Toast is a census-designated place (CDP) in Surry County, North Carolina, United States, just west of Mount Airy, North Carolina. The population was 1,922 at the 2000 census.
Clawhammer, sometimes called frailing, is a distinctive banjo playing style and a common component of American old-time music.
Old-time music is a genre of North American folk music. It developed along with various North American folk dances, such as square dancing, clogging, and buck dancing. It is played on acoustic instruments, generally centering on a combination of fiddle and plucked string instruments, as well as the mandolin.
Wade Ward (1892–1971) was an American old-time music banjo player and fiddler from Independence, Virginia. He was especially renowned for his clawhammer banjo playing. He was a frequent winner at the Galax, Virginia Old Time Fiddler's Convention. His instrument, a Gibson RB-11 5-string banjo, is now housed in the Smithsonian Institution. Along with Kyle Creed, Wade Ward is thought by many to embody the 'Galax' style of clawhammer banjo playing.
Brad Leftwich is a prominent American old-time fiddler, banjo player, singer and teacher of traditional old-time style. He is originally from Oklahoma. He performs solo and with his long-time musical partner and wife, Linda Higginbotham, and with Brad Leftwich and the Hogwire Stringband.
Bruce C. Molsky is an American fiddler, banjo player, guitarist, and singer. He primarily performs old-time music of the Appalachian region.
Fred Cockerham was an American fiddle and banjo player of American folk music.
Round Peak is a small unincorporated community in Surry County, North Carolina, United States, near Mount Airy, North Carolina with an elevation of 1,280 feet. It is located in the southern Appalachian Mountains and gives its name to the Round Peak style of old-time music practiced in the area.
WPAQ is an Americana, and Bluegrass-formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Mount Airy, North Carolina, serving the Piedmont of North Carolina and the Southside and Southwestern sections of Virginia. WPAQ is owned and operated by WPAQ Radio, Inc.
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.
The Freight Hoppers are an American old time string band, formed in 1992. Their repertoire includes music that was first recorded in the late 1920s and early 1930s, and spans geographically from Mississippi to West Virginia. Its members include fiddle and banjo players Barry Benjamin and Frank Lee, with Allie Burbrink on guitar and vocals and Bradley Adams on string bass. Based in the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina, The Freight Hoppers draw from rural southern music for their inspiration.
James Benton Flippen was an 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.
Riley Baugus is an American old-time guitarist, banjo player, fiddler, singer and instrument builder from North Carolina.
Rafe Stefanini is an old-time banjo player, fiddler, guitarist, singer, teacher, violin maker, and restorer.
County Records was a Virginia-based independent American record label founded by David Freeman in 1963. The label specialised in old-time and traditional bluegrass music.
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.
Cowan Powers and his Family Band was a Virginia string band from the 1920s, considered pioneers in early country music. They were the first family string band to make a commercial record (1924). The band consisted of Cowan Powers and his children, Charles, Orpha, Carrie and Ada. Cowan also played with his wife, Matilda, until her death in 1916.
Frank Jenkins (1888–1945) was an American banjo and fiddle player.
Bertie Caudill Dickens (1902–1994) was an old-time banjo player from the community of Ennice in Alleghany County, North Carolina. Dickens was born in Grayson County, Virginia, but lived most of her life in Ennice.
