THE OFFICIAL Homecoming Guide Welcome to southwest virginia mtnsofmusic.com ALONG THE CROOKED ROAD Welcome to the Second Annual Mountains of Music Homecoming right here in Southwest Virginia where we have a rich traditional music history. This annual event showcases the musical heritage and welcomes back folks for that homecoming celebration, highlighting the 19 counties, 4 cities, and over 50 towns along the popular Crooked Road in Virginia. We hope you will enjoy the scheduled activities that are highlighted online and in print with special music concerts that honor our major music venues, scattered across these Southwest Virginia mountains. This is still a place where you can feel the music as you enjoy the great outdoors. Please celebrate with us and make plans to attend every year. Homecomings are notorious for the great food as well, so enjoy the music, food and the cultural experiences. You will be glad that you did. Oh—and please be sure to invite your friends when you return! — John Kilgore, President The Crooked Road: Virginia’s Heritage Music Trail Welcome again to Southwest Virginia and The Crooked Road. I hope this message finds you a year wiser, happier, and looking forward to the second annual Mountains of Music Homecoming. This celebration of all the communities in Southwest Virginia has something for everyone: Story telling, quilt exhibits, folk art exhibits, oxen working, wine and beer tastings, night hikes, Juneteenth celebrations, covered bridges, southern desserts, reenactments, barn dances, cannon firing, blacksmithing, wild caving, canoe paddling, square dances, geocaching, canning demonstrations, banjo making, corn husk doll making, and LOTS of jam sessions. And that’s just the cultural experiences. The Crooked Road concerts this year include probably the only time five of the finest bluegrass artists from Southwest Virginia may ever team up to perform as The Crooked Road All Star Bluegrass Band – Sammy Shelor of the Lonesome River Band on banjo, Junior Sisk of Ramblers Choice on guitar, Shawn Lane and Wayne Taylor of Blue Highway on mandolin and bass, and former Bill Monroe fiddler Billy Baker. Our artists from another musical heritage this year will present the music of Ireland – the John Doyle Trio, Bristol based Sigean, and a trio of American born Irish music masters in Rose Conway Flanagan, Laura Byrne, and Pat Egan. An amazing variety of styles and repertoire will be on display at two concerts this year by twelve of the region’s guitar masters in connection with the forthcoming recording project “The Crooked Road - A Century of Heritage Guitar Music”. In case you want to play like these folks, we have two traditional music camps this year as well. The Homecoming is also your festival gateway including several premiere music- focused festivals such as HoustonFest, Wayne Henderson Music Festival, Henry Reed Fiddlers Convention, Clinch Mountain Music Fest, Hot Fun in the Summertime Beach Music Festival, Breaks of the Mountain Music Festival, and the start of the Chautauqua Festival. Finally, this year includes our first ever “Homecoming Feastival: A Celebration of Appalachian Creativity.” This one-day celebration of food, wine and beer, craft, visual art, and music focuses on the inspiring influence this place called Appalachia has on those who live here, whether you are a chef, artisan, musician or artist. Like last year, we hope you take the time to discover the places in Southwest Virginia that keep these traditions alive, and take home memories that will bring a smile every time you think on them. Have a blast! — Jack Hinshelwood, Executive Director The Crooked Road: Virginia’s Heritage Music Trail 1 • mtnsofmusic.com June 10-18, 2016 • 2 Joe Wilson MARCH 16, 1938 – MAY 17, 2015 Ever since he helped create it, The Crooked Road has been blessed with Joe’s inspiration, guidance, and creativity. He will be missed Introduction: Follow the Music .................................................... 2 in our counsels, but his great lessons on Joe Wilson: In Loving Memory ..................................................... 3 the value of our region’s musical heritage Sponsors .............................................................................................. 5 will long be relied upon in all our future endeavors. Buy Tickets & Local Ticket Outlets ............................................. 7 Homecoming Overview .................................................................. 8 A Tribute from Bill Kornrich Mission Statement & Staff ............................................................. 11 Some 13 years ago Joe Wilson, then Executive Director About The Crooked Road ............................................................. 13 of the National Council for the Traditional Arts, and Todd Christensen, then Associate Director for the What’s Happening At The Major Venues ................................. 15 Virginia Department of Housing and Community Area Traditional Music Concerts ................................................ 17 Development, met at a Creative Economy conference in Asheville. That random encounter created the seed which has become The Crooked Road: Virginia’s Heritage Music Trail. Jam Sessions ..................................................................................... 18 Accommodations ............................................................................. 19 Joe had an encyclopedic knowledge of music traditions and unwavering respect for the traditional musicians (and other traditional artists) of Southwest Virginia and across the nation. His life’s work West Zone: Crooked Road Concerts ........................................ 21 was invested in presenting and supporting these artists and the cultures which nourished them. The creation of The Crooked Road and the development of the Blue Ridge Music Center on the Blue Ridge The Guitar: “An Orchestra Unto Itself” .................................... 24 Parkway are lasting reminders of his influence on and commitment to Southwest Virginia. West Zone: Cultural Experiences ............................................. 30 I have known Joe for 40 years, prior to the NCTA chapter of his life. Several of those years the two of us were at NCTA, housed in a cramped office on Dupont Circle. Working with Joe was empowering for The Celtic Influence on Appalachian Music ........................... 32 me. He gave me the freedom and responsibility to take on and direct projects and tasks which I had no Central Zone: Crooked Road Concerts ................................... 39 experience in. Central Zone: Cultural Experiences .......................................... 43 He was at ease with all kinds of people - members of Congress, store clerks, craftspeople, wealthy How to Talk like a Southwest Virginian ................................... 48 donors, auto mechanics, refugee Cambodian dancers, and occasionally even bureaucrats. I do think he most enjoyed being with the many musicians with whom he felt the strongest kinship. East Zone: Crooked Road Concerts ......................................... 49 How many festivals, recordings, articles, music tours across the nation and around the world did Joe produce or assist in? I think no one has kept track. I know he was looking forward to emceeing the East Zone: Cultural Experiences ................................................ 54 opening concert for the Mountains of Music Homecoming Festival featuring National Heritage Award Old Time and Bluegrass ............................................................... 63 winners (of which he was one) from Southwest Virginia at the Carter Fold in June last year. Yet with all these activities, I will most remember the impish mischievous smile, the twinkle in the eye, the crap detector glance, the baseball cap, and the vitriolic letters to those who ran afoul of his beliefs. Cantankerous? Could be. Dogmatic? That too. Impassioned? Certainly. Purist? Yep. Joe was raised in Trade in the hills of Tennessee. It is here that his lifelong passion for the music of this region began. His last years were spent in Fries in the hills of Virginia in a house he and his wife Kathy remodeled, overlooking the New River. These geographic bookends - a distance of about 50 miles as the eagle flies - encased a life rich in accomplishments, stories, and music. 3 • mtnsofmusic.com June 10-18, 2016 • 4 don’t miss our homecoming friday june 17 @ 5:30 in Abingdon More than a meal, this is a signature, culinary and cultural event designed to feed body, soul, and imagination! Think of it as farm-to-table-plus. Along with great food, there will be music, art and artisanship. The evening’s focus is on Appalachian creativity — a hallmark of the region’s culture. See page 28 for full details. David & Judie Reemsnyder FocusOne Integrated Financial Planning Lays Hardware Center for the Arts The ForestLand Group, LLC Primland Town of Marion Karen Sorber SWCC Educational Foundation Thanks also to ‘Round the Mountain and Pro-Art Association Sheri Castle, Keynote Speaker Nell Jefferson Fredericksen, The Church Sisters, Master Artisan Orthophonic Joy Artists 5 • mtnsofmusic.com June 10-18, 2016 • 6 GENERAL INFORMATION Tickets for Crooked Road Welcome to Southwest Virginia and The Crooked Road’s second annual Mountains concerts may be purchased of Music Homecoming (MoMH). We’re excited to be in our second year and want online at mtnsofmusic.com, you to enjoy discovering what lies around each bend of The Crooked Road. Let’s at the door on the day of the start