early Country music in the 1920s and 1930s. After delivering a series of performances that won him the first prize in dozens of fiddle contests across Southern Appalachia in the early 1920s, Bowman toured and recorded with several string bands and vaudeville acts before forming his own band, the Blue Ridge Music Makers, in 1935. In his career, he would be associated with country and bluegrass pioneers such as Uncle Dave Macon, Fiddlin' John Carson, Roy Acuff, Charlie Poole, and Bill Monroe.
Erynn Marshall is a Canadian old-time fiddler, ethnomusicologist, teacher, and author.
James Benton Flippen was an American old-time fiddler from Mount Airy, North Carolina. He was one of the last surviving members of a generation of performers born in the early 20th century playing in the Round Peak style centering on Surry County, North Carolina. His contemporaries included Tommy Jarrell, Fred Cockerham, Kyle Creed, and Earnest East.
Ambrose Gaines "Uncle Am" Stuart (1853–1926) was an American Old-time fiddle player. After winning various fiddle contests across the Southern Appalachian region in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Stuart made several recordings in June 1924 that would later prove influential in the development of early Country music.
Clark Kessinger was an American old-time fiddler. Many of his fiddle tunes made their way to other fiddlers or into the bluegrass music genre.
"Seeing Nellie Home" was an original American song written by Patrick S. Gilmore the 'Greatest American Bandleader'. first published in the 1850s under the name "When I Saw Sweet Nellie Home." It was composed and arranged by John Fletcher. Frances Kyle is said to have written the lyrics. In subsequent versions of this song, the lyrics have been changed somewhat. Sometimes the song has been referred to as "Aunt Dinah's Quilting Party."
Kyle Creed (1912–1982) was an influential musician and banjo luthier of 20th century Appalachia. Along with Tommy Jarrell, and Fred Cockerham, he was a central figure of the Roundpeak-style old-time music that began to find an outside audience in the 1960s, and his clawhammer banjo playing came to shape banjo practices in the Old-time music tradition.
Anton Robert "Bob" Yellin is an American banjo player and founding member of The Greenbriar Boys bluegrass music group.
The Music of East Tennessee has a rich history, and played a major role in the development of modern country and bluegrass music. Bristol, known as "the birthplace of country music",, and Johnson City, notable for the Johnson City recording sessions, are both towns in the Tri-Cities region of East Tennessee. The music of East Tennessee is defined by country, gospel, and bluegrass artists, and has roots in Appalachian folk music.
Rickie Hal Simpkins is an American fiddler and mandolinist in the bluegrass tradition. He is best known for his solo albums and his work with the Lonesome River Band and the Seldom Scene.
Donald DePoy is an American bluegrass musician, music educator, and music event organizer. He is a fifth-generation bluegrass musician from the Shenandoah Valley and a multi-instrumentalist. He and his wife Martha Hills have performed as the duo Me & Martha since 2005. He is founder of the Shenandoah Music Trail and the first "bluegrass church". He won first place in dulcimer at the 2017 Old Fiddlers' Convention in Galax, Virginia.
References
- ↑ "SSDI Details". Social Security Death Index. Asbury Park Press. 2008. Retrieved 2009-10-25.
- ↑ Blue Ridge Music Makers Guild (2008). Music Makers of the Blue Ridge Plateau. Mount Pleasant, SC: Arcadia Publishing. p. 36. ISBN 978-0-7385-5410-5.
- ↑ Reiner, David; Peter Anick (1989). Old-Time Fiddling Across America. Pacific, MO: Mel Bay Publications. p. 83. ISBN 0-7866-5381-7.
- ↑ "1960 Winners". Old Fiddler's Convention. 2009-08-09. Retrieved 2009-10-25.
- ↑ "Higgins, Charles H & Mallie H". Headstones. MyRootsPlace.com. 2008-07-20. Retrieved 2009-10-25.
- ↑ "37th Old Time Fiddler's Convention at Union Grove North Carolina". Smithsonian Folkways. 1962. Retrieved 2009-10-25.
- ↑ Keefer, Jane. "Folk Music - An Index to Recorded Resources". Folk Music Performer Index - Hig to Hil. Folk Music Index. Retrieved 2009-05-11.
- ↑ Stradling, Rod (2002-10-01). "there is no eye: music for photographs". Musical Traditions. Retrieved 2021-05-08.
- ↑ "2004 CDs". Field Recorders' Collective. Archived from the original on 2009-02-11. Retrieved 2009-05-11.
