It's Festival Time On The Crooked Road

With the 10th annual edition of the Mountain Music School at Mountain Empire Community College in the rear-view mirror, and a little bit of fall in the air it has to be festival time on the Crooked Road. And one of the perks from attending the school, is a handful of free passes to the upcoming festivals around the area.

Festival season here on the Western leg of the Crooked Road starts on August 1st with the festivities at Carter Fold, and ends with Home Craft Days at the Mountain Empire Community College in Big Stone Gap in mid October.


This year, it all starts at Carter Fold in Hilton,Virginia. 2014 will be a special year, as it marks the 40th anniversary of the event, and will feature a host of performers that include Wry Straw.

Now you can go to Carter Fold anytime to see the old log cabin, and the Carter Family Museum with good music, but festival time provides the opportunity which comes with a two night music event at the home of where it all started back in 1927.

It all starts on Friday, August 1st, and winds up on Saturday night. Friday night begins with Lorrie Carter Bennett & Ronnie Williams at 6PM, and two sets with Folk Soul Revival at 7:15 and 9:00 PM.

Saturday evening begins at 3:00 PM and will feature the headliner band, Wry Straw with John McCutcheon, and winds up the evening with the high energy group, The White Top Mountain Band.

There is a supper break between 6:00 and 7:00 so you can get some soup beans and cornbread before the evening session starts.

You can get all of the information at www.carterfamilyfold.org.

Labor Day weekend you will have to choose between a couple of great festivals, or do a lot of driving. The Albert Hash Memorial Festival kicks of the weekend on Saturday, August 30th at the Grayson Highland State Park. Come early, the music starts at 10 AM with groups throughout the day, all the way to 6PM.

The festival includes the Albert Hash Memorial Band. You can find all the information at http://www.alberthashmemorialfestival.com/.

Sunday afternoon features the Papa Joe Smiddy Mountain Music Festival at The Natural Tunnels State Park in Duffield, Virginia. This is a prize lineup for your listening pleasure.

It all starts with the winner of the Bluegrass competition that was held at Picking in the Park Sunday's throughout the summer. The Town Branch Bluegrass Band won the competition, and will kick-off the music at 5PM.

You get Papa Joe with Reedy Creek, The ETSU Old Time Pride Band, The ETSU Bluegrass Pride Band, and the evening will wind up with a performance by one of my favorite groups in the area, Dale Jett, and Hello Stranger.

This is a great afternoon that includes a variety of musical genre that includes everything I love. Old-Time, Bluegrass, and Carter Family songs. You can't miss with this one, there's something for everyone.

Great music at one of the most beautiful open amphitheaters in the country. Visit http://www.coveridge.com/pjs for more info, and directions.



Up next, the Dock Boggs Festival gets underway at the Country Cabin in Norton,Virginia at noon on September 13th. Gates open at 11:00 AM, and music starts at 1:00 PM.

I'm not sure of the lineup at this point, but I can assure you, it will be good. You can keep track of the festival by visiting http://www.dockboggsfestival.com/index.html

You can park at several spots in Big Stone Gap, and ride the bus for a buck each way, or look for parking on the campus. I would suggest the first option. You can get all of the info at http://www.homecraftdays.org/.

Last, but not least, Home Craft Days gets underway on October 17th, and runs through the 19th. If you like homemade crafts, and great music, this is the event where you can get it all. Located on the campus of the Mountain Empire Community College, this is a great event to put a wrap on the season, and the year 

Running for over 40 years, this festival gives you an opportunity to browse a parking lot full of vendors of all kind, and continuous music from 10:30 AM every morning running until almost midnight. They change the bands every 45 minutes, and you will get a chance to see anyone, who is anyone in the world of Appalachian music.


Some of the festivals offer jamming in pre-determined locations, check the websites. Don't let another year go by without experiencing a piece of Americana right here in the Mountains of Virginia, conveniently located along The Crooked Road.


You can follow me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/lbailey678 or Twitter at https://twitter.com/Spin_47

The Circle Will Never Be Unbroken On The Crooked Road

As a kid who was raised in the 1950's middle America, and heavily influenced by Country Music, I grew up on Hank Williams, George Jones, and Ernest Tubb with a little bit of Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash sprinkled in. I spent many Saturday nights listening to the Grand Ole Opry and thought I understood where it all came from.

It was the 1972 collaboration of some long-haired kids from California called The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and a whole bunch of famous people on an album called "Will The Circle Be Unbroken" that I realized I had found the music I truly loved.

It was one of the first boxed albums to ever come out, and included five 33 1/3 records with some of the best music I had ever heard.

There was Earl and Randy Scruggs, Doc Watson, Vasser Clements, Mother Maybell, and Johnny Cash, to name a few, and those long-haired kids from California who no one had heard of.

At a time when the country was in complete turmoil over the war in Vietnam, where I had already spent 3 and 1/2 years of my life, and was knee-deep in what is now called Classic Rock. Will the Circle Be Unbroken came as a breath of fresh air that seemed to join various factions of people fighting to end the war, and factions around the music business as well.

It reminded us of simpler times, and proved you didn't need big amplifiers with distortion pedals to produce music that was enjoyable and easy to listen to. It was simple, acoustic and very enjoyable.

It wasn't long afterwards that Emmy Lou Harris came with her first big album that included a Louvin Brothers tune call "If I Could Only Win Your Love". Her band featured a young Mandolin player by the name of Ricky Skaggs and I realized this music was back, and in good health.

I spent the 80's, 90's and the early part of the 21st century wondering where the good old music went. Then in 2007 I came to Big Stone Gap, Virginia for the first time, and I found it.

What I found was, the music never went anywhere, it just took me half of a lifetime to find it. It has always been here in the mountains, and after spending a couple of years up here, I finally understand what the old album was all about.

I finally understood what the unbroken circle was all about. It's all around me everyday here. People sitting on their back porches picking the best music in the world.

The festivals and jam sessions on The Crooked Road is where the music lives year-round, and people who spend time with their children to teach them the the music and dances of the mountains insures us that the Circle will never be Unbroken!