‘Crooked Road Royalty’

By Joe Tennis
Features Writer / Bristol Herald Courier
Published: October 11, 2008

Exhibit Pays Tribute To Country Music Poineers

GALAX, Va. – From their first recordings at Bristol to their radio station on the Mexico border, The Carter Family explored the world of country music.
And in turn, the First Family of Country Music became legends in their homeland along the Tennessee-Virginia border.
The original musical trio – A.P., Sara and Maybelle – came from Maces Spring, Va., to Bristol, Tenn., to make their first recordings in 1927. Then, they kept on touring. And so did their children.
Today, while the original members and even their children are all gone, their music lives on in records, concert stages and most notably at the Carter Fold, a music barn hosting regular Saturday shows in Hiltons, Va.
The Carter Fold is a major stop on The Crooked Road: Virginia’s Heritage Music Trail.
Stretching from the Rocky Mount Depot to Breaks Interstate Park, the 253-mile “Crooked Road” connects the musical hotspots of Southwest Virginia.
Among these: the Blue Ridge Music Center, just off Blue Ridge Parkway Milepost 213.
Here, near Galax, you’ll find an exhibit paying tribute to the likes of The Carter Family.
Dubbed “Crooked Road Royalty,” this collection of wall panels boasts photos and essays of the families considered “royalty” along The Crooked Road, including The Carter Family and the Stanley Brothers of Dickenson County.
You’ll also meet at 1920s-era group called the Hill Billies, plus the Stoneman Family, which recorded over 200 songs.
“These four groups, in the large part, defined country music in the eras in which they were at their peak,” said Vaughan Webb, the assistant of the Blue Ridge Institute and Museum.
“The Hill Billies gave their name to hillbilly music,” Webb added. “They formed in a barber shop in Galax.”
And the Stonemans?
“They showed how ambitious artists could adapt to changing musical styles,” Webb said. “Pop Stoneman had a career that lasted for decades.”
All four groups are Virginia-based powerhouses that helped build the American country music industry, Webb said.
On display through Nov. 2, this 12-panel exhibit also boasts rare film footage and photographs of other Crooked Road musicians.
It all helps better explain the musical story of the Blue Ridge Mountains, said Janet Bachmann, a Blue Ridge Parkway ranger at the Blue Ridge Music Center.
“It’s like sewing these musical threads together,” Bachmann said. “We’re part of that entity.”
The staff of the Blue Ridge Institute and Museum at Ferrum College produced the exhibit, with funding from the Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission.
The project cost $80,000, including research and production, Webb said, and also includes an exhibit called “Musical Styles Along the Crooked Road.”
Three copies of each exhibit were made, Webb said.
Following its current showing this fall at the Blue Ridge Music Center, Webb said the “Crooked Road Royalty” and “Musical Styles Along the Crooked Road” exhibits will visit other venues in coming years.
“These exhibits are meant to travel to all kinds of communities,” Webb said. “It’s meant to give something for Crooked Road visitors to see and learn and enjoy.”

YOU SHOULD KNOW
What:” Crooked Road Royalty”
When: Through Nov. 2. Open daily, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Where: Blue Ridge Music Center, Milepost 213 on the Blue Ridge Parkway (also a stop on The Crooked Road)
Info: (276) 236-5309