Appalachian Old-Time Music

The mountain music of southwest Virginia and east Tennessee came out of Scots-Irish fiddle tunes meeting the African banjo, and it never stopped being played in the places it came from. In 1927 a talent scout recorded local performers in Bristol in sessions now treated as the founding moment of commercial country music. Today a marked route called the Crooked Road links the venues that keep it going: a country store in Floyd where the floor fills with flatfoot dancers every Friday, a family music barn, and small museums. The Galax Old Fiddlers' Convention, running since 1935, brings thousands of musicians to a town park each August, and the real music happens in the campground between the competition rounds.

What you actually see

• The Friday night jamboree - dancers on the floor of a country store in Floyd.
• Galax Old Fiddlers' Convention - since 1935, with the campground jams the real event.
• Bristol - where the 1927 sessions were recorded, with a museum on the story.
• The Crooked Road - the marked route linking the mountain music venues.

When to go

Music runs year-round on fixed weekly nights, so check the schedules of the individual venues before planning. The Galax convention takes place in August and fills every room and campsite in the area. Autumn colour along the Blue Ridge overlaps with a busy festival season.

Honest expectations

These are small community venues, not concert halls: seating is basic, sound systems are minimal, and the atmosphere depends on who turns up. The Galax campground is a rough, crowded, week-long affair and not a comfortable base for casual visitors. Distances between venues on the Crooked Road are long and mountain roads are slow.

Nearby

The Blue Ridge Parkway runs through the region; Great Smoky Mountains is to the southwest.