Leisure Reading
Documenting more than 160 sites in towns and communities spread over Western North Carolina and Western Virginia’s five mountain ranges, Blue Ridge Music Trails: Finding a Place in the Circle, is the insider’s track to discovering traditional music authentic to the area—whether it’s being played in a Dairy Queen or a barbershop. Written by Fred C. Fussell, the book explores the nooks and crannies of Appalachia that are the heart of traditional music-making in this region.
With a dozen or more musicians having received the National Heritage Fellowship Award, the nation’s highest honor for traditional artists, the North Carolina mountains are alive with music. Much to the surprise of visitors, old-time and bluegrass and traditional dance can occur in the most unique places, from community centers to coffee shops, barbecue restaurants, music stores, fast-food joints, shopping malls, community festivals, street fairs, school auditoriums and town parks.
Exploring bluegrass and string band music, ballad singing, fiddling, shape-note singing, gospel music, clogging and other traditional forms of music and dance, the book helps visitors tap into music of the mountain communities. A companion Web site, www.blueridgemusic.org offers itinerary ideas, festivals and events listing, as well as maps of the region.
The book was published in partnership with UNC Press, the North Carolina Arts Council, the North Carolina Folklife Institute, the Virginia Commission for the Arts, Blue Ridge Institute at Ferrum College, Blue Ridge Parkway Division of National Park Service, the North Carolina Department of Commerce, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Virginia Foundation for Humanities, Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, American Express and many other organizations that have an interest in preserving the authentic musical legacy in the Appalachia’s.
For more information about Blue Ridge Music Trails, visit www.blueridgemusic.org or www.ncarts.org.
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