TRAVEL Country’s roots
You thought that it was the Grand Ole Opry. Wrong! Here’s where it all began
MY PALMS are sweating and my throat is as dry as the sawdust on the floor as I tentatively make my way up the steps towards the stage at the Floyd Country Store. Taking my place behind the microphone at one of Virginia’s most popular country music venues I stare out into the crowd and take a deep breath. Fortunately I am not here to completely destroy ‘Jolene’ but rather just to introduce myself to the crowd. Having trav-
elled from Dublin to be there it appears that I have come the furthest and am now the proud owner of a new hat. Thanks to this type of hospitality everyone’s ears are intact and I have a free souvenir.
Resting on top of the magnificent Blue Ridge Plateau in southwestern Virginia the Floyd Country Store’s walls are lined with guitars and demulcifers and candy-filled barrels jostle for space with folks of all ages. The wooden floors are marked and scratched by the steel-soled shoes which amplify the dancing and fill the store with the sound of a community that comes together to dance here every Friday night without fail.
The place is packed with people young and old who have come from near and far to enjoy the music and take to the floor for some flatfooting and clogging.
If you’re not familiar with these terms don’t let it stop you from joining in. The similarities between a night at a country music jamboree and a fleadh are striking which I’m told has a lot to do with the Scots-Irish who first started to settle here in the 1700s. The similarities don’t end there however. Over the course of five days as I make my way along Virginia’s famed Crooked Road Heritage Music Trail the hospitality that greets me at every turn could cause the Irish to run for the hills. Afterwards I spend the night out back in a cabin belonging to the store and combined with the evening’s entertainment it makes for the perfect start to my country music adventure.
Most country music lovers make the pilgrimage straight to Nashville, Tennessee but where they really should be heading for is the actual birthplace of country music in Bristol, Virginia.
But if you are hell-bent on visiting Tennessee you can do that here too. Bristol’s State Street straddles the state line of both so you can do as I did and join the many tourists who regularly stop traffic to have their photo taken with a foot on each side of the border.
But back to the city’s lofty claim. In 1927 the record producer Ralph Peer set off on a two-month trip through some of the larger Southern cities in search of new styles of music and musicians in a bid to meet American music lovers demands at a time when the gramophone finally allowed listeners to choose their own music to listen to at home. He placed an advert in the local paper for people to come and record at his portable studio and amongst the dozens of acts that turned up were the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers, the now undisputed Father of Country Music.
The city is also home to the fantastic Birthplace of Country Music Museum that mainly focuses on what are now collectively known as the Bristol Sessions. Here you can learn all about the recording equipment and processes which were used at the time as well as a history of how country music has evolved into one of the biggest and best loved musical genres around today. And it doesn’t stop there. The city is also home to the Bristol Rhythm and Roots festival. Taking place every September over three days playing host to not just country music acts but also roots, bluegrass and Celtic music artists too. If there were any doubt to the city’s musical heritage I will leave it to Johnny Cash who referred to the Bristol Sessions as ‘the single most important event in the history of Country Music.’
Of course you can’t talk about country music without a mention of the Man in Black himself. His life and marriage to June Carter were famously brought to the big screen in the Oscar-winning movie ‘Walk the Line’ and no visit to Virginia would be complete without heading to the Carter Family Fold.
As a result of the Bristol Sessions the Carter Family became known as the First Family of Country Music and today at the site of the family home you can hear some of the best bands and musicians every Saturday night in its rustic barn theatre.
Now run by June’s wonderfully charismatic cousin Rita there is a small but fascinating museum in what was once the family’s old store. Also on site is the cabin that was the birthplace of the Carter patriarch A.P. Johnny and June were among those who helped to save the cabin by moving it piece by piece and having it lovingly restored as you see it today.
FAMILY photos and other items give visitors a fascinating insight to what mountain life was like for the Carters. And after sitting in Johnny’s rocking chair for a few moments how could my evening get any better? Well some dancing with his old friend Rita is the answer to that! Y’all could get used to this mountain life.
And what mountains they are. In fact Virginia as a whole is breathtakingly beautiful but it is also vast so a car is required for getting around.
The Blue Ridge forms part of the Appalachian range, or apple-atchan as I was reliably corrected. America’s longest linear park at almost 470 miles we drove along the Blue Ridge Parkway lined with dense Spruce and Fir that intermittently clear for stunning vistas from its higher peaks or surprise you with postcard-perfect water mills down in its valleys. Gorgeously quaint reminders you’re in the Walton’s part of the world now Jim Bob.
The Crooked Road and its Heritage Music Trail winds through almost 300 miles of this scenic terrain in southwest Virginia. Connecting all of the venues and towns I visited there is also so much more to catch in this part of the US should you have the time.
With such a wealth of musical attractions on offer it could take a while. Other places of interest along the trail include the town of Galax home to the annual Old Fiddler’s Convention, no sniggering down the back.
This festival has been around since 1935 and by all accounts some of the best entertainment can be found in the campsites of the town’s Felts Park location as the musicians tune up and rehearse before hitting the stage.
Also well worth a visit and a great entry point to start the Crooked Road trail is the city of Roanoke.
The Taubman Museum of Art, designed by an associate of Frank Gehry, is a revelation as is the Pinball museum, one of many attractions in the Centre in the Square.
Hotel Roanoke looms over the city and is the perfect place to relax and re-fuel before hitting the road. Virginia as a whole has an abundance